Phantom Power Podcast
1) Maurice Rocco and the Psychedelic Roots of Thai Music: Race, Queerness, and Urban Change w/ Benjamin Tausig
With movie star looks and a raucous piano style, Maurice Rocco made a splash in the 1940’s, influencing future rock and rollers Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. By the 60s, however, he was a has-be...Show More
2) Phantom Power Trailer
Sound is an invisible force that most people rarely notice and barely understand. Dr. Mack Hagood explores the world of sound studies with the world's most amazing sound researchers, artists, and desi...Show More
3) Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier on Critical Listening
This month, we have a guest pod in the feed: It’s the debut episode of Critical Listening, music technology criticism from journalist Liz Pelly and composer-educator Max Alper, “two lifers...Show More
4) Yvette Janine Jackson: Decomposing Boundaries
Yvette Janine Jackson is a composer and sound artist who creates immersive compositions, drawing on a wide array of genres and life experiences. Her compositions have been commissioned internationally...Show More
5) Cassette Theory: A Mixtape (Eleanor Patterson, Rob Drew, and Andrew Simon)
Today we present a cassette theory mixtape. Three excellent scholars help us understand consumer-focused magnetic tape and its history as a medium for the masses:Eleanor Patterson, Associate Professor...Show More
6) 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...Show More
7) Remembering Jonathan Sterne (1970-2025)
The sound studies community is reeling from the death of Jonathan Sterne this past Thursday. Jonathan’s presence and work were–and are–incredibly influential on the intellectual and ...Show More
8) 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...Show More
9) Are AI art and music really just noise? (Eric Salvaggio)
In this episode, host Mack Hagood dives into the world of AI-generated music and art with digital artist and theorist Eric Salvaggio. The conversation explores technical and philosophical aspects of A...Show More
10) Podcasting’s Obsession with Obsession (Neil Verma)
Today we discuss how narrative podcasts work, the role they’ve played in American culture and how they’ve shaped our understanding of podcasting as a genre and an industry. Neil Verma’s ne...Show More