In the premiere episode of Soundscapes N.Y.C., host Ryan Purcell talks with celebrated writer Lucy Sante about the landscape of gender logics within the New York rock scene. It was a nebulous soundscape of counterculture formed around gender explorations and social upheaval set to the soundtrack of an aggressive style of rock ’n’ roll that critics would iden ... Show More
Today
The Lost World of African American Cantors 1915–1953
Histories of Black-Jewish cultural interaction often focus on how Jews adopted and adapted Black vernacular music—ragtime, jazz, swing, R&B, blues—as performers, promoters, managers, club owners, and record labels. The phenomenon of African American musicians who performed Yiddis ... Show More
1h 8m
Apr 26
Brook Flagg, "I Go There with You: The U2 Sites of Southern California, from Significant to Sacred" (Nine Criteria, 2025)
U2 is a band from the north side of Dublin that became a global phenomenon-and while its four members have traveled the world over for almost fifty years, some of the most critical points on their journey have been in Southern California. The Joshua Tree is the best-known example ... Show More
55m 40s
Apr 16
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
Nov 2024
Veronica Keller and Sabrina Mittermeier, "From Broadway to the Bronx: New York City’s History through Song" (Intellect, 2024)
From Broadway to the Bronx: New York City’s History through Song (Intellect, 2024) tells the history of New York City in song across a variety of different genres that the city has been home to and instrumental in developing, covering everything from early twentieth-century sheet ... Show More
54m 40s
Apr 2023
Annie Zaleski, "Lady Gaga: Applause" (Palazzo Editions, 2022)
As one of the world's best-selling musicians, Lady Gaga has set the musical bar high. Since her debut album, The Fame (2008), she has sold more than 124 million records and scooped numerous awards, including twelve Grammy Awards and eighteen MTV Music Video Awards.
Yet she is muc ... Show More
52m 16s
Jun 2024
The Devil's Music 62: Cynthia B-Girl
Cynthia Ross is a musician, writer, poet and spoken word performer. Better known as her stage name Cynthia B-Girl, she’s a punk rock pioneer and one of the earliest of proponents of the underground scene in Toronto, Canada. In 1977, Cynthia and B-Girls singer Lucasta met at post- ... Show More
1h 8m
Feb 2017
Oscar Week!: La La Land ft. Genevieve Koski
With the Academy Awards around the corner, Charlie and Nate try something new: a break down of the movie musical La La Land through two of its key songs, "City of Stars" and "Start a Fire." These numbers, one by composer Justin Hurwitz, the other by Hurwitz and John Legend, might ... Show More
51m 38s
Dec 2024
The Bridge: Slate Music Club 2024
The Slate Music Club is back, in a special edition of Hit Parade – “The Bridge”! Our year-end panel of critics—NPR Music’s Ann Powers, Hearing Things’ Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, Slate’s own Carl Wilson and Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy—discuss their favorite albums and singles ... Show More
35m 12s
Nov 2025
Rosalía
Rosalía is a Grammy award winning Spanish singer-songwriter. Her work transcends genre, blending folk, avant-pop, hip-hop, jazz, reggaeton, and traditional flamenco. Born and raised in Catalonia, Rosalía has a degree in Flamenco Interpretation from the Catalonia College of Music, ... Show More
1h 10m
Jun 2025
Billy Porter on activism and artists
Billy Porter, famous for his Broadway roles in such shows as Kinky Boots and Grease, and onscreen in Pose and Cinderella is making his directorial debut in theatre with This Bitter Earth. Jesse is an introspective Black playwright and when Neil, Jesse’s boyfriend, who is a white ... Show More
42m 18s