TAMUNING (Press Release) — Memoirs Pasifika, a Guam-based podcast exploring events, movements, and people in modern Micronesian history, has released its fourth episode.
Each episode explores a different topic, and is largely told through interviews with people who witnessed or somehow participated in the events in question.
The fourth episode discusses several key moments and debates from the Northern Mariana Islands’ self-determination process of the 1960s and ‘70s, including the Marianas Political Status Commission’s negotiations with the United States government to end the NMI’s status as a U.S.-administered Trust Territory through the Covenant. It features interviews with several framers of the Covenant, including Vicente Naputi Santos, Manuel Atalig Sablan, and Pedro Agulto Tenorio. Episode 4 is anchored by LJ Castro, a former member of the CNMI House of Representatives and creative director of Guma’ Simiyan Manaina- ta, a dance troupe showcasing Chamorro culture through the performing arts.
Recent Memoirs Pasifika podcast episodes explore other fascinating events in the region’s history. For example, the third episode discusses Operation New Life, when Guam served as the primary processing center for 112,000 Vietnamese refugees after the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. Episode 1, anchored by Dr. Michael Lujan Bevacqua, tells the story of Guam Gov. Carlos Camacho’s eventful trip to Vietnam to visit Guam’s battle-weary troops during Christmas, 1969. The trip unexpectedly helped shape Guam’s political history, launched a practice among politicians nationwide that continues up until today, and even inspired a hit song by Chamoru singer-songwriter Johnny Sablan.
The podcast’s website (www.memoirspasifika.com) gives fans access to a supplementary archival media relating to the first episode’s topic, such as pertinent photos, music, and scanned newspaper clippings from the era.
Micronesia is a group of tiny islands with a big history,” says the show’s producer, Tony Azios. “Despite possessing a wealth of fascinating stories, very few podcasts discuss Micronesia’s unique history or tap into the region’s archival collections. Memoirs Pasifika attempts to meet that need through a deeply researched podcast dedicated to recent Micronesian history — while giving voice to the people who lived it.”
The show’s producer is working closely with subject matter experts, including history and Micronesian studies professors at the University of Guam, as well as archival organizations from throughout the region, such as the Micronesian Area Research Center.
Azios hopes the Memoirs Pasifika podcast (which officially launched in February 2021) will help to grow interest in the region, foster discussion, and inspire further investigation into the events, people, social movements, and ideas that helped shape contemporary Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia, as well as Micronesia’s impacts on the global stage.
The podcast is available for download and streaming across multiple sites, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon / Audible, SoundCloud, Libsyn, Facebook, and YouTube.
Memoirs Pasifika is supported through grants from Humanities Guåhan, the Northern Marianas Humanities Council, the Guam Council on the Arts & Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
