Asian Ethnology Podcast

Interview with Frank Mondelli: Hearing Aids, Assistive Technologies, and Accessibility in Japan

Interviewer: Mark Bookman

Recorded 26 October 2020

This episode features Frank Mondelli, a doctoral candidate at Stanford University. Frank recently returned from research in Japan and is currently working on his doctoral dissertation on the social, technical, and political history of assistive technologies for deafness and hearing impairment in 20th century Japan. Frank discusses his recent work on the history of hearing aids in 1950s Japan, how he became interested in assistive technology, and how thinking about assistive technology can help us think about accessibility and inclusivity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Publication discussed in this episode

Mills, Mara and Jonathan Sterne. “Dismediation – Three Proposals, Six Tactics” in Disability Media Studies, ed. Elizabeth Ellcessor and Bill Kirkpatrick

Download a copy of the transcript via this link.

Music used with kind permission of the performer, shamisen master Koji Yamaguchi.