The Music of Your Diaspora
Notes from America with Kai Wright
WNYC Studios
4.4 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 24 August 2023
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Producer Regina de Heer is asking listeners for songs that represent something about their identity as part of a diaspora – any kind of diaspora! And you’ve been answering.
In this installment, we hear Brazilian Calypso, a modern take on a Yiddish classic by the Andrews Sisters, and get a special submission from one of our favorite show guests. And you can hear the playlists now at WNYC.org/playlist.
Send us your song for our summer playlist! What’s a song that represents your personal diaspora story? Go to notesfromamerica.org and click on the “RECORD” button to leave a voice note with your answer. Tell us the name of that song and the artist, and a 1-minute story that goes along with it. We’ll gather all of the songs and your stories in a Spotify playlist that we’ll update all summer.
Tell us what you think. Instagram and X (Twitter): @noteswithkai. Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or going to Instagram and clicking on the link in our bio.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Notes from America, I'm Kai Wright, and I'm joined by our producer Regina De |
| 0:09.4 | Hearr for another update on our Notes from America Summer playlist project. Hey Regina. |
| 0:15.9 | Hi Kai. |
| 0:17.0 | So just to recap, we've been asking our listeners all summer to help generate a playlist |
| 0:22.0 | for these wonderfully long and sunny days. We do need that hit of joy with all of the climate |
| 0:28.2 | related crises we've been facing this summer. But this is our second annual playlist effort. |
| 0:34.7 | And the theme this year is music of our diasporas. Listeners have been sending us songs that |
| 0:41.8 | represent their own personal stories of identity as part of some kind of diaspora. |
| 0:47.5 | And we're taking those submissions and making a Spotify playlist that you can stream right |
| 0:52.6 | now. |
| 0:53.6 | It's available to stream right now. Just go to wnyc.org slash playlist to listen. |
| 1:00.6 | And I'm learning so much and also just getting amazing song recommendations that I never |
| 1:05.9 | would have been introduced to otherwise. Like this submission from Johnson, who is Brazilian, |
| 1:11.9 | but is now based in Arizona. |
| 1:13.7 | I was born Massachusetts, whispered a little bit in Brazil because that's when my family |
| 1:18.8 | came from grew up most of my life in New Jersey, but now I'm currently resigning in the |
| 1:23.3 | great state of Arizona. |
| 1:28.0 | My contribution would be chopped with five levels today by a Brazilian band called Fernanda |
| 1:33.2 | Cali Still. And the chorus essentially translates to my love, tag my back for me because |
| 1:40.7 | I got to go. |
| 1:48.9 | And it's so fun. It is so silly, but it also taps into a deep season knowledge that I have |
| 1:56.7 | that I don't belong here. I don't belong there. It is my destiny as part of diaspora to |
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