Oct 21, 2026 · 1h 21m
Brooms reveal the hidden histories of labor, culture and craft
Broomology (BROOMS) with Cate O’Connell-Richards
What looks like an ordinary cleaning tool carries stories of Indigenous knowledge, African influence, colonization, prison labor, witchcraft and handmade work.
- 1Broom designs reflect local materials, regional traditions and exchanges shaped by colonization and displacement.
- 2Broom production connects seasonal agricultural work, enslaved and incarcerated labor, and the economics of handmade craft.
- 3Witchcraft imagery and wedding rituals transformed brooms from household tools into symbols of danger, transition and belonging.
Don't miss
The discussion connects the broomstick’s witchcraft imagery to fifteenth-century European texts, sexual politics and fears of women’s independence.
The brief
Cate O’Connell-Richards, an artist, educator and broom maker, begins with a problem: broom history is global, oral and folkloric, scattered across materials that rarely survive.
The familiar flat broom emerged through Indigenous splint traditions, colonial practice and Shaker refinement, while broom corn connected American production to African origins and forced migration.
Behind the handmade object sits a harder history: seasonal broomcorn labor, westward colonization, displacement of Indigenous peoples and the continuing use of incarcerated labor.
The broom’s supernatural reputation also has a history, linking fifteenth-century European imagery, church texts, sexuality and fears of women’s independence to the flying witch.
From jumping-the-broom weddings to artistic brooms, the episode argues that making and using these tools can preserve knowledge while challenging disposable consumption.
Books & mentions
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