John Luther Adams

from Radiolab · host WNYC Studios

What's the soundtrack for the end of the world? We go looking for an answer.

What this episode covers

What's the soundtrack for the end of the world? We go looking for an answer. When Jad started to compose music for our live show Apocalyptical, he immediately thought of John Luther Adams. Adams' symphony “Become Ocean,” rooted in the sounds of nature, is elemental, tectonic, and unstoppable. It seemed a natural fit for our consideration of the (spoiler alert) extinction of the dinosaurs. In this piece, Jad introduces Robert to a special on Adams from a podcast called Meet the Composer. Through interviews and snippets of his music, it captures all the forces at play in Adam's work and reveals the dark majesty of Adams' take on the apocalypse.

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John Luther Adams

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How long is this episode of Radiolab?

This episode is 25 minutes long.

When was this Radiolab episode published?

This episode was published on October 3, 2014.

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