The Music Book Podcast

A podcast about music books, talking to authors about how they wrote their books about music! Hosted by music writer Marc Masters.

Recent Episodes
  • 061 Niko Stratis on Dad Rock
    May 27, 2025 – 45:37
  • 060 Jon King on Gang of Four
    May 13, 2025 – 51:27
  • 059 Lisa MacKinney on the Shangri-Las
    Apr 29, 2025 – 46:17
  • 058 Matthew Shipp on his Collected Writing
    Apr 15, 2025 – 46:37
  • 057 Mark Doyle on John Cale's Paris 1919
    Apr 1, 2025 – 45:50
  • 056 S.H. Fernando Jr. on DOOM
    Mar 18, 2025 – 48:40
  • 055 Eric Shade on the Bangles
    Mar 4, 2025 – 42:18
  • 054 Angela Jaeger on her Punk Diaries
    Feb 18, 2025 – 47:31
  • 053 Donna-Claire Chesman on Emo Rap
    Feb 4, 2025 – 52:55
  • 052 Daniel Spicer on Peter Brötzmann
    Jan 21, 2025 – 48:22
  • 051 Liz Pelly on Spotify
    Jan 7, 2025 – 54:57
  • 050 Brendan Greaves on Terry Allen
    Dec 17, 2024 – 01:02:17
  • 049 Jim Saah on Photographing Punk
    Dec 3, 2024 – 51:31
  • 048 Marcus J. Moore on De La Soul
    Nov 19, 2024 – 49:18
  • 047 Laura Davis-Chanin and Liz Lamere on Alan Vega
    Nov 5, 2024 – 54:30
  • 046 Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate
    Oct 22, 2024 – 48:23
  • 045 Jonathon Grasse on Eric Dolphy
    Oct 8, 2024 – 49:35
  • 044 Corey duBrowa on The EP
    Sep 24, 2024 – 55:33
  • 043 Henry Rollins on Staying Fanatic
    Sep 10, 2024 – 01:09:33
  • 042 David Stubbs on Why People Get Rothko But Don't Get Stockhausen
    Aug 27, 2024 – 50:58
  • 041 Frans de Waard on RRRecords
    Aug 13, 2024 – 55:18
  • 040 Robyn Hitchcock on 1967
    Jul 30, 2024 – 48:39
  • 039 Toby Manning on Pop and Politics
    Jul 16, 2024 – 49:45
  • 038 Mike Smith on Popular 60s Jazz
    Jul 2, 2024 – 56:04
  • 037 Tom Maxwell on 90s Chapel Hill Music
    Jun 18, 2024 – 55:23
  • 036 Tara Lopez on Chuco Punk
    Jun 4, 2024 – 45:53
  • 035 Bill Sassenberger on Toxic Shock Records
    May 21, 2024 – 39:51
  • 034 Laina Dawes on Black Women in Heavy Metal
    May 7, 2024 – 49:54
  • 033 Michael Veal on John Coltrane and Miles Davis
    Apr 23, 2024 – 51:36
  • 032 Jon Fine on Indie Rock's Failed Revolution
    Apr 9, 2024 – 01:00:27
  • 031 Ira Robbins on Trouser Press
    Mar 26, 2024 – 47:49
  • 030 Will York on San Francisco Post-Punk
    Mar 12, 2024 – 01:02:33
  • 029 Michael Azerrad on Amplifiying Nirvana
    Feb 27, 2024 – 52:19
  • 028 Marshall Gu on Krautrock
    Feb 13, 2024 – 37:37
  • 027 Simon Price on The Cure
    Jan 30, 2024 – 38:38
  • 026 Paul Steinbeck on the AACM
    Jan 16, 2024 – 41:48
  • 025 Steven Jones on Murder Ballads
    Jan 2, 2024 – 50:39
  • 024 Ben Apatoff on Body Count
    Dec 19, 2023 – 39:11
  • 023 Nate Patrin on Music in Movies
    Dec 5, 2023 – 45:48
  • 022 Amy Coddington on Rap and Radio
    Nov 21, 2023 – 45:05
  • 021 Will Hermes on Lou Reed
    Nov 7, 2023 – 48:50
  • 020 Thurston Moore on Thurston Moore
    Oct 24, 2023 – 01:01:23
  • 019 Marc Masters on Cassette Tapes (w/guest host Jesse Jarnow)
    Oct 10, 2023 – 42:49
  • 018 Lior Phillips on South African Pop Music
    Sep 26, 2023 – 50:34
  • 017 Jeff Schwartz on Free Jazz
    Sep 12, 2023 – 42:51
  • 016 John Szwed on Harry Smith
    Aug 29, 2023 – 42:10
  • 015 Clifford Allen on Matthew Shipp
    Aug 15, 2023 – 44:44
  • 014 Audrey Golden on Women at Factory Records
    Aug 1, 2023 – 46:52
  • 013 Eric Harvey on Rap and Reality
    Jul 18, 2023 – 39:29
  • 012 Kerry O'Brien and Will Robin on Minimalism
    Jul 3, 2023 – 48:50
Recent Reviews
  • Beltwave
    Title
    Great podcast that isn’t afraid to talk about process and mechanics alongside the books’ subjects.
  • AJM08AZ
    Great podcast!
    I love the guests he gets on this podcast. A great listen if you like music, or books, or books about music!
  • pheezypheezy
    Great Music Great Books Great Podcast!
    Couldn’t be better, really
  • Kembrew11
    Essential listening
    Marc is a great interviewer, and the people he has on the podcast — and the topics they discuss — are top-rate, hence my five star review. I don’t listen to many podcasts, but this is an exception.
  • supergrovercleveland
    One of my favorites
    Whether he’s interviewing a writer on the topic of a band or musical subject, or a musician who has written a memoir about their experiences, Marc has a way of bringing out the best in these conversations and making them interesting even if you’re not a giant fan of that particular artist or music scene. And you’ll always come away better informed and with new listening you want to do. The topic seems very specific but this is truly one of the most wide-ranging music pods out there.
  • Gilda Dent
    Thanks
    Absolutely loved the episode with Mike Smith on pop jazz.
  • Ms.AnneThrope
    Great!
    Consistently wonderful. It’s always a treat to hear from the authors of such cool books, and I appreciate Marc’s style of comfortable but well researched conversations. Awesome!
  • @OHKIV
    Love it
    Marc engages with the guests in sich a way that makes me want to read the books being discussed, which I have done.
  • Etrickity
    Music Book Podcast
    This one keeps getting better. I love music books and Marc Masters mostly covers those that aren’t discussed in other review journals. The insider stuff on the craft is fun and never aloof, rather totally approachable. He knows his stuff. Best episode so far was his interview with Paul Steinbeck.
  • Cassette Ryan
    My new favorite podcast
    Music books are the new great frontier in music fandom/consumption, and Marc Masters has his finger on the pulse. His book choices are fascinating, and he’s incredibly personable in his interactions with his author-guests. His interest, warmth, kindness, and easygoing style breathe life into these conversations. This gets an A++ from me, and if you think two pluses aren’t enough, sure, go ahead, add a third.
  • Distant Taxa
    I love this podcast
    I love this podcast. Super engaging conversations with authors who’ve dedicated themselves to researching often under-told areas of music. You’ll be making classy playlists after every episode.
  • Chip chanko
    If you like music and you like books, it doesn’t matter because this podcast is better than both.
    This podcast is a totally awesome look into some great music books…interviewing the authors to not only get into great info from the books but into the writing process as well!
  • coolerking11
    Great interviews, great topics
    Marc Masters asks great questions, and does an excellent job of giving authors the space to give great answers. I’m looking forward to future episodes.
  • Pflort
    Great interviews
    A nice vibe, a mix of questions about the process of (thus far) music history writing but also about the subjects.
  • Existentialista2
    Hope there will be many more
    The first episode of The Music Book Podcast was a great start and promises a lot from this new podcast. Marc's conversation with Matthew Goody is a great listen for any fan of Flying Nun and the beloved records they put out. It's also a fascinating look behind the scenes into the process of writing a music book. Marc is a knowledgeable and friendly interviewer and drew some fun and heartfelt stories out of his guest. The audio quality was great. I hope this is the first of many more!
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