If you’re looking for a podcast about Haitian culture that goes deep into the arts, especially literature, you can’t afford neglect Haitian podcast “Epizòd”. About four episodes in, the podcast is the brainchild of Miss Talie, editor of Woy Magazine, a web publication platform that targets Haitian-Americans and other assorted folks of Haitian descent.
From the intro music sung by France-based Haitian singer Sarah Jane Rameau to the interweaving of commentary by the host with the interviews, the podcast strives to be unique. Another aspect of Epizòd that distinguishes Epizòd from others of podcasts its kind, is that episodes alternate between Haitian Creole and English, while some podcasts targeting a Haitian-American audiences tend to be strictly in English with some Creole thrown in once-in-a-while.
In show #2, Webert Arthurs speaks exclusively in Haitian Creole about color in 18th Century Haiti, and Haiti’s isolation following the Haitian Revolution of 1804. Naomi Andre, the expert of the subsequent episode, is a musicologist whose graduate work concentrated on classical music research. She discussed her scholarship in the opera genre and Haiti’s connection to a William Grant Still opera milestone in the 20th Century.
In one of the episodes, Talie interviews California-born, Haitian-American scholar Marlene Daut. Daut addresses what she terms “interest-serving narratives” from the 18th and 19th Centuries. Author of Haitian literary history tome Tropics of Haiti, and a blogger, Daut gained an awareness of social order and narrative discrepancies in Haitian history through extensive scholarship.
Epizòd’s episodes are less than 15 minutes long, long enough to pack enough intriguing and make an impact, but not so long that it becomes cumbersome. It’s for those who want to explore Haiti’s little-known histories, and for those who want to know more about Haiti beyond what’s already known and obvious. Each episode makes the listener long to learn more, and to look beyond the basics.
You can listen to the aforementioned Dr. Marlene Daut episode below:
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