About Mack Hagood

Mack Hagood is the Robert H. and Nancy J. Blayney Associate Professor of Comparative Media Studies at Miami University, Ohio, where he studies digital media, sound technologies, disability, and popular music.

NBN Episodes hosted by Mack:

November 18, 2024

The World According to Sound

Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett

Hosted by Mack Hagood

The World According to Sound is the brainchild of two rogue audionauts who rebelled against the NPR mothership: Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett. It began a…

November 4, 2024

R. Murray Schafer (1933-2021), Part 1

Hosted by Mack Hagood

R. Murray Schafer recently passed away on August 14th 2021. If you’re someone who works with sound or enjoys sound art or experimental music–or you’ve…

October 28, 2024

On Listening In

Lawrence English

Hosted by Mack Hagood

Today, in honor of World Listening Day, we rebroadcast our story on renowned Australian sound composer, media artist and curator Lawrence English. Th…

October 21, 2024

Emotional Rescue

Mack Hagood

Hosted by Mack Hagood

What can sound technologies tell us about our relationship to media as a whole? This is one of the central questions in the research of Phantom Power‘…

October 14, 2024

Lightning Birds

Jacob Smith

Hosted by Mack Hagood

Today we present the first episode of Jacob Smith’s new eco-critical audiobook, Lightning Birds: An Aeroecology of the Airwaves. In this audio-only bo…

October 7, 2024

For Some Odd Reason

Kate Carr

Hosted by Mack Hagood

Today’s guest, Kate Carr, is an accomplished sound artist and field recordist whose recent work grapples with issues of communication and longing—them…

September 30, 2024

Voice of Yoko

Amy Skjerseth

Hosted by Mack Hagood

Today, Phantom Power‘s Amy Skjerseth brings us the story of perhaps the most famous vocal performance artist and avant-garde musician whose actual wor…

September 23, 2024

Forest Listening Rooms

Brian Harnetty

Hosted by Mack Hagood

What would happen if you took red state rural voters on a walk into the woods with left-wing environmental activists and experimental music fans? Our …

September 16, 2024

Hey, Robot!

Frank Lantz

Hosted by Mack Hagood

Today, we’re playing with voice assistants and thinking about the role of voices in gaming with our guest, game designer and NYU professor Frank Lantz…

September 9, 2024

A Life Based on an Experiment

Siavash Amini

Hosted by Mack Hagood

Episode 21 presents a portrait of Iranian experimental composer Siavash Amini. His music, which moves seamlessly between contemplative ambience, menac…

September 2, 2024

What is Radio Art?

Colin Black

Hosted by Mack Hagood

What is radio art? It’s a rather unfamiliar term in the United States, but in other countries, it’s a something of an artistic tradition. Today’s gues…

August 19, 2024

The Sounds of Silents

Rick Altman and Eric Dienstfrey

Hosted by Mack Hagood

What did going to the movies sound like back in the “silent film” era? The answer takes us on a strange journey through Vaudeville, roaming Chautauqua…

August 12, 2024

Soar and Chill

A Discussion with Robin James

Hosted by Mack Hagood

Why do certain musical sounds move us while others leave us cold? Are musical trends simply that—or do they contain insights into the culture at large…

July 29, 2024

Resonant Grains

Craig Eley and Carleen Hutchins

Hosted by Mack Hagood

In the 1950s, a schoolteacher named Carleen Hutchins attempted a revolution in how concert violins are made. In this episode, Craig Eley of the Field …

July 22, 2024

Jams Bond

cris cheek

Hosted by Mack Hagood

In an unusual episode, we listen back to field recordings that co-host cris cheek made in 1987 and 1993 on the island of Madagascar. It’s a rich sonic…

July 15, 2024

A Book Unbound

Jacob Smith

Hosted by Mack Hagood

What would it be like if scholars presented their research in sound rather than in print? Better yet, what if we could hear them in the act of their r…

July 8, 2024

Breathing Together

Caroline Bergvall

Hosted by Mack Hagood

Working across and among languages, media, and art forms, Caroline Bergvall’s writing takes form as published poetic works and performance, frequently…

July 1, 2024

Animal Control

Mandy Suzanne-Wong, Robbie Judkins, and Colleen Plumb

Hosted by Mack Hagood

This week, we examine the sounds humans make in order to monitor, repel, and control beasts. Author Mandy-Suzanne Wong’s Listen, We All Bleed is a cre…

June 24, 2024

A Drummer's Tale

Charles Hayward

Hosted by Mack Hagood

Charles Hayward is one of the most propulsive, resourceful and generative rock-plus drummers of the past half-century. An influential percussionist, k…

June 17, 2024

Test Subjects

Mara Mills

Hosted by Mack Hagood

Season Two erupts in our ears with a film-noir soundscape—an eerie voice utters strange and disjointed phrases and echoing footsteps lead to sirens an…

June 10, 2024

Screwed and Chopped

Langston Collin Wilkins

Hosted by Mack Hagood

Since the 1990s, many of Houston’s African American residents have customized cars and customized the sound of hip hop. Cars called “slabs” swerve a s…

June 3, 2024

Data Streams

Leah Barclay and Teresa Barrozo

Hosted by Mack Hagood

On July 18th this year, Teresa Barrozo‘s question — What might the Future sound like? — will be opened to global participation. We bring news of World…

May 27, 2024

Ears Racing

Jennifer Stoever

Hosted by Mack Hagood

This episode, we talk with Jennifer Lynn Stoever–editor of the influential sound studies blog Sounding Out!–about her new book, The Sonic Color Line: …

May 20, 2024

Dirty Rat

Brian House

Hosted by Mack Hagood

This time we talk with a fascinating sound artist and composer Mack met at a recent meeting of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts. As h…