The Deaf Composer: How Beethoven wrote music he couldn’t hear
What happens when one of history’s greatest composers begins to lose the very sense he relies on most? In this episode, we explore how Ludwig van Beethoven continued to create…
8-Bit to Orchestras: Video Game Music Scores
Creating a musical score for interactive video games is like trying to hit a moving target. Luckily, Hans Zimmer’s studio Bleeding Fingers has developed some clever strategies. I talk with…
Dreaming of Coney Island’s Dreamland
Coney Island still has the classic amusements you’d expect today like roller coasters, water slides, and carnival games. But over a century ago, it looked more like a proto–Disney World,…
REWIND: Why (Most) New Sweaters Are (Near) Future Garbage, featuring Dani of Picnicwear
Sweater season has arrived for many of us, so let's revisit a favorite episode from last year!
Exotic Dancers Union
Podcast episode about the workers at the Lusty Lady strip club in San Francisco who in 1997 were the first women who managed to unionise a strip joint in the…
The Bright Legacy of Dark Shadows
Next year marks the 60th anniversary of Dark Shadows. The gothic soap opera wasn’t originally intended to include a vampire, but when creator Dan Curtis introduced the character of Barnabas…
Neil Young’s iPod Killer
A rock icon sets out to save music with a strange yellow gadget that almost no one understood.
Pope of Math and Dark Magic
Continuing the theme of exploring Papal history, we discuss Gerbert of Aurillac, AKA Pope Sylvester II, who's scientific and mathmatical mind lead him to the highest seat of Catholic power.…
Too Bad About the Internet (with Anil Dash)
Where did the Internet go wrong, and how do we fix it? To find out more, we talk to entrepreneur and activist Anil Dash about the alternate history of technology.…