The Talking Drum

The Talking Drum is The Culture’s home for research, analysis, and documentation of the West Side’s information ecosystem. Inspired by the historic role of talking drums as long-distance communicators across African societies, this section examines how stories, signals, and knowledge move through Austin, North Lawndale, West Garfield Park, and surrounding communities.

Here, we gather and publish the reporting behind our reporting: media-use surveys, field notes, oral histories, ecosystem maps, archival research, data visualizations, and studies of how residents receive, share, interpret, and produce information.