Almost every newspaper, magazine, and piece of ephemera on display for the BINJ installation in Harvard Square comes from David Bieber, whose Norwood-based archive represents 50-plus years of collecting and preserving the popular culture, music, and media of the 20th and 21st centuries. David has acquired more than one million artifacts, building a collection ranging from vintage vinyl to antique radios, movie memorabilia to original Andy Warhol art, posters to press kits, baseball cards to bottle caps, always believing that the transitory creations of today are the treasures of the future.
Following business studies at Miami University and public relations at Kent State, David received a master’s degree in journalism from Boston University. While in college, he reported for Billboard magazine, and his ensuing Boston music and media career spans four decades, including positions as creative services director at the groundbreaking WBCN-FM for 16 years and director of special projects at the Boston Phoenix/WFNX-FM for 19 years.
In an interview with BINJ Editorial Director Chris Faraone and ensuing open discussion, we will tap his knowledge of iconic counterculture around Cambridge specifically. Join David and others who helped curate the BINJ installation and hear about legendary outlets including Old Mole and other SDS papers published in Cambridge, and as well as the alternative newspaper wars involving the Cambridge Phoenix, The Real Paper, and Boston After Dark that inspired the 1977 movie Between the Lines.