Episodes
May 8, 2025
Craig Mod: Things Become Things That Last
Craig Mod, author of Things Become Other Things, explains how his love of independent publishing remains uncompromised despite a book deal with Random House and why books represent the perfect focused technology in an age of constant digital distraction.
May 1, 2025
Tamiko Thiel: part 2 - art at technology's edge
In the second part of our conversation, Tamiko Thiel discusses Beyond Manzanar, her collaboration with artist Zara Houshmand, where viewers confront the history of Japanese-American internment while drawing connections to contemporary persecution.
April 24, 2025
Tamiko Thiel: part 1 - sculpting the electronic brain
In part one of an extended conversation, the pioneering media artist discusses designing the Connection Machine, working with Richard Feynman, and how her Japanese-American heritage shapes her revolutionary approach to making technology beautiful.
April 17, 2025
Hunter Noack: Grand Piano & Grander Landscapes
With his innovative "In a Landscape" series, pianist Hunter Noack hauls a concert-quality Steinway to remote locations, inviting audiences to wander through nature while intimate piano sounds fill their wireless headphones.
April 10, 2025
Noah Preminger: A Veteran Saxophonist Tackles the Ballad
Boston-based saxophonist Noah Preminger discusses his surprising compositional preferences, his challenging education under Dave Liebman, and why his latest album, ‘Ballads,' might be his most accessible work yet.
April 3, 2025
Mary Halvorson & Sylvie Courvoisier: Bone Bells and the Art of Surprise
Swiss pianist Courvoisier and American guitarist Halvorson discuss their third album 'Bone Bells,' reflecting on the value of risk-taking and the slow-burning development of a creative partnership that continues to yield fascinating results.
March 27, 2025
Phillip Golub: Recording the Impossible Piano
Brooklyn pianist Phillip Golub splits the traditional octave into 22 notes for his innovative composition 'Loop 7,' demonstrating how microtonality can create mathematical precision on top of profound emotional resonance.
March 20, 2025
TJ Dumser (Six Missing): Inner Space, Sobriety, and Soundscapes
Austin-based ambient artist TJ Dumser shares how his decade of sobriety, move from New York, and love of vintage synthesizers shaped his meditative project Six Missing and its emotional new EP 'Gentle Breath.'
March 13, 2025
Jenny Scheinman: A Violin in the Wild
Violinist Jenny Scheinman's double album 'All Species Parade' draws from her childhood on California's remote Lost Coast, crafting a musical celebration that honors the land, its people, and the wild diversity of nature.
March 6, 2025
Cary Baker: Adventures in Busking and Street Music
Through a hundred interviews and decades of observation, Baker's busking chronicle, Down on the Corner, reveals how the distance between Grammy-winning stages and subway platforms may be shorter than we imagine.
Feb. 27, 2025
Michael Dorf: From Knitting Factory to Patti Smith's Carnegie Tribute
The founder of City Winery and Knitting Factory discusses his journey from Milwaukee to Manhattan and how his Carnegie Hall tribute series has raised millions for music education while celebrating icons like Patti Smith.
Feb. 20, 2025
Greg Lisher: From Camper Van to Circuitry Man
After decades of making alternative rock with Camper Van Beethoven and Monks of Doom, Greg Lisher took piano lessons, learned synthesis, and created 'Underwater Detection Method,’ an album that merges human performance with digital precision.
Feb. 13, 2025
Dorothy Lawson: ETHEL's String Theory for Quartets
As ETHEL prepares for their first Carnegie Hall performance, Dorothy Lawson reflects on decades of mixing classical precision with popular music's spirit.
Feb. 6, 2025
Jamie Baum: a flutist sets poetry in motion
Through her latest project with Septet+, the accomplished flutist transforms works by Adrienne Rich, Naomi Shihab Nye, and other poets into conversations between words and improvised music.
Jan. 30, 2025
Anat Cohen: Clarinet in Full Bloom
Fresh from a three-week European tour with Quartetinho, the accomplished clarinetist discusses how she transforms everything from Thelonious Monk to Brazilian choro into her own musical language.
Jan. 23, 2025
Marina Albero: from pianist to nomad of sound
The acclaimed pianist discusses her musical evolution from Barcelona to New Orleans, where she recorded her latest album on Ellis Marsalis's personal piano at his namesake center.
Jan. 16, 2025
Jonathon Grasse: the life & music of Eric Dolphy
The music scholar and author discusses Jazz Revolutionary, his groundbreaking biography of Eric Dolphy, and how the revolutionary multi-instrumentalist navigated artistic boundaries from 1940s Los Angeles to the avant-garde jazz scene of the early 1960s.
Jan. 9, 2025
Lisa Pegher: Rhythms, Circuits, & Artificial Intelligence
Percussionist and digital innovator Lisa Pegher discusses her mission to modernize classical music through AI technology while preserving the deep emotional core of human artistic expression.
Jan. 2, 2025
Paul de Barros: chronicling Marian McPartland's life in jazz
The acclaimed jazz critic discusses his updated biography of Marian McPartland, revealing how the Piano Jazz host's complex personality and vast musical connections created both challenges and opportunities in documenting her remarkable life.
Dec. 26, 2024
Küf Knotz & Christine Elise: when hip-hop meets harp
The Philadelphia-based hip-hop artist and classically-trained harpist discuss how they're bridging musical worlds and bringing healing performances to communities from urban yoga studios to the Alaskan wilderness.
Dec. 19, 2024
Christoph Dallach: krautrock origins from schlager to synthesizers
The veteran music journalist joins the podcast to discuss his book Neu Klang: The Definitive History of Krautrock and how a disparate group of musicians shaped a distinctly German sound in the shadow of World War II.
Dec. 12, 2024
Marwan Allam: a Tunisian gateway to modern jazz
Innovative bassist and composer joins us to discuss his album 'Bab Bhar,' which deftly puts Arabic rhythms and Tunisian musical traditions into the hands of a contemporary jazz quartet.
Dec. 5, 2024
Joe Brent: mandolin magic from Vivaldi to Vinegar Hill
The acclaimed mandolinist and composer joins the podcast to discuss the history of his chosen instrument, the philosophy behind his Adhyâropa Records imprint, and the radical chamber music of his ensemble 9 Horses.
Nov. 28, 2024
Round Room Live: crafting family entertainment's next act
From The Rolling Stones to Sesame Street, Stephen Shaw and Jonathan Linden pull back the curtain on how they bring the stories of legends to exhibitions and beloved characters to the stage.