#45 – How Can Typing in Public Challenge Fear and Defend Free Speech? | Sheryl Oring

What happens when a typewriter becomes a tool for collective memory? In this episode, Rob Lee reconnects with interdisciplinary artist and activist Sheryl Oring—first featured on the podcast in 2023. Sheryl returns with updates on I Wish to Say, her decades-long public performance project where thousands have dictated postcards to the U.S. president. What began as a solo typewriter setup is now an evolving civic archive—and a way to resist censorship, document the moment, and hold space for unheard voices.

This conversation follows a pivotal year for Sheryl—marked by the sudden closure of University of the Arts in Philadelphia—and explores how loss, listening, and literal paper trails have shaped her latest work.

• Resisting censorship: serving as the first artist on the board of the National Coalition Against Censorship
• Typing on tour: collecting messages from parks, libraries, and campuses during an election year
• Analog permanence: archiving 5,000+ typewritten postcards and the invisible labor of cultural memory
• Post-UArts Philly: navigating grief, disillusionment, and artistic renewal after institutional collapse
• Fear and self-censorship: how public expression is shifting for immigrants, youth, and marginalized communities
• Libraries as sanctuary: preserving democratic space as book bans and closures escalate
• Art as care: on fermenting, gardening, and rituals that ground a life in transition

Sheryl first appeared on The Truth in This Art in 2023—listen to that conversation [here].

This episode was recorded during a season reflecting on archives, resilience, and artists working at the intersection of public space and democratic expression.

Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:

• Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
• Edited by Daniel Alexis
• Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor

Photos:

• Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
• Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.

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