On March 27, 2008, a story ran on the front page of The New York Times that a group of researchers were playing sound recordings older than those of Thomas Edison. This seemed impossible—nonsensical—for Edison, everyone knows, was the father of the phonograph, having invented the machine in 1877. YetRead More…

  Long before “cassette culture” and DIY, there was a distinct culture of homemade media: bootleg records.  Even with the technological limitations of shellac and vinyl, pirates, collectors, and music fans figured out how to reproduce sound.  In doing so, they also invented a unique aesthetic of piracy in theRead More…

While there is a rich discussion in cultural studies about gendered representation in popular music, there remains very little about gendered listening experiences—or, more accurately—gendered perceptions of other’s listening experiences. Big Ears:  Listening for Gender in Jazz Studies, one of the newest offerings from Duke’s Refiguring American Music series, makesRead More…