A Primer on the Colorful History of Hawaii

Our guest on Modern Notion Daily is Susanna Moore, author of Paradise of the Pacific: Approaching Hawaii (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, September 2015). The book was recently longlisted for the 2015 National Book Award. Moore details the history of the archipelago, first inhabited by humans in the sixth century. We’ll learn about the origin of the word “taboo,” we’ll put the myth that Hawaiians cannibalized Captain James Cook to rest, and we’ll meet Queen Ka’ahumanu.

Music this hour:

• “Island Pop” by Drama by Yamaha, from the album Archipelago
• “Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within