Phantom Power

Latest Episodes
How Music Became an Instrument of War (David Suisman)
University of Delaware historian David Suisman is known for his research on music and capitalism, particularly his excellent book Selling Sounds: The Commercial Revolution in American Music (Harvard U
Remembering Jonathan Sterne (1970-2025)
The sound studies community is reeling from the death of Jonathan Sterne this past Thursday. Jonathans presence and work wereand areincredibly influential on the intellectual and ethical commitment
How Spotify Dulls the Musical Mind (Liz Pelly)
Liz Pelly is our foremost journalist/critic on the Spotify beat. Her byline has appeared at the Baffler, Guardian, NPR, and many other outlets. She is also an adjunct instructor at NYU Tisch School of
Are AI art and music really just noise? (Eryk Salvaggio)
In this episode, host Mack Hagood dives into the world of AI-generated music and art with digital artist and theorist Eryk Salvaggio. The conversation explores technical and philosophical aspects of A
Podcasting’s Obsession with Obsession (Neil Verma)
Today we discuss how narrative podcasts work, the role theyve played in American culture and how theyve shaped our understanding of podcasting as a genre and an industry.Neil Vermas new book, Narr
Second Line: Footwork in New Orleans (Lowlines by Petra Barran)
A new podcast called Lowlines takes us to a New Orleans Second Line, the brass band tradition that comes out of Black funeral processions and social clubs and is known not only for the power of the mu
Beyond Listening: The Hidden Ways Sound Affects Us (Michael Heller)
Dr. Michael Heller examines sonic experiences that go beyond listening. Moments when sound overpowers us. When sound is sensed more in our bodies than in our ears. When sound engages in crosstalk wi
Noise and Affect Theory (Marie Thompson)
Feminist sound scholar and musician Marie Thompson is a theorist of noise. She has also been one of the key thinkers in integrating the study of sound with the study of affect. Continue reading
From HAL to SIRI: How Computers Learned to Speak (Benjamin Lindquist)
Learn how computers learned to speak with computer historian Benjamin Lindquist. Ben tells the the fascinating backstory to HAL 9000 and the strange the analog history of digital computing. Continue
Publishing for Nonfiction Authors (Jane Von Mehren)
Jane Von Mehren, Senior Partner at Aevitas Creative Management and a former Senior Vice President at Random House, explains how to find a literary agent, how to write a query letter to an agent, and h