Yesterday
Matti Friedman, "Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai" (Spiegel & Grau, 2022)
In October 1973, the poet and singer Leonard Cohen—thirty-nine years old, famous, unhappy, and at a creative dead end—traveled from his home on the Greek island of Hydra to the chaos and bloodshed of the Sinai desert when Egypt attacked Israel on the Jewish high holiday of Yom Ki ... Show More
1h 3m
Feb 7
Bill Kopp, "What's the Big Idea: 30 Great Concept Albums" (Hozac, 2025)
As long as there has been music, the form has been used as a vehicle for storytelling. Artists who have something to say often find that putting it into music is the ideal means of communicating thoughts and feelings to others. And the concept-album form is a logical extension of ... Show More
42m 45s
Feb 7
Hilary French, "Ballroom: A People’s History of Dancing" (Reaktion Books, 2022)
In the early twentieth century, American ragtime and the Parisian tango fuelled a dancing craze in Britain. Public ballrooms were built throughout the country, providing a glamorous setting for dancing. The new English style, defined in the 1920s and followed by the films of Fred ... Show More
42m 54s
Apr 2025
Succession 1625: James I to Charles I
<p>March 2025 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of King James VI and I, and the succession of his son Charles I. Crowned King of Scotland at just 13 months old in 1567 and later succeeding Elizabeth I in England in 1603, James envisioned a unified United Kingdom. However, ... Show More
49m 3s
Oct 2024
New Orleans Rhythm Kings - 1922-1923
Influential band of white jazz musicians - many from New Orleans - active in Chicago in the early 1920's - Paul Mares (c), George Brunies (tbn), Leon Rappolo (clt), Jack Pettis (ts), Mel Stitzel and Elmer Schoebel (p), Lew Black (bjo), Steve Brown (sb), Frank Snyder and Ben Polla ... Show More
1h 2m
May 2025
Miami Explodes Into Violence (1980)
<p>It's May 14th. This day in 1980, Miami is seeing the biggest racial uprising of the 70s or 80s, as riots and violence erupt with the acquittal of police officers accused of killing a man by the name of Arthur McDuffie.</p><p>Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the violence brok ... Show More
22m 44s
For a brief moment in the summer of 1900, Robert Charles was arguably the most infamous black man in the United States. After an altercation with police on a New Orleans street, Charles killed two police officers and fled. During a manhunt that extended for days, violent white mobs roamed the city, assaulting African Americans and killing at least half a doz ... Show More
