This Is the Sound of Gentrification This Is the Sound of Gentrification
Ted Hearne and Saul Williams’s Place captures the volatile energies of a changing city beset by the forces of late capitalism.
Jun 5, 2020 / David Hajdu
How the CIA Learned to Rock How the CIA Learned to Rock
A new podcast illuminates why the spy agency preferred pop music in the cultural Cold War.
May 29, 2020 / Jeet Heer
A Thrilling Snapshot of the New Pop Avant-Garde A Thrilling Snapshot of the New Pop Avant-Garde
Recent albums from Perfume Genius and Yves Tumor restore the power of genre-bending music
May 28, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Julyssa Lopez
The Coronavirus Means Curtains for Artists The Coronavirus Means Curtains for Artists
The loss of revenue from live events is only the start of this particular disaster.
May 7, 2020 / William Deresiewicz
If Woody Guthrie Were Singing Now About the Postal Service If Woody Guthrie Were Singing Now About the Postal Service
I think he’d chime in on Joe Troop’s “A Plea to the US Government to Fully Fund the Postal Service.”
Apr 30, 2020 / John Nichols
The Coronavirus Has Imposed a Fermata on the Music World The Coronavirus Has Imposed a Fermata on the Music World
What can musicians do now? We can play to wash away some of the pain and grief.
Apr 24, 2020 / Christian McBride
What’s the Deal With Grimes? What’s the Deal With Grimes?
Her climate change pop album Miss Anthropocene is riven with contradictions.
Apr 21, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Julyssa Lopez
John Prine Taught Us New Ways to Listen John Prine Taught Us New Ways to Listen
His songs were like intimate correspondences with his audience—revealing things about everyday life that get missed.
Apr 15, 2020 / Shuja Haider
Amazing Grace and Courage Amid the Plague Amazing Grace and Courage Amid the Plague
But also racism and xenophobia, as Trump sows ever more chaos and hatred in his bid to win reelection.
Apr 14, 2020 / Sasha Abramsky
JFK, Bob Dylan, and the Death of the American Dream JFK, Bob Dylan, and the Death of the American Dream
How Dylan’s new song, “Murder Most Foul,” speaks to my generation and pierces our collective soul.
Apr 13, 2020 / Tim Shorrock