Playing the Archive

Playing the Archive: Hearing in Red and Yellow (#11)

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and Germany reunified, the territory of the German Democratic Republic was absorbed into the capitalist West. People felt the West had won. But what if things had gone the other way? What if reunified Germany had been communist? That is just what happened in Vietnam in 1975. As the war ended, the colonial, capitalist South joined the communist North -- and it remains communist today. Yet the Cold War still impacts how people live, feel, and listen, both in Germany and in Vietnam. Why do South Vietnamese immigrants feel more "German" than North Vietnamese ones? Why do people still listen to the sentimental "yellow music" of South Vietnam, although they have forgotten the patriotic "red music" of the North? In this episode I talk with Vienamese culture worker and ethnographer Nhi Duong about her research on the Cold War histories of Vietnamese in Berlin and the traces those histories have left in Berlin's archives and soundscapes. Because this episode was recorded on Zoom while Sydney had a cold, it sounds a bit different than the other episodes. In Playing the Archive, ethnomusicologist Sydney Hutchinson dives into experimental archival research with interviews, radio plays, & more. This podcast is a part of the Second World Music project. To learn more, visit http://secondworldmusic.wordpress.com. Playing the Archive © 2025 by Sydney Hutchinson/Second World Music is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Playing the Archive: Spectral Sounds & Sonic Storytelling (#10)

Where do obsolete media go to die, and is there an afterlife for old tapes? In this Day of the Dead double feature, two sound artists explore lost sounds, spectral voices, trashed tapes, and anarchist sound editing, bringing research in sound studies together with experimental sound art. Join Nicolás Rey, Rita Santos, and me in the great beyond with some sonic (ghost) stories. Part I features Nicolás Rey and begins at 1:05. Listen to Nicolás Rey on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4PfdFzTqaz0aKCCZKrJCl9 Part II features Rita Santos and begins at 26:33. Hear Rita Santos' new album here: https://ritasantos.bandcamp.com/album/a-harmonia-parece-imensa-porque-as-coisas-n-o-t-m-boca-para-pregar In Playing the Archive, ethnomusicologist Sydney Hutchinson and friends dive into experimental archival research with interviews, radio plays, & more. This podcast is a part of the Second World Music project. To learn more, visit http://secondworldmusic.wordpress.com. Playing the Archive © 2025 by Sydney Hutchinson/Second World Music is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Playing the Archive: Chinese Square Dance (#9)

Dancing in a public square - it's a typical feature of Chinese urban life known as "Guang Chang Wu," square dance. Promoted by Mao, transformed through daily practice, Chinese square dance has often been mocked as an old women's activity. Yet it provides community and therapy for millions who do it in Chinese cities and in the Chinese diaspora. In this episode, Serena Agbokhan interviews Chang Cheng about her research on Guang Chang Wu in Norway. Communist relic or the new zumba? You'll have to decide for yourself. In Playing the Archive, ethnomusicologist Sydney Hutchinson and friends dive into experimental archival research with interviews, radio plays, & more. This podcast is a part of the Second World Music project. To learn more, visit http://secondworldmusic.wordpress.com. Playing the Archive © 2025 by Sydney Hutchinson/Second World Music is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Playing the Archive: Archives (and Their Others) in the Aural City (#8)

Which sounds do archives keep, and which do they leave out? Do we, the archivists and researchers, create archives, or do the archives create us? In this episode, Sydney Hutchinson and Natalia Neira Nieto speak with sound scholar Alejandro Madrid about his latest book The Archive and the Aural City. Alejandro reflects on how archives in Mexico and Germany are shaped—how materials are chosen, what they reveal, and how they transform over time. The conversation also touches on themes of collective belonging, national agendas, and his current book project on Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez. In Playing the Archive, ethnomusicologist Sydney Hutchinson dives into experimental archival research with interviews, radio plays, & more. This podcast is a part of the Second World Music project. To learn more, visit http://secondworldmusic.wordpress.com. Playing the Archive © 2025 by Sydney Hutchinson/Second World Music is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Playing the Archive: Deaf Voices and Distant Listening (#7)

When musicologist Sarah Fuchs stumbled across a mysterious set of wax cylinder recordings from a Parisian school for the deaf, she had no idea how deep the archive would go. In this episode, she chats with Sydney Hutchinson about early recording technologies, opera at a distance, and what it means to truly listen—especially when sound itself is contested. From 19th-century jukeboxes to the ethics of hearing someone else's history, this conversation asks: how do we make sense of voices from the past? In Playing the Archive, ethnomusicologist Sydney Hutchinson and guests dive into experimental archival research with interviews, radio plays, & more. This podcast is a part of the Second World Music project and the episode was co-edited by Keyania Campbell. To learn more, visit http://secondworldmusic.wordpress.com. Playing the Archive © 2025 by Sydney Hutchinson/Second World Music is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International