Author Archives: Daniel Clarkson Fisher

About Daniel Clarkson Fisher

Daniel Clarkson Fisher is a Toronto-based oral historian whose most recent work is the Chinese Jamaican Oral History Project (CJOHP.org), a digital storytelling initiative inspired by his partner Stephanie Lyn and her family. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Media from Ryerson University, and is currently a contract lecturer in that program.

Notes on The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 (2019) by Garrett M. Graff

Posted on July 7, 2020

If there were any doubts about the high regard with which Former First Lady Michelle Obama is held by the American public, her 2018 memoir Becoming surely put them to rest: the book sold more copies in the U.S. than … Continue reading →

“A (Premature?) Postmortem of Revolution by Way of Oral History”

Posted on June 28, 2020

I’ve written a review of Mitchell Abidor’s 2018 book May Made Me: An Oral History of the 1968 Uprising in France (AK Press) for H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online’s H-Socialisms network. Here’s the opening bit: For a long time … Continue reading →

Posted in Articles | Tagged "history from below", 1968, 1968: A Student Generation in Revolt, A Socialist History of the French Revolution, AK Press, Alain Krivine, Alessandro Portelli, anarchism, Anette Warring, Asad Haider, Battle of Valle Giulia, Bernard Eisenschitz, Bernard Vauselle, Biography of an Industrial Town, Blood of Spain: An Oral History of the Spanish Civil War, Bordeaux, Cinéma Militant: Political Filmmaking & May 1968, communism, Daniel Pinos, Dominique Barbe, Down with the Law: Anarchist Individualist Writings from Early Twentieth-Century France, Ecole de Vaugirard, Eliane Paul-Di Vincenzo, Europe's 1968: Voices of Revolt, feminism, France, gay rights, Guy Texier, H-Net, H-Socialisms, Hélène Chatroussat, Henri Simon, Humanities and Social Sciences Online, Isabelle Saint-Saëns, Jacques Rancière, Jacques Wajnsztejn, James Mark, Jean Jaurès, Jean-Jacques Lebel, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Michel Rabaté, Jean-Pierre Fournier, José Chatroussat, Joseph Potiron, Kristin Ross, La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, Latin Quarter, Le Monde libertaire, left politics, Les états generaux du cinéma, Lyon, Margaretta Jolly, May 68, May ‘68 and Its Afterlives, May Made Me: An Oral History of the 1968 Uprising in France, Michel Andrieu, Mitchell Abidor, More “May Made Me”: Additional Elements of an Oral History of the 1968 Uprising in France, Myriam Chédotal, Nantes, New York University’s Tamiment Library, Oral History, Oral History of the American Left, oral history theory, Paris, Pascal Aubier, Patrick McGilligan, Paul Buhle, Paul Douglas Grant, Pauline Steiner, Pierre Mercier, political filmmaking, Prisca Bachelet, prisoner's rights, Progrès de Lyon, Race: What Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession, radical politics, Robert Gildea, Ronald Fraser, Rouen, Saint-Nazaire, Sisterhood and After: An Oral History of the UK Women's Liberation Movement 1968-Present, socialism, Sonia Fayman, Sorbonne, Students for a Democratic Society, Studs Terkel, Suzanne Borde, Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist, The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dialogue, the General Estates of Cinema, The Good War: An Oral History of World War II, The Romance of American Communism, They Say in Harlan County: An Oral History, Thierry Porré, Trotskyism, Viewpoint Magazine, Vivian Gornick, Wally Rossell, women's movement, women's rights, Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do

Notes on Missing Pages: Black Journalists of Modern America: An Oral History (2007) by Wallace Terry

Posted on June 18, 2020

Though they are far from over, the massive global protests that have arisen in response to the murder of George Floyd, police violence broadly, and white supremacy generally have produced a number of remarkable and much-needed effects already. Of special … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes | Tagged #blacklivesmatter, 1968, 60 Minutes, American Society of News Editors, Anthony Amsterdam, anti-racism, Associated Press, Austin Scott, Barbara Reynolds, Bernard Shaw, black journalists, Black Lives Matter, Black Panthers, Bloods: Black Veterans of the Vietnam War: An Oral History, Carole Simpson, civil rights movement, CNN, Current Affairs, Donald Trump, Earl Caldwell, Ed Bradley, Ethel Payne, Federal Bureau of Investigation, George Floyd, Hofstra University, James Bennet, Janice Terry, Jeet Heer, Joel Dreyfus, journalism, Karen DeWitt, Korean conflict, Margaret Sullivan, Missing Pages: Black Journalists of Modern America: An Oral History, Nathan J. Robinson, New York Public Library, Nieman Journalism Lab, objectivity, Oliver Darcy, Parade, police violence, racism, Radio Television Digital News Association, Saigon, School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Florida International University, The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Tom Cotton, U.S. Census, U.S. Supreme Court, Vietnam War, Wallace Terry, Wallace Terry papers, Wenger's granulomatosis, white supremacy, World War II, Zalin Grant

Black Lives Matter

Posted on June 2, 2020

A friend shared an excellent opinion piece from yesterday’s Toronto Star on social media today. Written by the paper’s race and gender columnist, Shree Paradkar, and entitled “So Now You Care About Black Burdens? Prove It,” it is definitely something … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged #blacklivesmatter, #BLM, Amy Starecheski, anti-racism, Black Lives Matter, Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling, Columbia University’s Oral History Master of Arts, Concordia University, George Floyd, How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi, John Gabriel, North America, Oral History Association, Oral History Society, Shree Paradkar, Toronto Star, United Kingdom, United States of America

SHOW AND TELL: Rithy Panh’s Graves Without a Name (2018)

Posted on May 16, 2020

“SHOW AND TELL” SERIES INTRODUCTION: As Michael Frisch astutely observes in A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History (2002): “Oral history has been very much at the methodological center of a wave of … Continue reading →

Posted in "Show and Tell" Series | Tagged A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History, Academy Awards, Alessandro Portelli, animism, Berlin International Film Festival, Beyond Testimony and Trauma: Oral History in the Aftermath of Mass Violence, Bill Nichols, Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center, Cambodia, Cambodian Buddhism, Canada's History, Christine Cynn, Claude Lanzmann, COVID-19, Daniel Glassman, Dead Souls, documentary, documentary filmmaking, Douglas A. Boyd, essay film, Exile, First Run Features, genocide, Graves Without a Name, IndieWire, Introduction to Documentary, Irradiated, Joshua Oppenheimer, Kanopy, Kevin B. Lee, Khmer Rouge, Marie A. Pelletier, mass violence, memory, Meniscus Magazine, Michael Frisch, Montreal, Oral History, Oscars, Peter Jackson, Playtime, Point of View Magazine, Randal Douc, refugees, religion, Rithy Panh, S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine, Shoah, Show and Tell, Spike Lee, Steven High, storytelling, The Act of Killing, The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dialogue, The Elimination: A Survivor of the Khmer Rouge Confronts His Past and the Commandant of the Killing Fields, The Missing Picture, Theravada Buddhism, They Shall Not Grow Old, trauma, violence, Wang Bing, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, Year Zero

My Introduction of Michael Moore’s Sicko (2007) for the Centre for Free Expression’s Film Series at Ryerson University

Posted on March 28, 2020

On March 10th — just before things in Toronto began to shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic — I introduced and led a post-screening discussion of Michael Moore’s hit 2007 documentary Sicko at Ryerson University as part of … Continue reading →

Posted in Documentaries, Events, Lectures | Tagged 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Bernie Sanders, Blake Fitzpatrick, Bowling for Columbine, Brett Story, California Institute of the Arts, Canada, Cannes Film Festival, Centre for Free Expression, Cinema Scope, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Cuba, Danya M. Qato, documentary film, Fahrenheit 9/11, Film Comment, Flint, General Motors, George W. Bush, Guantanamo Bay, gun violence, Iraq, Jacobin, Joe Biden, John McCain, Lawrence O’Donnell, Los Angeles Plays Itself, Luke Savage, Medicare for All, Michael & Us, Michael Moore, Michigan, MSNBC, Pauline Kael, Republican National Committee, Roger & Me, Roger Ebert, Roger Smith, Ryerson University, School of Image Arts at Ryerson University, Sicko, Thom Andersen, Toronto, United States of America, War on Terror, Will Sloan

Interested in Purchasing Books Discussed Here? Find Deals on My Bookshop Affiliate Page, Which Supports Both Independent Bookstores and My Work

Posted on March 12, 2020

Bookshop, the “online bookstore with a mission to financially support independent bookstores and give back to the book community,” has finally launched. To mark this momentous occasion, I’ve joined their affiliate program. You can find my page (with a curated … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged affiliate program, Bookshop, Coronavirus, Daniel Clarkson Fisher, Hummingbird Digital Media, Kobo, Libro.fm, Sam Adams, Slate

A Solidarity Statement in Support of Wet’suwet’en Jurisdiction and Governance from Ryerson University’s MFA Documentary Media Students and Faculty

Posted on March 6, 2020

Over the last several months, the Unist’ot’en Camp in Northern British Columbia has been very much at the center of the news here in Canada. As Alleen Brown and Amber Bracken describe it in a recent (and excellent) piece for … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged #WetsuwetenSolidarity, #WetsuwetenStong, Alleen Brown, Amber Bracken, British Columbia, Canada, Coastal GasLink, Freda Huson, MFA in Documentary Media, Montreal, Ontario, RCMP, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ryerson University, Saskatchewan, TC Energy, The Guardian, The Intercept, Toronto, TransCanada, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Unist'ot'en Camp, Vancouver, Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs, Wet’suwet’en Nation

Notes on Tibetan Resettlement Stories: Voices of Boston (2019)

Posted on February 15, 2020

Knowing about my past work in Buddhist studies, and current work on oral history, one of my students very thoughtfully loaned me a book: Tibetan Resettlement Stories: Voices of Boston (2019), an oral history assembled by members of the eponymous … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes | Tagged Barbara W. Sommer, Boston, China, Claire Kiefer, Cliff Mayotte, community history, Dharamsala, Himalayas, immigration, India, Library of Congress, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, May Kay Quinlan, Nepal, Oral History, Oral History Review, refugees, resettlement, Say It Forward: A Guide to Social Justice Storytelling, The Chinese Jamaican Oral History Project, The Oral History Manual, Tibet, Tibetan Resettlement Stories, Tibetan Resettlement Stories: Voices of Boston, Tibetans, translation, Voice of Witness

Notes on The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, the Correspondents, Staff and Guests (2016) by Chris Smith

Posted on January 31, 2020

Just a couple of issues ago, in the pages of the Oral History Review, Troy Reeves offered an exacting appraisal of Chris Smith’s New York Times bestseller The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes | Tagged Adam H. Johnson, Alessando Portelli, Alex Shepard, Bill Maher, Catching Stories: A Practical Guide to Oral History, Charles F. Ganzert, Chris Smith, Cindy McCain, Comedy Central, Craig Kilborn, David H. Mould, David K. Dunaway, Donna M. DeBlasio, Edward Little, Elizabeth Miller, Envelopes of Sounds: The Art of Oral History, Going Public: The Art of Participatory Practice, Howard L. Sacks, James Andrew Miller, James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, Jen Flanz, Jill Katz, John McCain, Jon Stewart, Live From New York: An Uncensored History Of Saturday Night Live, Madeleine Smithberg, Nima Shirazi, Oral History, oral history as journalism, Oral History Association, Oral History Review, Oral History: An Interdisciplinary Anthology, Pat King, President Barack Obama, Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, Ronald Grele, Rory Albanese, Salman Rushdie, Sarah Palin, Saturday Night Live, SnapStream, Stephen Colbert, Stephen H. Paschen, Steven High, Studs Terkel, The Battle of Valle Giulia: Oral History and the Art of Dialogue, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, The Daily Show (The Book), The Daily Show with Craig Kilborn, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, The Good War: An Oral History of World War II, The New Republic, Tom Shales, Trevor Noah, Troy Reeves, Willa K. Baum, Wyatt Cenac, Yusuf Islam

Author Archives: Daniel Clarkson Fisher

About Daniel Clarkson Fisher

Notes on The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 (2019) by Garrett M. Graff

Notes on Missing Pages: Black Journalists of Modern America: An Oral History (2007) by Wallace Terry

Black Lives Matter

SHOW AND TELL: Rithy Panh’s Graves Without a Name (2018)

My Introduction of Michael Moore’s Sicko (2007) for the Centre for Free Expression’s Film Series at Ryerson University

Interested in Purchasing Books Discussed Here? Find Deals on My Bookshop Affiliate Page, Which Supports Both Independent Bookstores and My Work

A Solidarity Statement in Support of Wet’suwet’en Jurisdiction and Governance from Ryerson University’s MFA Documentary Media Students and Faculty

Notes on The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, the Correspondents, Staff and Guests (2016) by Chris Smith

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