Building Brooklyn: Women on the Waterfront

At the start of World War II, 200 women were employed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. That number ballooned to 7,000 at the height of the war, but afterward—women workers were gone as rapidly as they appeared. We tell the story of this unique moment in history, using oral histories from women who worked at the yard during the war, and an interview with author Jennifer Egan, who helped create the collection and used it as research for her award-winning novel, Manhattan Beach. Read our transcript a...

Om Podcasten

Brooklyn Public Library is full of stories. Borrowed brings the very best of them to you. Borrowed is a narrative series about superhero librarians, neighborhood stories and what it means to be a free, democratic place in today’s changing world. We tell stories about libraries during natural disasters, the challenges of homelessness, and NYC’s fraught relationship with trash. Borrowed and Banned is our limited series about America's ideological war with its bookshelves. From September to December 2023, we released ten episodes featuring the stories of students on the frontlines, librarians and teachers whose livelihoods are endangered when they speak up, and writers whose books have become political battleground.   For transcripts, pictures, book lists, and resources, please visit our web page: bklynlib.org/podcasts