You’ve probably seen her super-cute red-and-white vintage travel trailer, either out on the roads of Sullivan County, or parked at a public event with folks gathered ‘round. More than likely you’ve heard her radio show on WJFF Radio Catskill, which has been broadcasting “Sabrina Artel’s Trailer Talk” for nearly two decades.

I’ve been meaning to ask Sabrina about the origins of the show for years, but Artel, who not only writes, produces and creates “Trailer Talk,” also produces Laura Flanders’  nationally syndicated PBS television show, (www.riverreporter.com/stories/laura-flanders,64080). Suffice it to say that she’s a busy woman and difficult to pin down.

Before giving Sabrina a call and asking questions the internet could answer, I went online and did some homework.  

“Trailer Talk is a live performance, a community event and a broadcast,” Artel’s website informed me. “I drive my vintage camper to Main Streets, festivals and events. People step inside, I welcome them with homemade brownies and we sit down to talk over the kitchen table, which also expands outside the trailer itself to engage in conversations at additional sites.”

The website continued, “[The] goal is to bring attention to important issues where least expected, on the streets and in people’s neighborhoods. At Trailer Talk events, the kitchen table represents the democratic tradition of public dialogue that values the coming together of diverse and often opposing voices to create common ground and inspire social change.”

I took note of the show’s slogan, “Big conversations from a little trailer,” and made arrangements with Sabrina to have a chat.

Jonathan Charles Fox: You’ve been doing this for quite a while now, right?

Sabrina Artel: Yes. This is the end of the 19th year, and soon I’ll be launching into the 20th anniversary. It’s hard to believe that this project began in the summer of 2003. Every year at this time, I send out a newsletter sharing what has occurred over the last 12 months and the mission of the Trailer Talk project, which is about the art of conversation.

It originated as a live performance in my 1965 Beeline travel trailer. I’m an artist, a performer and a journalist, so I combined [those disciplines] and call it “performance journalism.”

The heart of the project is the travel trailer and the belief in the importance of us getting together to discuss and debate important issues that impact all of us. The idea of meeting at the kitchen table is that we’re coming face to face. It changes the nature of the conversation.

Trailer Talk began in 2003 out of my anger [surrounding] the political situation happening at that time—the Bush years. It was pre-social media, and there were no platforms for people to share their own perspectives. It was a way to use first-person narratives to change discourse and to affirm people who were taking action.

Jonathan Charles Fox: And you began this project in Sullivan County?

Sabrina Artel: Yes, I’ve been living here full-time for 29 years. The Trailer Talk project would never have happened had I not been living in Sullivan County. I was raised in a big city [Los Angeles, CA], but moving here introduced me to a different kind of living. This is a rural area which presented me with a lot of incredibly complicated issues.

I also appreciated what I learned, and continue to learn—[about the] complexities of the kinds of people that live here. I’m always open and up front about who I am as a person, and I think of Trailer Talk as kind of a living archive of these dialogues, these conversations. I want to see us speaking to each other, tackling the issues, because we are again in another point of crisis. There’s a lot of discord between people, we’re once again experiencing political divisions, and I really believe that conversation is the root of cultural sustainability.

Jonathan Charles Fox: That’s a lofty goal.

Sabrina Artel: If we can increase our conversations, then there’s a possibility that we can come together and understand each other a little bit better, even if we’re not in agreement. I’m always exploring ideas around community, what brings people together.

Since the pandemic began, I created the In the Neighborhood project. Because of COVID-19, I’ve not been able to take the trailer out to locations that would bring people together. “Trailer Talk” began with the playfulness of being able to tackle serious issues and combine those with being at a harvest festival, or a parade or at a farmers’ market, where we might be exchanging pie recipes.

The idea of this latest project is that I’m combining these conversations because they are all a part of who we are. In a way, the In the Neighborhood project is my love letter to Sullivan County. I like to think of the trailer as a portal of possibility.

Jonathan Charles Fox: Not only are you highly quotable, you’re also a bit of a celebrity here in the region.

Sabrina Artel: [laughing] A lot of people know me as “that lady with the trailer,” but I’m also on the street with my microphone—at a protest, at a live event or at a polling place. The anchor is always the trailer, whether the Beeline is present or not. In the Neighborhood is a very exciting project.

Because I live here, and some people [are aware of] my latest endeavor, there is a relationship, a kind of trust. Hopefully, come the warmer months, I’ll be able to invite people into the trailer again, but we’ll be having these deep dialogues regardless. Whether or not we’re in the travel trailer, these are stories from America’s kitchen table.

Jonathan Charles Fox: What you are doing is important, and the fact that you chose the Delaware River region to do so is amazing, in my humble opinion. Honestly, at the end of the day, what is the goal of “Sabrina Artel’s Trailer Talk”?

Sabrina Artel: I’m inviting participation. I’m coordinating it, I’m hosting it, but it’s not about me. It’s about the people who are on the front lines of a story, people who are living it, and I know how important it is to be able to share their stories.

Even when we’re exchanging recipes at a fair, what are we talking about? We’re talking about farming, about sustainability around local food… we’re talking about economics. But we’re also talking about what brings us together, which to me is just as important as someone’s favorite kind of pie.

Jonathan Charles Fox: So is it fair to say that exchanging family recipes can bridge the gap between someone who supports fracking, which is in the local news again, and someone who does not?

Sabrina Artel: I think that it has the potential to do so. It’s OK to label ourselves. What becomes a danger is when we label others. We can talk about all kinds of things: politics, gender, economics—the list goes on.

One of my greatest lessons from living here is the inspiration behind Trailer Talk.

Jonathan Charles Fox: Which is?

Sabrina Artel: We have a volunteer fire department, we have a volunteer ambulance corps. I know that I interact with people daily with whom I disagree politically, and yet we find numerous ways in which we connect, where we relate as human beings who will support and help one another, period.

The Trailer Talk Project is independent and supported by the generosity of supporters. For more information visit www.sabrinaartel.com.