Episode 039—Contextualize This (feat. Mike Draper, RAYGUN)
Mike Draper of RAYGUN joins to spin us a soft, blanket of context about the Silk Road and why the European gaze of history is dumb. Then Cass brings us to pre-revolutionary France to learn about Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, or, as the internet knows him, "Black Mozart."
CORRECTION: Bittersweet Symphony is by The Verve, not The Verve Pipe. WE ARE SO SORRY AND ASHAMED. But, the story about the royalties is, in fact, true.
More on Mike:
Mike Draper is the founder and owner of RAYGUN. While finishing up at University of Pennsylvania with a degree in history, Mike started selling “Not Penn State” t-shirts on campus and the rest is…well…history? RAYGUN (then called SMASH) opened in Des Moines in the fall of 2005. Fifteen years later, they are still putting words on shirts (and a lot more), have expanded to 6 locations and donated a whole butt-ton of cash to organizations they care about (seriously, 15-30% of their net profits are donated each year). Follow them at @RaygunShirts on Instagram, Twitter and/or Facebook.
SOURCES:
Silk Road: The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan, This research paper by Philip T. Hoffman, Wiki, his history major
Joseph Bologne: Wiki, Classic FM, NYT
CREDITS:
Original Theme: Garreth Spinn
Original Art: Sarah Cruz
SPONSORS: This episode was sponsored by RAYGUN & ECBG Cake Studio.