The Historian's Table

History is murky. It is full of contradictions and complications, and it is important to accept this reality. In the season finale, we head to Missoula, Montana, where Diego, Julian, and Charles meet up to talk about life, history, and being honest with ourselves.

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We sometimes ignore parts of our past that we are ashamed of, but if we are being honest with ourselves and with history, we have to face and acknowledge these things. In this episode, Diego and Julian look to their childhoods in Nashville, and Diego tells the story of Catarina de San Juan - a holy woman whose story the Spanish Empire censored and tried to erase.

Hosted by Charles Fournier

Written by Charles Fournier and Diego Javier Luis 

Based on the book "The First Asians in the Americas" by Diego Javier Luis

Produced by Charles Fournier, Diego Javier Luis, and Julian Saporiti with support from Tufts University 

Created by Julian Saporiti, Diego Javier Luis, and Charles Fournier 

Music by Julian Saporiti

Edited by Charles Fournier

Engineered by Charles Fournier and Julian Saporiti 

Sound Mixing and Mastering by Seth Boggess

Graphic Design by Emilia Halvorsen Saporiti

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Honest history requires humanizing the people involved. Diego and Julian travel to Nashville to visit William, Diego's dad, so we can get to know Diego better by learning about this man that had such a big impact on him. As we contextualize Diego's origins, Diego details the 1603 massacre and the mutiny that lead to it.

Hosted by Charles Fournier

Written by Charles Fournier and Diego Javier Luis 

Based on the book "The First Asians in the Americas" by Diego Javier Luis

Produced by Charles Fournier, Diego Javier Luis, and Julian Saporiti with support from Tufts University 

Created by Julian Saporiti, Diego Javier Luis, and Charles Fournier 

Music by Julian Saporiti

Edited by Charles Fournier

Engineered by Charles Fournier and Julian Saporiti 

Sound Mixing and Mastering by Seth Boggess

Graphic Design by Emilia Halvorsen Saporiti

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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The identities we seek are not always the identities find. In Diego's travels to China, Thailand, and Spain in search of a sense of belonging, he finds community in unexpected places. These experiences influenced Diego's research as he considered how the first Asians in the Americas established community with strangers in a strange land under the name of Chino.

Hosted by Charles Fournier

Written by Charles Fournier and Diego Javier Luis 

Based on the book "The First Asians in the Americas" by Diego Javier Luis

Produced by Charles Fournier, Diego Javier Luis, and Julian Saporiti with support from Tufts University 

Created by Julian Saporiti, Diego Javier Luis, and Charles Fournier 

Music by Julian Saporiti

Edited by Charles Fournier

Engineered by Charles Fournier and Julian Saporiti 

Sound Mixing and Mastering by Seth Boggess

Graphic Design by Emilia Halvorsen Saporiti

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Origin stories can help us better understand our present. Growing up, Diego never felt like he belonged, so he began searching for his own roots. This habit of seeking paved his path to becoming a historian and complicating the origins of the first Asians in the Americas.

Hosted by Charles Fournier

Written by Charles Fournier and Diego Javier Luis 

Based on the book "The First Asians in the Americas" by Diego Javier Luis

Produced by Charles Fournier, Diego Javier Luis, and Julian Saporiti with support from Tufts University 

Created by Julian Saporiti, Diego Javier Luis, and Charles Fournier 

Music by Julian Saporiti

Edited by Charles Fournier

Engineered by Charles Fournier and Julian Saporiti 

Sound Mixing and Mastering by Seth Boggess

Graphic Design by Emilia Halvorsen Saporiti

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Our first episode of this 6-part narrative series begins at the start of Diego's research with homemade chili oil, a 16th century book, and an empire's identity crisis.

Hosted by Charles Fournier

Written by Charles Fournier and Diego Javier Luis 

Based on the book "The First Asians in the Americas" by Diego Javier Luis

Produced by Charles Fournier, Diego Javier Luis, and Julian Saporiti with support from Tufts University 

Created by Julian Saporiti, Diego Javier Luis, and Charles Fournier 

Music by Julian Saporiti

Edited by Charles Fournier

Engineered by Charles Fournier and Julian Saporiti 

Sound Mixing and Mastering by Seth Boggess

Graphic Design by Emilia Halvorsen Saporiti

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Historian’s Table, where taking an honest look at history means taking an honest look at ourselves. This includes the historians who write the history because history cannot be separated from the historian.

In season one, The First Asians in the Americas, we’re bringing you a 6-part narrative series focused on historian Diego Javier Luis. Diego’s recent work complicates our views of the past by recentering Asian American history away from railroads to the Transpacific voyages of the Manilla Galleons that started in the 16th century. Each episode explores a thematic parallel between Diego’s sense-of-self and specific histories from Diego’s research.

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