Richard C. Rath is associate professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawaii Manoa where he teaches courses on  ethnic studies in the digital world, Indigenous history, racialization and ethnicity, and sound studies. He is the author of “How Early America Sounded” along with many articles and has most recently been working on the politics and economics of Hawaii's hotel industry during the pandemic from the perspective of the hotel workers, drawing on his 15 years of experience working in commercial kitchens.