In contrast to the usual view of the Las Vegas as a superficial playground, The 24 Hour Show presents a vision of the city as a diverse hometown peopled by residents from all walks of life and from all corners of the world, who bring unique and powerful stories about their work and life experiences to enrich the fabric of the city. In 2005, the Western Folklife Center gaze turned south to one of the largest groups of people at work in Nevada – the people who staff the casino and entertainment industry. The resulting exhibition traveled the country between 2006 and 2008.

Work is a place where we develop shared experiences, where we learn the skills needed to do our jobs, and where we create an environment that is often personal and creative. Every job has its own lingo, its own tricks of the trade passed on from one worker to another, and its own unique skills and knowledge developed over years and generations of shared labor. The 24 Hour Show highlights this legacy of work through peoples’ stories as they describe what they do and why their work is meaningful to them.

Our congratulations to executive producer of The 24 Hour Show, Christina Barr, winner of the 2007 Electronic Media Award for Best Documentary, from Las Vegas Women in Communications.

Based on original fieldwork, The 24 Hour Show was a 22-part radio collaborative documentary project between the Western Folklife Center and the Nevada State Museum & Historical Society. Other partners included Nevada Public Radio, the City of Las Vegas Centennial Commission, the working community of Las Vegas, and other statewide and local groups. The 24 Hour Show was been funded in part by the Las Vegas Centennial Commission.