Playlist: Will Dean's Portfolio
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Any Other Name
From Will Dean | 57:44
Names are important signifers, but they are also very mutable. This piece focuses on the slipperiness of names: how their meanings can change, why people change their names, and and how those changes reflect the ways we define ourselves.
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- Any Other Name
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- Will Dean
In this piece we weave together interviews with numerous people who have changed their names or seen the meaning of their names shift.
Bertha, born in 1918, recounts how her name became a source of embarrassment as she got older.
Alex talks about giving up his given name, Arjun, because of an elementary school teacher.
Zach tracks the popularity of names in America throughout the 20th century.
Monica tells the story of the many changes her family's last name went through because of World War II and the politics of immigration.
Will explains why his last name is a lie.
Zem and Jakey describe their decision to change their names to express their gender identites.