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New Books in Music

Marshall Poe
Punk Rock
New York City
Music
Disco
Opera
Music History
Jazz
Music Industry
Hardcore Punk
Popular Music
Cultural Identity
Hip Hop
Music Films
Documentaries
Concert Films
Cinematic Representations Of Popular Music
Cultural Representation In Film
Music Industry Challenges
Race and Gender In Music Films
Cassette Tape

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to ... more

PublishesDailyEpisodes927Founded16 years ago
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Music

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Artwork for New Books in Music

Latest Episodes

Our Common Life: Folk Song from the Front Porch to the Concert Hall (U Illinois Press, 2026) by Stephen Wade is part memoir, part meditation on American culture, and part historical narrative of folk music. Wade centers this book around individual mu... more

How did Anita O'Day-the legendary jazz singer who, along with Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, and Stan Getz, led the so-called "cool school" of modern jazz-define cool?

"That means doing everything that you like to do and getting away with ... more

Kahlil Joseph has collaborated with musicians FKA twigs, Flying Lotus, Sampha and Shabazz Palaces among many others. He has directed numerous films, music videos and advertisements across Africa, America and Europe. The award-winning filmmaker's disr... more

Today’s guest, Christopher Freeburg, is the author of Soul: A Brief History of Black Cultural Life (Yale University Press, 2026). This book explores the US history of black cultural life as a history of soul – a spiritual lived practice rooted in com... more

In 1984, Paul Simon was at a professional and personal crossroads. His new marriage was failing and his career was in danger of stalling. He was forty-two, navigating a digital age, searching for inspiration in a scene driven by music videos, synthes... more

Hear "American Girl" or "Born in the U.S.A." and, like it or not, chances are you begin to hum along. The soundtrack of grocery stores, pool halls, bowling alleys, flea markets, chain restaurants, drug stores, and political rallies--heartland rock, w... more

The first large number of Chinese immigrants began arriving in the United States in the 1840s, and Chinese opera troupes were not far behind. In Inside Chinese Theater: Community and Artistry in Nineteenth Century California and Beyond (U Illinois Pr... more

Robyn Hitchcock's second memoir, Stranded in the Future

(Akashic Books, 2026), explores the formation of his seminal 1970s band

the Soft Boys, and the obsessions that fueled his early creative

output. Stranded in the Future is a kind of dystopian ... more

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Recent Guests

Christopher Freeburg
Professor and author of Soul, A Brief History of Black Cultural Life
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Episode: Christopher Freeburg, "Soul: A Brief History of Black Cultural Life" (Yale UP, 2026)
Ashley Kahn
Grammy Award-winning music historian, producer, author
Author of Days of Miracle and Wonder
Episode: Ashley Kahn, "Days of Miracle and Wonder: Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland" (Atria Books, 2026)
Erin Osmon
Music journalist; writer/editor for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Episode: Erin Osmon, "Won't Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America" (W. W. Norton, 2026)
Nancy Yunhwa Rao
Author
University of Illinois Press
Episode: Nancy Yunhwa Rao, "Inside Chinese Theater: Community and Artistry in Nineteenth Century California and Beyond" (U Illinois Press, 2025)
Robyn Hitchcock
Musician and memoirist, author of Stranded in the Future
Akashic Books/PRS
Episode: Robyn Hitchcock, "Stranded in the Future" (Akashic Books, 2026)
Michael Lukin
Professor, Jewish Music Research Center, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Episode: Musical Pripetshik: Lyrics and Melodies of Traditional Yiddish Folksongs
Mhoze Chikowero
Author of The Military Entertainment Complex, Chimurenga Afrosonic Making of Zimbabwe
MIT Press / Zimbabwean music historian
Episode: Mhoze Chikowero, "The Military Entertainment Complex: Chimurenga Afrosonic Making of Zimbabwe" (MIT Press, 2026)
Scott Peeples
Professor of English at the College of Charleston
College of Charleston
Episode: Scott Peeples, "How Many Roads: A Life of Bob Dylan" (Reaktion, 2026)
Jehnie Burns
Author of Mixtape Nostalgia, Culture, Memory, and Representation
University of Colorado Boulder (as described in interview)
Episode: Jehnie Burns on Mixtape Culture

Host

Lee Vinsel
Host of Peoples & Things

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Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Musical Pripetshik: Lyrics and Melodies of Traditional Yiddish Folksongs
Q: What resources exist for listeners who want to learn more about Yiddish folk songs?
Researchers and listeners can explore collections at YIVO, Ruth Rubin materials, and National Library of Israel recordings, many of which are digitized online for broader access.
Musical Pripetshik: Lyrics and Melodies of Traditional Yiddish Folksongs
Q: What explains the transformation from folk to stage performance, and how were songs chosen for publication and concert arrangements?
Song selection for stage and recordings depended on ideological fit and market appeal; some songs with landscape suitable for shtetl life were preserved, while others aligned with Soviet or broader political fashions, influencing which pieces were arranged for performance.
Musical Pripetshik: Lyrics and Melodies of Traditional Yiddish Folksongs
Q: How did social and political realities of different areas reflect in the songs, e.g., Lithuania vs. Bessarabia?
There is limited documentation across regions, but surviving versions from neighboring areas show cross-regional exchange; the tradition was transregional and moved with communities, suggesting broader cultural connectivity rather than isolated local trends.
Musical Pripetshik: Lyrics and Melodies of Traditional Yiddish Folksongs
Q: Was the tradition of singing of unrequited love always directed to or about another person, or was it sometimes directed to God?
Most love songs are directed to human longing, but there exists notable paraphrase examples where secular love is reframed as devotion to God or the divine, showing fluid boundaries between secular and religious repertoires.
Nancy Yunhwa Rao, "Inside Chinese Theater: Community and Artistry in Nineteenth Century California and Beyond" (U Illinois Press, 2025)
Q: So how did you come to this topic?
Rao describes it as a sequel to her first book, expanding from 20th-century Chinatown theaters to 19th-century trans-Pacific contexts, and explains the archival challenges and and the decision to foreground performance and print sources to reconstruct the past.

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Frequently Asked Questions About New Books in Music

What is New Books in Music about and what kind of topics does it cover?

This show features scholarly interviews with authors and researchers who study music, culture, and related disciplines, often focusing on recent books and their broader historical and social contexts. Episodes highlight topics such as music history, genre evolution, archival practices, and the intersections of sound with society, identity, and politics. Guests typically are academics, historians, musicologists, and writers who bring deep research-based insights, while conversations frequently balance literary analysis with cultural critique. A notable strength is the show's ability to connect rigorous scholarship with accessible storytelling, helping listeners understand complex ideas through concrete examples and historical narratives.

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Which podcasts are similar to New Books in Music?

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1. The Ezra Klein Show
2. The LRB Podcast
3. College Matters from The Chronicle
4. Past Present Future
5. Phantom Power

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New Books in Music launched 16 years ago and published 927 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on New Books in Music?

Recent guests on New Books in Music include:

1. Christopher Freeburg
2. Ashley Kahn
3. Erin Osmon
4. Nancy Yunhwa Rao
5. Robyn Hitchcock
6. Michael Lukin
7. Mhoze Chikowero
8. Scott Peeples

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