Image by Bryan Ahonen, courtesy of Radiolab & WYNC Studios
Earlier this year, Simon Adler of Radiolab & WYNC Studios reached out to me to discuss my film Ghost Tape #10 and its exploration of the US Army’s PSYOP campaigns waged against the Northern Vietnamese (NVA) during the American War in Vietnam. We both reflected on the cruelty of these “ghost tapes” that were created, weaponizing the fear of wandering souls against the psyches of fatigued Vietnamese soldiers far from home. With this latest entry in his new Radiolab series “Mixtape,” Simon has crafted an intricate piece of storytelling as only his celebrated creative team can, with rich texture and testimony from those who left behind their own “footprints of war” (phrasing courtesy of author David Biggs). Special thanks and continued gratitude to my MVA instructor and faculty mentor at the USC Center for Visual Anthropology, professors Jenny Cool & Janet Hoskins, for their support of my research and the ensuing film created there.