About Bradley Morgan

Bradley Morgan is a media arts professional in Chicago and the author of "U2's The Joshua Tree: Planting Roots in Mythic America." He manages partnerships on behalf of CHIRP Radio 107.1 FM, serves as a co-chair of the associate board at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and volunteers in the music archive at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Morgan has written music features for CHIRP Radio 107.1 FM's award-winning blog and Discogs. He is an avid reader and enjoys hiking.

Bradley Morgan is a media arts professional in Chicago and author of U2's The Joshua Tree: Planting Roots in Mythic America. He manages partnerships on behalf of CHIRP Radio 107.1 FM, serves as a co-chair of the associate board at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and volunteers in the music archive at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Bradley Morgan on Twitter.

Bradley's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Bradley:

Marc Masters, "High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape" (UNC Press, 2023)

April 3, 2024

High Bias

Marc Masters
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

The cassette tape was revolutionary. Cheap, portable, and reusable, this small plastic rectangle changed music history. Make your own tapes! Trade the…

Micajah Henley, "The Clash's Sandinista!" (Bloombury, 2024)

March 14, 2024

The Clash's Sandinista!

Micajah Henley
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

Following the success of their instantly iconic double LP, London Calling, The Clash set out to do something "triply outrageous." Named after the Nica…

Mark Guarino, "Country and Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

February 5, 2024

Country and Midwestern

Mark Guarino
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

The untold story of Chicago's pivotal role as a country and folk music capital. Chicago is revered as a musical breeding ground, having launched majo…

Alex Pappademas and Joan LeMay, "Quantum Criminals: Ramblers, Wild Gamblers, and Other Sole Survivors from the Songs of Steely Dan" (U Texas Press, 2023)

January 7, 2024

Quantum Criminals

Alex Pappademas and Joan LeMay
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

A literary and visual exploration of the songs of Steely Dan. Steely Dan's songs are exercises in fictional world-building. No one else in the classi…

Ramsey Lewis and Aaron Cohen, "Gentleman of Jazz: A Life in Music" (Blackstone, 2023)

December 4, 2023

Gentleman of Jazz

Ramsey Lewis and Aaron Cohen
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

This immersive new autobiography provides insight into the early life and illustrious career of the late great Ramsey Lewis, one of the most popular j…

Warren Zanes, "Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska' (Crown, 2023)

November 17, 2023

Deliver Me from Nowhere

Warren Zanes
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

Without Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen might not be who he is today. The natural follow-up to Springsteen's hugely successful album The River should have…

Scott Creney and Brigette Adair Herron, "The Story of the B-52s: Neon Side of Town" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023)

October 7, 2023

The Story of the B-52s

Scott Creney and Brigette Adair Herron
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

The Story of the B-52s: Neon Side of Town (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023) is the first critical history of one of the most legendary and influential bands …

Kimberly Mack, "Living Colour's Time's Up" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

September 19, 2023

Living Colour's Time's Up

Kimberly Mack
Hosted by Bradley Morgan
Listen:

The iconic Black rock band Living Colour's Time's Up, released in 1990, was recorded in the aftermath of the spectacular critical and commercial succe…

Nicholas Tochka, "Rocking in the Free World: Popular Music and the Politics of Freedom in Postwar America" (Oxford UP, 2023)

August 14, 2023

Rocking in the Free World

Nicholas Tochka
Hosted by Bradley Morgan
Listen:

Progressive and libertarian, anti-Communist and revolutionary, Democratic and Republican, quintessentially American but simultaneously universal. By t…

William Perrine, "Alien Territory: Radical, Experimental, & Irrelevant Music in 1970s San Diego" (Billingsgate Media, 2023)

July 9, 2023

Alien Territory

William Perrine
Hosted by Bradley Morgan
Listen:

Alien Territory: Radical, Experimental, & Irrelevant Music in 1970s San Diego (Billingsgate Media, 2023) is the untold story of a sleepy Navy town tha…

Michael Gray, "Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan-Vol. 1 Language & Tradition" (FM Press, 2023)

June 22, 2023

Song & Dance Man

Michael Gray
Hosted by Bradley Morgan
Listen:

Song & Dance Man is an established classic, available again for Dylan fans and scholars alike on the 50th Anniversary of the original edition. The wor…

Robin James, "The Future of Rock and Roll: 97X WOXY and the Fight for True Independence" (UNC Press, 2023)

June 7, 2023

The Future of Rock and Roll

Robin James
Hosted by Bradley Morgan
Listen:

In 1983, an Ohio radio station called WOXY launched a sonic disruption to both corporate rock and to its conservative home region, programming an omni…

John Klaess, "Breaks in the Air: The Birth of Rap Radio in New York City" (Duke UP, 2022)

May 12, 2023

Breaks in the Air

John Klaess
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

In Breaks in the Air: The Birth of Rap Radio in New York City (Duke UP, 2022), John Klaess tells the story of rap's emergence on New York City's airwa…

Annie Zaleski, "Lady Gaga: Applause" (Palazzo Editions, 2022)

April 30, 2023

Lady Gaga

Annie Zaleski
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

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 1…

Jeremy Richey, "Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol" (Cult Epics, 2022)

April 13, 2023

Sylvia Kristel

Jeremy Richey
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

A trailblazing figure in film and popular culture, Netherlands native Sylvia Kristel became one of the biggest stars in the world as Emmanuelle in 197…

Hugh Hodges, "The Fascist Groove Thing: A History of Thatcher's Britain in 21 Mixtapes" (PM Press, 2023)

March 16, 2023

The Fascist Groove Thing

Hugh Hodges
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

This is the late 1970s and '80s as explained through the urgent and still-relevant songs of the Clash, the Specials, the Au Pairs, the Style Council, …

Steven Hyden, "Long Road: Pearl Jam and the Soundtrack of a Generation" (Hachette Books, 2022)

February 6, 2023

Long Road

Steven Hyden
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

Ever since Pearl Jam first blasted onto the Seattle grunge scene three decades ago with their debut album, Ten, they have sold 85M+ albums, performed …

Richard Aquila, "Rock & Roll in Kennedy's America: A Cultural History of the Early 1960s" (Johns Hopkins UP, 2022)

January 18, 2023

Rock & Roll in Kennedy's America

Richard Aquila
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

In the early 1960s, the nation was on track to fulfill its destiny in what was being called the American Century. Baby boomers and rock & roll shared …

Natasha Lasky, "Britney Spears's Blackout" (Bloomsbury, 2022)

December 11, 2022

Britney Spears's Blackout

Natasha Lasky
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

Britney Spears barely survived 2007. She divorced her husband, lost custody of her kids, went to rehab, shaved her head and assaulted a paparazzo. In …

Gregor Gall, "The Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer: Radicalism, Resistance and Rebellion" (Manchester UP, 2022)

November 18, 2022

The Punk Rock Politics of Joe Strummer

Gregor Gall
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

Joe Strummer was one of the twentieth century's iconic rock'n'roll rebels. As frontperson, spokesperson and chief lyricist for The Clash, he played a …

John F. Lyons, "Joy and Fear: The Beatles, Chicago and the 1960s" (Permuted Press, 2020)

October 18, 2022

Joy and Fear

John F. Lyons
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

For many, the Beatles offered a delightful alternative to the dull and the staid, while for others, the mop-top haircuts, the unsettling music, and th…

Stevie Van Zandt, "Unrequited Infatuations: A Memoir" (Hachette Books, 2022)

September 20, 2022

Unrequited Infatuations

Stevie Van Zandt
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

What story begins in a bedroom in suburban New Jersey in the early '60s, unfolds on some of the country's largest stages, and then ranges across the g…

Marissa R. Moss, "Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be" (Henry Holt, 2022)

September 7, 2022

Her Country

Marissa R. Moss
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

It was only two decades ago, but, for the women of country music, 1999 seems like an entirely different universe. With Shania Twain, country's biggest…

Matti Friedman, "Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai" (Spiegel & Grau, 2022)

August 30, 2022

Who by Fire

Matti Friedman
Hosted by Bradley Morgan

In October 1973, the poet and singer Leonard Cohen—thirty-nine years old, famous, unhappy, and at a creative dead end—traveled from his home on the Gr…