“Learning to listen”, or the Practice of Oral History. An interview with Paul Thompson

Abstract

In this interview, Professor Paul Thompson talks about his life and influences, and about his past and current works and projects. Thompson reflects on the ways by which his childhood in Eastern England has influenced his work, his love for architecture and art and how his pioneer work on oral history came to develop. He recalls the beginning of his interest about History and research, the role of W. G. Hoskins and other historians who introduced new perspectives in historiography and the community oral history projects developed by Ruskin College at Oxford. He describes the beginning of his practice in oral history, the foundation of the Oral History Society and the creation of the National Life Stories Collection in the British Library. Thompson also talks about his profound concern with data preservation and public archiving regarding not only oral history but also social science research, and about his role in the Qualidata project.