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 to his work as a consulting dramaturg at the New York Choreographic Institute and his passion for personal, community, and professional archiving, including why oral history might be the truest way to preserve dance.

SPACES BETWEEN uncovers the personal histories of those who work across disciplines and mediums. When crossing paths with someone who does not allow their practice to be placed within a box, this asks—what brought them there? What aspects of their background, unique experiences, beliefs, and life story informed that choice?

Maxwell Neely-Cohen: maxy.world

For more information: rheakapur.info and culturalfingerprints.com

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 as shaped by his upbringing in the diverse borough of Queens, his door-to-door giveaway efforts to make this sign the go-to choking poster for sports bars in New York, and the community of food and basketball lovers the work has brought together.

Pitu Sanchez: pitu.nyc 

For more information: rheakapur.info and culturalfingerprints.com

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!