Cultural Fingerprints

Cultural Fingerprints explores the interactions between language, culture, technology, and place. Hosted by Rhea Kapur, the show features conversations with designers of urban signage in NYC; readings and analysis of folklore from around the world; interviews with language and culture experts; musings on how AI can aid in multilingual and interdisciplinary inquiry; and more. For additional details: culturalfingerprints.com

9 episodes

8d ago latest

fortnightly cadence

English language

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Episodes 9

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Maya Congee Cafe with Layla Chen, Ray Sison, and Yuan Wei
8d ago · 53:23
Ray Sison was a regular at Maya Congee Cafe in Bed-Stuy for months before its owner, Layla Chen, asked what he did for a living. When she found out he ran Playlist, a design studio, it sparked an organic collaboration: one that actually turned into a full rebrand once Layla decided to open a more grown-up, sit-down second location of the restaurant. Ray brought in his studio partner Yuan Wei, and together the three of them built an identity around something deeply personal to Layla: a 90s calendar print of Shanghainese women playing mahjong that she'd kept since childhood, an image she tied to
Story Behind the Choking Sign: Rosella with Peter Arkle and Jeff Miller
1mo ago · 48:51
Ask chef Jeff Miller how he knows someone, and the answer is often through Rosella: regulars, others in the restaurant industry, and even his wife, who first walked up to their counter as a guest. Illustrator Peter Arkle is on that list too. Bold yet comforting flavors solidified their friendship during the pandemic, when Jeff would pass bites to Peter from behind a screen at Grape and Grain. After Rosella opened on Avenue A in the East Village, the choking sign was the first thing Jeff asked him to draw. Peter came back with two namesake Rosella parrots in collared shirts, swapping wings for
Story Behind the Choking Sign: Merging Skateboarding, Graffiti, and Cartoons with Van Eggers
2mo ago · 41:12
Van Eggers has been a skateboarder since he was five and a graffiti artist since he was eleven, and the core of his artwork traces back to those two identities. In this episode of the Cultural Fingerprints podcast, Van walks us through his Long Beach years: living in the legendary Winnipeg Street skate house, full of pros sleeping on army cots and exchanging music, art, and skate lore; relentlessly pitching his work to anyone connected to the skate brands he’d grown up admiring; and painting murals at the parks by day before skating under their lights after dark. Those experiences eventually l
Story Behind the Choking Sign: Sketching in the Restaurant World with Sara Rabin
3mo ago · 48:54
Many custom NYC choking safety signs were drawn by those on staff. Graphic designer, illustrator, and artist Sara Rabin has two on the walls of New York City establishments: one made for Dimes in Chinatown, where she waitressed for a decade, and one from Rodeo in Crown Heights, opened by a friend from that same downtown restaurant orbit. In this episode of the Cultural Fingerprints podcast, Sara walks us through both: the hand-drawn Dimes sign she created not long after spotting a wall of bananas in its Chinatown window and deciding to work there, and the Rodeo sign, for which she dressed her
Story Behind the Choking Sign: City Aesthetics and Escaping from New York with Phil Ashworth
3mo ago · 50:36
How did a dystopian John Carpenter movie end up saving lives in New York cafes? In this new episode of the Cultural Fingerprints podcast, illustrator Phil Ashworth tells the story behind one of city’s most beloved pieces of restaurant safety signage: his Heimlich poster starring Snake Plissken, the reluctant antihero of Escape from New York (1981), begrudgingly saving a choking victim in a bombed-out cityscape (and checking their mouth for hidden razor blades along the way). We trace Phil’s path from drawing at his dad’s drafting table and studying illustration at RISD to pursuing the craft in
Spaces Between: Maxwell Neely-Cohen on Archiving Sound and Movement
3mo ago · 56:43
How does a record collection started at age 12 shape a career spanning literary publishing, dramaturgy, and digital preservation? In the first episode of Spaces Between, a new Cultural Fingerprints series, Maxwell Neely-Cohen shares how growing up immersed in D.C.'s go-go, punk, and electronic music scenes laid the groundwork for a practice that refuses to sit in one medium. We dive into Max's early days as a classically trained percussionist and the makings of The HTML Review, the publication he runs with artist and engineer Shelby Wilson that treats the web itself as a medium. Then, we turn
Story Behind the Choking Sign: Basketball, Food, and Design with Pitu Sanchez
5mo ago · 42:47
How did this famed moment in New York basketball culture become embedded in a restaurant safety sign? In the second episode of Cultural Fingerprints, designer and art director Pitu Sanchez shares how he intersected his love for basketball, food, design, and New York in this legendary passion project: creating a restaurant safety sign that repurposes NBA star Reggie Miller’s iconic trash-talk “choke” gesture, famously directed at renowned filmmaker and New York Knicks superfan Spike Lee as he sat courtside, as a visual demonstration of a choking emergency. We dive into Pitu’s design philosophy
Story Behind the Choking Sign: Fish Cheeks with Lia Kantrowitz and Jessica Saesue
5mo ago · 45:41
A choking safety sign as art? In this episode, illustrator Lia Kantrowitz and creative director Jessica Saesue discuss their work on the custom choking sign for Fish Cheeks, a contemporary, seafood-focused Thai restaurant in New York. Their creative relationship began at VICE nearly a decade ago and now extends to teaming up on branding projects for not only Fish Cheeks, but also 55 Hospitality’s other culinary ventures! Lia and Jessica share how they interpreted the flexible regulatory language describing choking safety signage to decide on the layout and artistic style of the Fish Cheeks cus
Welcome to Cultural Fingerprints!
5mo ago · 1:34
Welcome to the podcast for Cultural Fingerprints, a home for the intersections of language, culture, technology, and place. I'm your host, Rhea Kapur: a researcher, artist, urban archivist, and technologist. More at www.rheakapur.info and www.culturalfingerprints.com, or find me @culturalfingerprints on Instagram and TikTok!

Episodes

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Cultural Fingerprints

Episodes 9

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Maya Congee Cafe with Layla Chen, Ray Sison, and Yuan Wei

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Rosella with Peter Arkle and Jeff Miller

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Merging Skateboarding, Graffiti, and Cartoons with Van Eggers

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Sketching in the Restaurant World with Sara Rabin

Story Behind the Choking Sign: City Aesthetics and Escaping from New York with Phil Ashworth

Spaces Between: Maxwell Neely-Cohen on Archiving Sound and Movement

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Basketball, Food, and Design with Pitu Sanchez

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Fish Cheeks with Lia Kantrowitz and Jessica Saesue

Welcome to Cultural Fingerprints!

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Episodes 9

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Maya Congee Cafe with Layla Chen, Ray Sison, and Yuan Wei

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Rosella with Peter Arkle and Jeff Miller

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Merging Skateboarding, Graffiti, and Cartoons with Van Eggers

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Sketching in the Restaurant World with Sara Rabin

Story Behind the Choking Sign: City Aesthetics and Escaping from New York with Phil Ashworth

Spaces Between: Maxwell Neely-Cohen on Archiving Sound and Movement

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Basketball, Food, and Design with Pitu Sanchez

Story Behind the Choking Sign: Fish Cheeks with Lia Kantrowitz and Jessica Saesue

Welcome to Cultural Fingerprints!