Learn how to extend decorative gourd season with Susan Swede, who identifies wild plants growing near her home that can be eaten or used as medicine in this clip from a 1975 video produced by Jeanne Hunter, Tobe Carey, and Woodstock Community Video

On this day in 1963, a coalition of civil rights groups, local activists, and 250,000 students staged a mass boycott and demonstration against the Chicago Board of Education to protest racial segregation and inadequate resources for Black students. This 2017 interview features Fannie Rushing.

Congratulations, animator and friend of Media Burn Jane Aaron! Aaron's artwork and films are featured in Museum of Modern Art's mammoth animation gallery exhibition and screening series, "It's Alive! A Century of Animation from the Collection," which runs through May 2027.

Hail to the chef! Today is International Chef Day! Check out this excerpt from a 1964 color VHS that lavishes praise on the cooks and pastry chefs of the Empire Room at the Palmer House. Here, historian and documentarian Studs Terkel draws attention to the skilled work of chefs.

The World Trade Center’s construction is documented in this excerpt from a 1972 video by Frank Cavestani. The complex opened a year later in 1973 and was destroyed on September 11th, 2001.

Happy Open House Chicago, architecture lovers! This clip features a 1988 exhibit at Wholesome Roc created by the Architecture Gallery and entitled "Image of Home," which contains a collection of postcards sent from around the world that depict different aspects of the idea of home.

Alexandra Juhasz is a scholar and filmmaker whose work is in our collection, and she organized a 30th anniversary screening/symposium of The Watermelon Woman by Cheryl Dunye, which Juhasz produced.

SEXUAL CINÉMA VÉRITÉ: THE MULTI-MEDIA RESOURCE CENTER IN CONTEXT October 16-20 We are proud to contribute SEXUAL FANTASY PARTY (Betty Brown & Rikki Ripp, 1973, 12 min to this event.

Happy Global Handwashing Day! Suds up and sing your favorite song while you scrub away your contact with the outside world. Just don't touch your face. This 1981 visual study of a blue-tinted face and hands was made by Barbara Sykes.

Happy Dessert Day! In this 1993 clip from footage shot for Chicago Slices, Andrew Jones tours the kitchens of Chicago Caterers and is invited by Chef Greg to taste test a specially-made dessert on camera.

Happy Train Your Brain Day! Nina Sobell is a sculptor, multimedia, and performance artist who pioneered the use of EEG technology, closed-circuit television, and internet communication. Her work transforms brainwaves into art. Watch more of Sobell's experiments on our website.

James Black, a citizen of the Navajo Nation, discusses why he chose to build hogans, a traditional Navajo dwelling, in his community. This footage was shot by Jeff Spitz as part of the 2000 documentary The Return of Navajo Boy which portrayed the lives of Navajo citizens..

Happy Marathon Day, Chicago! Get inspired to run by 11-year-old marathoner Jessica, interviewed here by Lilly Ollinger for a 1982 episode of Image Union. Watch the full episode on our website.

Today is World Mental Health Day. The ethics of mental health care have long been debated, as evidenced by this short clip from the 1971 documentary St Vincent’s Health Day: Mental Health Confrontation, produced by Peoples Video Theater/Survival Arts Media. View full documentary on our website.

Thanks for coming to October Learn With Media Burn! We learned that babies, dogs, and jump cuts are the secret formula for funny home movies and we learned that makeup artist extraordinaire Dick Smith made all of his creepiest and most incredible looks in his basement. See you next month!

🎃TODAY Learn With Media Burn! Spooky Edition🎃 📆10/8 ⏰ 5pm - 7 pm 📍Media Burn Archive, 348 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60607 💸 FREE 💌RSVP via link

Happy Frappe Day! If frappes aren't your thing, visit Al and Ben Kohn's storefront coffee shop circa 2001. This footage was captured by Celeste Neuhaus for an experimental student documentary about Maxwell Street while Halsted was being converted into UIC student housing.

On this day in 1985, Chuck Kleinhans and Julia Lesage explored Chicago's Humboldt Park, camera rolling.

Famous playwright Harold Pinter recounts an experience with British fascists in his youth and how fascist societies regard reading and education. This is an excerpt from a longer 1989 interview by Chuck Olin.

Happy Vodka Day! Travel to Moscow and cheers with a group of "unofficial artists" - artists not sanctioned by the state -in this excerpt from a 1990 documentary by camcorder correspondent Skip Blumberg. Watch the full video on our website, and remember that you're supposed to clink!

Happy Boyfriend Day to all the boyfriends who are as nice and easy to be around as Michael! In this short excerpt from footage shot for Chicago Slices in 1993, Karen Hutt interviews Marianne Kurtz, a white suburban Palatine teen.

We are pleased to have played a small part in this project by digitizing 20 videos submitted by community members at History Harvest in April! Today, you can get a sneak peek of the digital map.

Happy Lincoln Square Ravenswood Apple Fest 2026, Chicago! We hope you enjoy the fest as much as Spice the dog enjoys ignoring an apple in this excerpt from the 1999 short film Inner Spice produced by Jacqueline Stewart.

🎃NEXT WEEK: Learn With Media Burn! Spooky Edition🎃 📆10/8 ⏰ 5pm - 7 pm 📍Media Burn Archive, 348 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60607 💸 FREE 💌RSVP via link

In this short excerpt from the 1990 documentary Palestinian Diaries, one young man describes how watching tapes helped him get through the boredom of the Israeli-imposed curfews. Watch the full video on our website.

Happy World Heart Day! Take a look at this heart-and-lung machine featured on The Bill Veeck Show . Hosted by major league baseball team owner Bill Veeck, the talk show ran from the late 1950s through early 1980s and covered a wide range of topics.

Show your love for preserving video history! Attend a cool virtual event next week by being either a member of Experimental Sound Studio or (ideally and) Media Burn! https://secure.qgiv.com/for/mediaburn

Announcing the 1st World Poetry Slam Day!!! 📅9/26 ⏰2-4pm 📍Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago, IL 60610 💸 FREE, though a $10 donation is suggested 💌RSVP via link in comments Join us as part of an international celebration of the Poetry Slam featuring founder Marc Kelly Smith.

We loved meeting so many SAIC students and other artist-run organizations at the fair this afternoon! Thanks for chatting with us, and enjoying our stickers and temporary tattoos! Here, Executive Director Sara Chapman enthusiastically explains our collection and our preservation process.

Oscar Trujillo, a queer Cuban-American, offers insights on navigating the intersection of his identities. in the 2007 documentary Tal Como Somos which focused on the experiences LGBTQ+ Latinx people. Produced by Judith McCray and Juneteenth Productions. Watch the full video on our website.