Difficult Histories: Everyday Life in the Land of Rip Van Winkle is a monthly radio program that records and preserves the voices of ordinary people in Columbia and Greene counties. By inviting local residents to record their stories, Difficult Histories contributes to a broader record of our community’s history and makes possible a wider participation in the process of its representation. Difficult Histories derives from that approach to history rooted in the investigation of everyday life.

Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology Yaakov Stern, local resident Melena Caffrey, and author Douglas Atkins lend their voices to a conversation about distinguishing between nostalgia and loss, memories and alzheimers, and the contemporary media landscape.

"Difficult Histories" is supported, in part, by the New York Council for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.