PODCAST · society
Phantom Power
by SpectreVision Radio
Sound is all around us, but we give little thought to its invisible influence. Dr. Mack Hagood explores the world of sound studies with the world's most amazing sound scholars, sound artists, and acoustic ecologists. How are noise-cancelling headphones changing social life? What did silent films sound like? Is listening to audiobooks really reading? How did computers learn to speak? How do race, gender, and disability shape our listening? What do live musicians actually hear in those in-ear monitors? Why does your office sound so bad? What are Sound Art and Radio Art? How do historians study the sounds of the past? Can we enter the sonic perspective of animals? We've broken down Yoko Ono's scream, John Cage's silence, Houston hip hop, Iranian noise music, the politics of EDM, and audio ink blot tests for blind people. Phantom Power is the podcast that both newcomers and experts in sound studies, sound art, and acoustic ecology listen to--combining intellectual rigo
Episodes
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The Talking Dead: Our Live Experiment with Instrumental Transcommunication
Today on a very special pre-Halloween episode of Phantom Power, we try to make contact with the dead using digital audio technology. We are trying Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC) with ITC practitioner Joshua Sean and cultural scholar Leila Taylor, who focuses on the esoteric, horror, and…
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Analog Revolutionaries with Theodore Gordon
Theodore Gordon is a musician, musicologist, and scholar of science and technologies studies. He’s interested in the mystery of the black box of audio technology. We know that there are inputs and outputs in this now ubiquitous music technology, but whatever happens in between remains mysterious...
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Animal Collective’s Geologist: Still Digging Up Sonic Gems
Best known as Geologist, Animal Collective’s Brian Weitz injects synthesizers, samples, animal sounds, and field recordings into that band's enchantingly strange sound world. Recently, Weitz has been on a creative tear, releasing a solo album and several other projects, including Croz Boyce with...
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Tashi Dorji: The Radical Openness of Improvisation
In the early 2010s self-taught guitarist Tashi Dorji was recording improvised guitar explorations in his home near Asheville, North Carolina. These self-released outings drew on his unique mix of musical influences from the Buddhist music of his childhood in Bhutan to the Western music he...
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Disquiet in Tehran (Siavash Amini)
Siavash Amini is an experimental composer living in Tehran, trying to live his life and hone his craft amid United States bombings and government crackdowns. Amazingly, he is still creating. August 28th will see release of his collaboration with the American theorist and poet Eugene Thacker…
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Audiobook Superstar Robin Miles: The Full Interview
While Mack takes a summer break, we bring you this treat from the archives: the full-members-only version of his 2024 interview with beloved audiobook narrator Robin Miles. This episode features almost an hour of additional content, including our What’s Good segment where Robin unsurprisingly…
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Noise, Tinnitus and Affect Theory: Marie Thompson Extended Interview Recast
While Mack takes a summer break, we bring you this treat from the archives: the full-members-only version of his 2024 interview with the influential theorist of noise and affect theory, Dr. Marie Thompson. This episode features 40 minutes of additional content on Thompson’s research on tinnitus…
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Podcasting's Politics of Empathy with Jason Loviglio
Today we talk radio, podcasting, and democracy with Jason Loviglio. Jason is an expert on the history of National Public Radio and a key theorist of how audio media have changed the public sphere. He traces the politics of radio down to the smallest details, like the kinds of mics that are used,...
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Digital feeds, malnourished students
Today we’re doing one of our occasional episodes where host Mack Hagood talks about a new essay he’s written for our newsletter “Feed Logic and the Failure to Thrive” Mack writes that students and professors are struggling, both academically and spiritually. He tries to diagnose the issue he felt...
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Did Moog ruin synths? Suzanne Ciani reveals analog's original sin
Today we talk to modular synth pioneer Suzanne Ciani and MIT Spatial Sound Lab researcher KamranV. Suzanne and Kamran both love quadraphonic sound, and they have a new quad release coming out on June 4th called Ciani/Orkest. They are on a mission to make quadraphonic music accessible to both...
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Anonymous Sounds: Library Music
Today, we look at some of the hidden labor that creates the ubiquitous music that we hear all around us. Today we talk to Nessa Johnston and Jamie Sexton, co-editors (with Elodie A. Roy) of Anonymous Sounds, Library Music and Screen Cultures in the 1960s and 1970s. It's the first scholarly book...
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William Basinski: From 'NASA Brat' to Space Cowboy
In the fall of 2001, an obscure experimental musician decided to revisit some analog tape loops he had made back in the early eighties. Inspired by the work of Steve Reich, Brian Eno, and Robert Fripp, William Basinski had created his own distinctive practice of taping easy listening music off…
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How to Listen Like a Fish with Marine Biologist Sophie Nedelec
Do fish have ears? What is the nature of underwater hearing and how does it differ from hearing in the air? If humans are the evolutionary descendants of ocean creatures, do we retain any fishy traces in the way we hear the world? And what about all the noise we humans make in our oceans? If we...
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Talking Back to the “The Oral Theory of Everything”
Why does a sixty-year-old media theory resurface in the media every few years, while journalists ignore the great communication scholarship that has emerged in the meantime? More importantly, what effects does antiquated thinking have on the public understanding of our current digital discontent?...
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The Internet Promised Creative Freedom. What Happened?
Creativity doesn’t come out of thin air–it evolves in relation to the communities around us and the tools available to us. Some of the most common forms of everyday creative works–memes, podcasts, vertical videos–barely existed a couple of decades ago. And obviously, we can’t ignore the changing...
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What makes a podcast great? Legendary producer Julie Shapiro shows us.
Today we go on a listening tour with audio legend Julie Shapiro, who has helped define what radio and podcasts could be over the past 25-plus years. Shapiro co-founded the Third Coast International Audio Festival, one of the most prestigious and influential awards in audio. She was a longtime...
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Noise, power, and Minneapolis: Gabriel Mendel interview (Part 2)
The year is off to a very disturbing start thanks to ICE’s violent paramilitary incursion in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Minnesota citizens have responded with mass protests and direct action, much of it sonic in nature—with the sound of whistles alerting neighbors and making life harder on ICE. This...
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Gabriel Saloman Mindel Pt. 1: Yellow Swans, Noise, and the Art of Pushing Boundaries
Gabriel Saloman Mindel is a lot more than one half of the United States best known noise bands. He's also an interdisciplinary artist and a scholar whose research studies the interplay between sound and power, as he theorizes how noise can push the limits of the body in struggles over space and...
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African Music Technology: Branding, Identity, and the Global Music Market w/ Kingsley Kwadwo Okyere, Louise Meintjes, and Reginold Royston
Today host Mack Hagood is joined by three remarkable scholars whose work sits at the intersection of African music, technology, and culture. Dr. Louise Meintjes is Marcello Lotti Professor at Duke University. She's a distinguished ethnomusicologist whose groundbreaking research on South African...
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Irv Teibel’s Environments, AI Audio, and the Future of Listening w/ Machine Listening
How did we humans become so dependent on white noise machines, noise-canceling headphones, lo-fi girl and other technologies that help us privatize and individualize our soundscape? An important character in that cultural history is Irv Teibel, whose environments series helped change how we…
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Horror Film Sound Designer Graham Reznick on Crafting the Uncanny
Graham Reznick is a multifaceted sound designer, screenwriter, director, and musician, best known for his work on indie horror films like Ti West's X and the critically acclaimed video game Until Dawn. In this episode, Reznick discusses Rabbit Trap, a film based on Welsh folklore blending analog...
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Maurice Rocco: Race, Queerness, and Thai Music Culture 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-been in the U.S., playing lounges in Bangkok, Thailand until his grisly murder by a pair of male…
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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 designers, as well as musicians, writers, voice actors and others. We've broken down how computers...
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Deerhoof’s Greg Saunier on Critical Listening (Ciritcal Listening By Liz Pelly, and Max Alper)
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 of the Northeast underground and independent scholars of streaming era dystopia.” Liz and Max’s guest is…
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Radio Opera Redefined: Immersive Sound, Improvisation, and Sonic Freedom w/ Yvette Janine Jackson
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 for a variety of mediums. Yvette Jackson often works in a mode she calls radio opera, which...
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The Global History of Cassette Culture: Bootlegging, Indie Rock, and the Media of the Masses w/ 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 of Media Studies at Auburn, whose new book just won the 2025 Broadcast Education Association...
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How Music Became an Instrument of War: Military Music, Morale, and the American War Machine w/ 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 UP, 2009), which won numerous awards and accolades. Suisman’s new book, Instrument of War: Music…
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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 ethical commitments of our field. He was a generous mentor to so many, including me. Do you know those “WWJD?”...
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The Perfect Playlist Problem: Advertising, Ghost Musicians, and the Manipulation of Listeners w/ 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 the Arts. Liz is also been making the media rounds lately, talking about her new book Mood...
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Navigating the Age of AI Noise: Art, Datasets, and the Cultural Impact of Generative Models w/ Eryk Salvaggio
In this episode, host Mack Hagood dives into the world of AI-generated music and art with digital artist and theorist Eryk Salvaggio. The conversation explores technical and philosophical aspects of AI art, its impact on culture, and the ‘age of noise’ it has ushered in. AI dissolves sounds and...
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Why We’re Obsessed with Podcasts: Genre, Intimacy, and Narrative Audio w/ 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 new book, Narrative Podcasting in an Age of Obsession, offers a rich analysis of the recent so-called golden…
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Second Line: Footwork in New Orleans (Lowlines by Petra Barran)
Today we feature the first episode of a new podcast called Lowlines, which follows host Petra Barran as she travels solo through the Americas, meeting people with profound connections to the places they’re from. This episode takes place in New Orleans and focuses on Second Line, the brass band...
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On the Borderlands of Sound: Loudness, Affect, and the Multisensory Experience of Listening w/ Michael Heller
There are sonic experiences that can’t be contained by the word “listening.” Moments when sound overpowers us. When sound is sensed more in our bodies than in our ears. When sound engages in crosstalk with our other senses. Or when it affects us by being inaudible. Dr. Michael Heller’s new book...
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Beyond Unwanted Sound: Noise, Affect Theory, and the Limits of Acoustic Ecology w/ Marie Thompson
Feminist sound scholar and musician Marie Thompson is a theorist of noise. She has also been one of the key thinkers in integrating the study of sound with the study of affect. Dr. Thompson is Senior Lecturer in Popular Music at the Open University in the UK. She is the author of Beyond Unwanted...
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How Computers Found Their Voice: Film Sound, Computer Science, and Text-to-Speech w/ Benjamin Lindquist
Today we learn how computers learned to talk with Benjamin Lindquist, a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University’s Science in Human Culture program. Ben is the author “The Art of Text to Speech,” which recently appeared in Critical Inquiry, and he’s currently writing a history of...
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Navigating the Publishing Industry: Trade Press, Book Proposals, and Author Platforms w/ Jane Von Mehren
Join Our Patreon! Send us a voice message! Rate this podcast! Today’s episode provides a thorough walkthrough of the publishing industry for aspiring nonfiction writers. Our guest is Jane Von Mehren, Senior Partner at Aevitas Creative Management and a former Senior Vice President at Random House....
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How Sound Shaped the Modern Office: Acoustic Space, Architectural History, and Open Plan Working w/ Joseph L. Clarke
Join Our Patreon! Send us a voice message! Rate this podcast! Ever wonder who’s to blame for the noise and distraction of the open office? Our guest has answers. Joseph L. Clarke is a historian of art and architecture and an associate professor at the University of Toronto. His 2021 book Echo’s...
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Mastering Audiobook Narration: Acting, Audiobook Technique, and Vocal Representation w/ Robin Miles
Today we bring you a masterclass in audiobook narration and acting with acclaimed actor, casting director, audiobook narrator and audiobook director, Robin Miles. Miles has narrated over 500 audiobooks, collecting numerous industry awards and, in 2017, was added to the Audible Narrator Hall of...
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Why We Love Radio: Affect, Media History, and Radiophilia w/ Carolyn Birdsall
Today’s guest is Carolyn Birdsall, Associate Professor of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam. If you’re a scholar of sound or radio, you likely know her work, particularly her monograph Nazi Soundscapes (AUP, 2012) which was the recipient of the ASCA Book Award in 2013. Her new book,...
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Cosmic Visions in Sound (The World According to Sound by Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett)
Today we share a podcast episode on the visual epistemology of astronomy by our friends at The World According to Sound. What kind of knowledge do we really gain when we look at images from space? Longtime listeners to this show will remember The World According to Sound. As we referred to them…
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Listening to Tinnitus: Stories, Science, and the Lessons from a Life Lived with Constant Sound w/ Mack Hagood
Subscribe to Phantom Power Support the podcast on Patreon Rate and review on Apple or Spotify Today Mack talks about one of his oldest companions, the tinnitus that lives rent-free in his head. Tinnitus can be annoying, for sure–and for some people it’s much worse than annoying–but it also has a...
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From the Stage to the Page: Music, Memory, and the Evolution of the Rock Biography w/ Warren Zanes
Subscribe to Phantom Power Support the podcast on Patreon Rate and review on Apple or Spotify Warren Zanes is a “rockstar biographer” in more ways than one: he has experienced life as a rockstar, a biographer, and a biographer of rockstars. When Mack first met Warren in New Orleans sometime in…
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Hacking Music and Media: Freeform Radio, Audience Agency, and Digital History w/ Elena Razlogova
Subscribe to Phantom Power Join our Patreon and get perks + merch Rate us easily on your platform of choice Elena Razlogova is an Associate Professor of History at Concordia University. She is the author of The Listener’s Voice: Early Radio and the American Public (University of Pennsylvania…
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Audiobooks and the New Reading Public: Disability, Neurodiversity, and Literary Criticism w/ Matthew Rubery
Help grow the show: Subscribe to Phantom Power Support the podcast on Patreon Rate and review on Apple or Spotify Today we present the first episode of a miniseries on audiobooks by getting into the history and theory of the medium. Audiobooks are having a moment—and it only took them over a...
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Going Public: Podcasting, Book Writing, and Humanities Outreach w/ Mack Hagood
Help grow the show: Subscribe to Phantom Power Support the podcast on Patreon Rate and review on Apple or Spotify In this brief opener for Season Six of Phantom Power, Mack discusses his new project of writing a trade press book, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. What are the...
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A Philosophy of Echoes: Repetition, Response, and Relationality w/ Amit Pinchevski
Help grow the show: Subscribe to Phantom Power Join our Patreon and get perks + merch Rate us easily on your platform of choice We spend our 50th episode (the last of this season) with communication theorist Amit Pinchevski. Amit’s recent book Echo (MIT Press) explores its topic through…
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John Cage and the Anechoic Chamber: Echoes, Silence, and Philosophies of Sound w/ Mack Hagood
Help grow the show: Subscribe to Phantom Power Join our Patreon and get perks + merch Rate us easily on your platform of choice Today we explore the mythology around John Cage’s visit to the anechoic chamber. The chamber was designed to completely eliminate echoes. Ironically, the tale of Cage’s...
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The Promise and Peril of AI Voices: Custom Speech, Identity, and the Future of Music Creation w/ Steph Ceraso, and Hussein Boon
Help grow the show: Subscribe to Phantom Power Join our Patreon and get perks + merch Rate us easily on your platform of choice Today we hear two scholars reading their recent work on artificial intelligence. Steph Ceraso studies the technology of “voice donation,” which provides AI-created…
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The Thomas Merton Hermitage Tapes: The Voice, Silence, and the Self w/ Brian Harnetty
Subscribe to Phantom Power Join our Patreon and get perks + merch Rate us easily on your platform of choice Brian Harnetty’s recent record, Words and Silences, takes voice recordings made by the famed American Trappist monk Thomas Merton and sets them within Harnetty’s musical compositions. The...
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Listening Deeply (extended interview excerpt): Field Recording, Soundwalking, and the Poetics of Place w/ Hildegard Westerkamp
Here is a preview of Mack Hagood’s full one hour and forty minute interview with soundscape composer Hildegard Westerkamp, which includes many details and stories we couldn’t fit into the three public episodes we featured her in. If you’re a Patron, this full episode has already dropped into your...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Sound is all around us, but we give little thought to its invisible influence. Dr. Mack Hagood explores the world of sound studies with the world's most amazing sound scholars, sound artists, and acoustic ecologists.
How are noise-cancelling headphones changing social life? What did silent films sound like? Is listening to audiobooks really reading? How did computers learn to speak? How do race, gender, and disability shape our listening? What do live musicians actually hear in those in-ear monitors? Why does your office sound so bad? What are Sound Art and Radio Art? How do historians study the sounds of the past? Can we enter the sonic perspective of animals?
We've broken down Yoko Ono's scream, John Cage's silence, Houston hip hop, Iranian noise music, the politics of EDM, and audio ink blot tests for blind people. Phantom Power is the podcast that both newcomers and experts in sound studies, sound art, and acoustic ecology listen to--combining intellectual rigo
HOSTED BY
SpectreVision Radio
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Phantom Power have?
Phantom Power currently has 94 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Phantom Power about?
Sound is all around us, but we give little thought to its invisible influence. Dr. Mack Hagood explores the world of sound studies with the world's most amazing sound scholars, sound artists, and acoustic ecologists. How are noise-cancelling headphones changing social life? What did silent films...
How often does Phantom Power release new episodes?
Phantom Power has 94 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Phantom Power?
You can listen to Phantom Power on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Phantom Power?
Phantom Power is created and hosted by SpectreVision Radio.
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