Today we speak to Hildegard Westerkamp, the pioneering composer, radio artist and sound ecologist. The centerpiece of all of her work is a close attention to the sonic environment and its relation to culture. We will listen to excerpts of six soundscape compositions made between 1975 and 2005, all of which reward the close listener–conceptually and aesthetic ... Show More
Yesterday
The Barton Brothers, Mickey Katz, and Others: Yiddish-English Bilingual Parody Songs
In the years immediately following the Second World War, the Barton Brothers, an anarchic Catskill comedy duo, began recording humorous macaronic (that is, bilingual) parody songs that relied in no small part on Yiddish theater and radio for raw material. The Bartons’ unexpected ... Show More
1h 12m
Apr 14
Daphne A. Brooks, "Blackstar Rising and the Purple Reign: The Sonic Afterlives of David Bowie and Prince" (Duke UP, 2026)
Blackstar Rising and the Purple Reign: The Sonic Afterlives of David Bowie and Prince (Duke UP, 2026) is the first critical anthology dedicated to exploring the legacies of the pop music icons David Bowie and Prince. Daphne A. Brooks brings together an extraordinary array of writ ... Show More
38m 17s
Apr 7
David Arditi, "Music Technology Panic Narratives Beyond Piracy: From Taping to Napster to TikTok" (Anthem Press, 2026)
Who makes a living from the music industry? In Music Technology Panic Narratives Beyond Piracy: From Taping to Napster to TikTok (Anthem Press, 2026) David Arditi, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Arlington, looks at the history of technology in ... Show More
40m 16s
Apr 2025
The Deaf Composer: How Beethoven wrote music he couldn’t hear
What happens when one of history’s greatest composers begins to lose the very sense he relies on most? In this episode, we explore how Ludwig van Beethoven continued to create groundbreaking music even as his world fell into silence. Along the way, we uncover the myths, invention ... Show More
28m 39s
May 2021
Ep 46 // GOLSHIFTEH FARAHANI
GOLSHIFTEH FARAHANI is not quick to fill the silence, but she can't help but fill her surroundings with light. Leaving a space open for divine interference, she sits with Arman in her living room. FARAHANI takes a closer look into the cultures, diaspora, languages, and frequencie ... Show More
1h 36m
Dec 2024
BEST OF 2024: Intro to The Tortured Poets Department - Epilogue & Prologue!
In this replay episode of 13: A Taylor Swift Fan Podcast, we have officially entered THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT! Before we deep dive into the music and lyrics of this album, we think it’s important to understand Taylor’s epilogue, as well as the prologue by Stevie Nicks. Both ... Show More
45m 29s
May 2022
Ep 69 // PAUL KALKBRENNER
Nearly 4 years since they last saw each other in LA, PAUL KALKBRENNER meets Arman in his emerald green 1961 Maserati Ghibli for a chat in BERLIN. Bonding over a love of Mozart, KALKBRENNER mentions he was a terrible instrumentalist as a child, having learned and suffered on the T ... Show More
48m 40s
Mar 2024
Laurie Anderson's songs of duality
<p>Laurie Anderson is bucket list. The artist, violinist, and poet has been exploring the world in her unique way for decades. She caught our breath releasing O Superman, and has continued to bring play, humour, and curiosity into all she does.</p><p>Laurie was also the yin to Lo ... Show More
45m 32s
<p>Following her highly acclaimed debut album, a programme of Offenbach coloratura arias, for Alpha Classics – <em>Gramophone</em>'s current Label of the Year – <strong>Jodie Devos</strong> turns to the English language for 'And Love Said …'.</p> <p>James Jolly caught up with her ... Show More
