AADL Talks To: Vicki Honeyman, Owner of Vicki's Wash & Wear Haircuts and Former Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Film Festival

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 9:00am

In this episode AADL Talks to Vicki Honeyman. A woman of many talents and interests, Vicki spent 15 years as director of the Ann Arbor Film Festival after years of involvement in the University of Michigan’s film societies. She owned the store Heavenly Metal for 18 years, and continues her decades-long career cutting hair. Vicki tells us about balancing all of her roles and interests, fueled by her love of curation in all forms.

AADL Talks To: Jay Cassidy, Award-Winning Hollywood Film Editor and Former Photographer for the Michigan Daily

Tue, 08/13/2024 - 11:21am

In this episode, AADL Talks To Jay Cassidy. Jay is a Hollywood film editor known for his work on dozens of feature films. He has been nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Film Editing for Into The Wild, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle. He also edited An Inconvenient Truth, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Jay came to the University of Michigan in 1967 and was a photographer and editor for the University's newspaper, The Michigan Daily. He talks with us about the political and cultural events he witnessed in Ann Arbor during the late 1960s and early 1970s and how his experience at The Daily helped shape his work as a photographer and film editor. Over 5,000 of Jay's photographs taken for The Michigan Daily are available in the Jay Cassidy Photo Collection at the Bentley Historical Library.

AADL Talks To: Rick Ayers, Former U-M Student Activist and Member of the SDS and Weather Underground

Wed, 07/10/2024 - 9:29pm

In this episode, AADL Talks To Rick Ayers. Rick is faculty emeritus at the University of San Francisco where he was an associate professor of education focusing on English language arts and teacher education. In the late 1960s, Rick followed his older brothers to the University of Michigan and was soon radicalized by the civil rights and anti-war movements, participating in protests and demonstrations with the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Weather Underground. Rick traces his fascinating journey as a draft dodger working with deserters in Canada through his decision to enlist in the U.S. Army where he would eventually go AWOL and live as a fugitive for seven years. Rick also shares his memories of the vibrant campus film culture and the people -- including girlfriend Gilda Radner -- who shaped his student experience at the university, and he reflects on the legacy of the 1960s protests in light of today’s political environment.

AADL Talks To: Pat Oleszko, Performance Artist and Queen of the Ann Arbor Film Festival

Mon, 06/10/2024 - 5:41pm

In this episode AADL Talks to Pat Oleszko, visual and performance artist and Queen of the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Pat came to the University to study art in the late 1960s just as the program was experiencing a countercultural renaissance. She talks with us about her journey as an artist, from the vibrant experimental and collaborative arts community that welcomed her, to the institutions and events like the ONCE Group, the city's film festivals, and the Ozone Parade that shaped her and that she helped shape in turn. Pat also recalls some favorite performances and clashes with both feminists and law enforcement as she charted her inimitable career.

AADL Talks To: Fred LaBour, former writer for The Michigan Daily and member of the musical group Riders in the Sky

Sun, 06/02/2024 - 2:17pm

In this episode, AADL Talks to "Too Slim" Fred LaBour. Fred is a member of Riders in the Sky, an American Country and Western music and comedy quartet that has performed together since 1977. From '67 to '71, Fred was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan where he covered sports and wrote music reviews for The Michigan Daily. Fred discusses the campus culture that shaped his career and he walks us through a day in the life of a too-slim "wise ass" English major whose satirical review of the Beatles’ "Abbey Road" album propelled the “Paul McCartney is Dead” urban legend that took the country by storm.

Read Fred's October 14, 1969 "Paul is Dead" article in The Michigan Daily.

Check out Riders in the Sky in the AADL catalog. The group is also featured on the following CDs: Toy Story Favorites, Toy Story 2, Disney Pixar All Time Favorites, and Woody's Roundup.

AADL Talks To: Ken Burns, Documentary Filmmaker

Fri, 04/26/2024 - 4:18pm

In this episode, AADL Talks To Ken Burns. Ken is a documentary filmmaker known for his critically acclaimed films exploring all facets of American culture. Ken reflects on growing up and coming of age in Ann Arbor during the 1960s, and how this period of intense political and cultural activity mixed with family tragedy charted his journey. He takes us down the streets we remember -- past restaurants and theaters that have come and gone -- and through a back alleyway during the 1969 South University Street Riot. Along the way, he highlights the people, places, and vibrant musical and cinema culture that left its mark on his work.