09. Forging in Concert
HOST AND CURATOR
Sara Ortiz
HOST
Erica Vital-Lazare
SENIOR PRODUCER
Nicole Kelly
PRODUCERS
Vera Blossom, Layla Muhammad
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS
Sylvia Fox, Soni Brown
MIXING & MASTERING
Andy Bosnak, Ariel Mejia
ENGINEER
Kevin Krall
CONTRIBUTORS
Chris Arnold, Jeremy Klewicki
MUSIC BY
Jeremy Klewicki
ILLUSTRATION
Niege Borges
SONGS IN THE KEY OF CHILDHOOD
Joe Raposo had a gift for imbuing simple concepts—letters, numbers, colors—with rich emotion through music. In 1969, he received a call from a friend to be the music director for a new children's TV show. And so Sesame Street found its sound. In this segment, essayist Chris Arnold looks back on the life of a man who created a sound that echoed the world children saw and heard outside their windows. Consult the pages of The Believer to read the unabridged version of this essay.
THE KIM SISTERS
In this Aural History, producer Vera Blossom tells the story of the Kim Sisters. She looks into the political circumstances that transported the Kim Sisters from performing in their home country just after the American–Korean War all the way to the early days of the Las Vegas Strip.
FLOWERS TO RASAR
Rasar Amani began rapping in 1999. A talented lyricist and emcee, he performed in venues around the world. In 2015, he formed The Lique, creating explosive meldings of hip-hop, funk, rock and jazz. Last fall, Rasar passed away unexpectedly. In this segment, one of his bandmates, Jeremy Klewicki pays tribute to him. The Lique’s third album, Imposter Syndrome, released this winter, commemorates Rasar’s 36th birthday.