In this episode, we discuss the Jewish politics of pop and punk with conversations about Lou Reed and Brian Epstein that ranges from fashion to the avant garde, drug addiction, the demimonde and gay sexuality in an era of erotic prohibition. We are glad to feature Steven Lee Beeber, the author of "The Heebie Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret Jewish History of Punk," that argues for Punk as the most Jewish of pop musics. Reed, considered the godfather of punk by many, was guided throughout by a New York Jewish sensibility, an affinity for the margins and daring outsiders. We are then joined by Vivek Toward, author of the bestselling graphic novel "The Fifth Beatle," that convincingly argues for Brian Epstein as truly deserving of that moniker as it was he who masterminded the Beatles in the image and format that made them world famous. Epstein, embodied the Jewish experience of the musically minded mediating middle man, who fashioned for the wider world a perfectionist pop presentation of what was to become the biggest group of all time. Stay tuned and thanks for listening! Please don't forget, to rate, like and subscribe and support us on Patreon.

Please tune in for this conversation with cultural historian Dr Jon Gentry on "degenerate music," what it is - what it means and why it matters! Perhaps more familiar as "middle class panic" against "dangerous" popular music like the backlash against Hip Hop in the 90s, this is a history that reaches back to Darwin and the 19th Century. Taking a term from biology, inserting it into politics and then using it to police the arts has had fateful consequences for the evolution of music and popular culture. Don't forget to like and subscribe and please leave any and all comments and feedback!

In this continuation of our deep dive into Wagner, Marx and Meyerbeer which explore maybe first and most total instance of "cancel culture" in music: Wagner's "professional assassination" of Meyerbeer. Wagner shifted a whole climate of public opinion and rendered what had been beloved into something superficial, antiquated, and ultimately forgotten. Yet in a manner way ahead of his time, Meyerbeer dramatised the dangers of fanaticism, fundamentalism and gave pride of place to the outsider, the subaltern and the abused minority. Join us as we listen in and try in some small measure to rectify this historic injustice.