Episode 11: Julian Saporiti and Erin Aoyama on Folk Music, Asian American History, and No-No Boy

Public Work: a public humanities podcast

How can music call attention to America's traumatic past and reveal what we can learn from these histories in the present? This week we talk to Julian Saporiti and Erin Aoyama, the musicians and scholars behind No-No Boy. The No-No Boy project tells stories about the Asian American experience through folk music, highlighting histories of Japanese Incarceration camp survivors, what life was like during the Vietnam War, and many other experiences. Juilan and Erin talk about where the idea for this project came from, discuss the research and traveling they've done to learn more about these histories, and play some of their amazing songs. We hope you enjoy this special musical episode of Public Work! Public Work is produced and hosted by Amelia Golcheski and Jim McGrath. Questions? Comments? Find us on Twitter (PublicWorkPod) or email us: publicworkpodcast[at]gmail. The music at the beginning of this episode is excerpted from the song “New Day” by Lee Rosevere (licensed via Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International). All other music is performed by No-No Boy.