Sound Studies

Sound Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of Sound Studies about their new books.

Steve Ferzacca, "Sonic City: Making Rock Music and Urban Life in Singapore" (NUS Press, 2021)

February 29, 2024

Sonic City

Steve Ferzacca
Hosted by Khadeeja Amenda

The basement of a veteran shopping mall located in the central business district of Singapore affords opportunities to a group of amateur and semi-pro…

Chen-Pang Yeang, "Transforming Noise. A History of Its Science and Technology from Disturbing Sounds to Informational Errors, 1900-1955" (Oxford UP, 2023)

January 30, 2024

Transforming Noise

Chen-Pang Yeang
Hosted by Pamela Fuentes

Today, the concept of noise is employed to characterize random fluctuations in general. Before the twentieth century, however, noise only meant distur…

Carolyn Birdsall, "Radiophilia" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

December 31, 2023

Radiophilia

Carolyn Birdsall

A century ago, the emergence of radio, along with organized systems of broadcasting, sparked a global fascination with the 'wonder' of sound transmiss…

Matthew F. Jordan, "Danger Sound Klaxon!: The Horn That Changed History" (U Virginia Press, 2023)

November 17, 2023

Danger Sound Klaxon!

Matthew F. Jordan
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Danger Sound Klaxon!:The Horn That Changed History (University of Virginia Press, 2023) reveals the untold story of the Klaxon automobile horn, one of…

Pavitra Sundar, "Listening with a Feminist Ear: Soundwork in Bombay Cinema" (U Michigan Press, 2023)

November 15, 2023

Listening with a Feminist Ear

Pavitra Sundar
Hosted by Khadeeja Amenda

Pavitra Sundar's book Listening with a Feminist Ear: Soundwork in Bombay Cinema (U Michigan Press, 2023) is a study of the cultural politics and possi…

Bonnie Gordon, "Voice Machines: The Castrato, the Cat Piano, and Other Strange Sounds" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

August 31, 2023

Voice Machines

Bonnie Gordon
Hosted by Nathan Smith

Italian courts and churches began employing castrato singers in the late sixteenth century. By the eighteenth century, the singers occupied a celebrit…

Brett Brehm, "Kaleidophonic Modernity: Transatlantic Sound, Technology, and Literature" (Fordham UP, 2023)

June 16, 2023

Kaleidophonic Modernity

Brett Brehm
Listen:

What stories remain hidden behind one of the most significant inventions of the nineteenth century? Kaleidophonic Modernity: Transatlantic Sound, Tech…

The Electro-Library with Jared Green (EF, JP)

June 15, 2023

The Electro-Library

Jared Green
Listen:

Way back in 2019, Elizabeth and John were already thinking about collaboration. Here they speak with Jared Green and explore The Electro-Library, a p…

Teklife, Ghettoville, Eski: The Sonic Ecologies of Black Music in the Early 21st Century

June 1, 2023

Teklife, Ghettoville, Eski

Dhanveer Singh Brar
Hosted by MIT Press
Listen:

Joy White, author of Terraformed, speaks with Dhanveer Singh Brar about his forthcoming book Teklife, Ghettoville, Eski, Teklife, Ghettoville, Eski a…

Sebanti Chatterjee, "Choral Voices: Ethnographic Imaginations of Sound and Sacrality" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

May 14, 2023

Choral Voices

Sebanti Chatterjee

Sebanti Chatterjee's book Choral Voices: Ethnographic Imaginations of Sound and Sacrality (Bloomsbury, 2023) is about sacred and secular choirs in Goa…

Mark Goodall, "Gathering of the Tribe: A Companion to Occult Music on Vinyl" (Headpress, 2022)

May 12, 2023

Gathering of the Tribe

Mark Goodall
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

In his new series, Gathering of the Tribe (Headpress, 2022) Mark Goodall explores the mysterious power of sound and tone. Each book in the series is d…

Macs Smith, "Paris and the Parasite: Noise, Health, and Politics in the Media City" (MIT Press, 2021)

April 29, 2023

Paris and the Parasite

Macs Smith

The social consequences of anti-parasitic urbanism, as efforts to expunge supposedly biological parasites penalize those viewed as social parasites. A…

The Making of "Ways of Hearing"

April 15, 2023

The Making of "Ways of Hearing"

Hosted by MIT Press

A behind-the-scenes conversation with the creators of Ways of Hearing, the podcast and book. Hosted by author Damon Krukowski, with Radiotopia and Sho…

David Rothenberg, "Whale Music: Thousand Mile Songs in a Sea of Sound" (Terra Nova Press, 2023)

April 4, 2023

Whale Music

David Rothenberg
Hosted by Frances Sacks

Whale song is an astonishing world of sound whose existence no one suspected before the 1960s. Its discovery has forced us to confront the possibility…

The Sharing of Sound Art

March 18, 2023

The Sharing of Sound Art

Claire MacDonald and Sarah Parry
Hosted by MIT Press

In this podcast, Claire MacDonald and Sarah Parry discuss the history of recording, the sharing of sound art between artists, how recording has shaped…

Computer Music and Human Computer Interaction

March 15, 2023

Computer Music and Human Computer Interaction

Michael Gurevich
Hosted by MIT Press

Michael Gurevich, lecturer at the Sonic Arts Research Centre at the Queen’s University, Belfast School of Music and Sonic Arts, serves as guest editor…

Nicolai Jørgensgaard Graakjær, "The Sounds of Spectators at Football" (Bloomsbury, 2022)

February 25, 2023

The Sounds of Spectators at Football

Nicolai Jørgensgaard Graakjær
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The sounds of spectators at football (soccer) are often highlighted – by spectators, tourists, commentators, journalists, scholars, media producers, e…

Nathan Vedal, "The Culture of Language in Ming China: Sound, Script, and the Redefinition of Boundaries of Knowledge" (Columbia UP, 2022)

February 21, 2023

The Culture of Language in Ming China

Nathan Vedal

What is the nature of language? This is the question that Nathan Vedal’s book, The Culture of Language in Ming China: Sound, Script, and the Redefinit…

Anthony Reed, "Soundworks: Race, Sound, and Poetry in Production" (Duke UP, 2020)

January 28, 2023

Soundworks

Anthony Reed
Hosted by Henry Ivry

In Soundworks: Race, Sound, and Poetry in Production (Duke UP, 2020), Anthony Reed argues that studying sound requires conceiving it as process and as…

Marlene Schäfers, "Voices That Matter: Kurdish Women at the Limits of Representation in Contemporary Turkey" (U Chicago Press, 2022)

January 16, 2023

Voices That Matter

Marlene Schäfers
Hosted by Armanc Yildiz

“Raise your voice!” and “Speak up!” are familiar refrains that assume, all too easily, that gaining voice will lead to empowerment, healing, and inclu…