Amanda Brown '17G was the Dramaturg / Historical Advisor for the newly launched “spatialized podcast” Day of Days, created by Walking Cinema which launched on MLK Day Monday, January 20, 2025.
A six-part mini-series and an immersive AR app, Day of Days recounts a chance meeting between Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black mystic, Howard Thurman as King was recovering from a near-fatal stabbing in Harlem in 1958. Their meandering 3-hour conversation, which ultimately transformed King's approach to the Civil Rights movement, brought out some serious history, sagacity, and storytelling, but really centered on the key question: Where Do I Go From Here? It's a question a lot of us ask about our careers, our country, and our evolving belief systems. The way that King and Thurman explored this question in 1958 is incredibly prescient with Inauguration Day coinciding with MLK Day. The issues these men confronted are some we are still grappling with: full citizenship for minorities, true leadership, and how to create a space within ourselves that stands firm in face of fear.
Day of Days, while a dramatic interpretation of a conversation we have no transcript of, was researched and developed with all the discipline and rigor of a scholarly work. The story is brought to life by playwright Darren Canady (Professor of Writing at the University of Kansas), stars Billy Eugene Jones (who also stars Our Town on Broadway), and is directed/scored by Peabody Award winner Jonathan Mitchell (“The Truth” Podcast). It is an ambitiously experimental, yet model interdisciplinary project that bridges the academy with popular media, filtering the ivory tower through a sleek and cool pair of wireless headphones. You can download the first Episode on Spotify or Apple (or wherever you get your podcasts).
The collaborative team also developed an immersive companion piece! A free mobile app (iPhone and Android) that functions as a sort of prequel, allowing you to step inside the places mentioned in the podcast to understand just how King and Thurman came together on that fateful day in Harlem Hospital. We had crews out in Montgomery, Daytona, and even in Pakistan do photogrammetric scans of the historic sites mentioned in the podcast. The app experience takes about 15 minutes, includes stunning narration from Billy Eugene Jones, and only requires a flat surface to present the world of Day of Days in miniature.
Amanda Brown is an American intellectual and cultural historian who works as a college counselor and lead essay specialist at Coastal College. She earned a Ph.D. in History as well as an M.A. in American Studies from Lehigh and served as the assistant soccer coach. She also holds B.A.'s in American Studies and Advertising from Penn State University.
Spotlight Recipient
Amanda Brown
Graduate Alumna