On this episode, Marc talks with Daniel Rachel, author of "This Ain't Rock'n'Roll: Pop Music, the Swastika, and the Third Reich," published in February of 2026. It's an enthralling and massively important look at many of the bands and artists who have flirted with, or even flat out adopted, Nazi iconography in their art, music, dress, performances, and more. Rachel lays out plainly and with thorough context the stories of these artists' use of Nazi symbols, in the process showing how rarely their decisions and motivations have been questioned.

As he writes, "The central question of this book concerns the extent to which artists have commented on their flirtation with the swastika and the Third Reich, and whether rock'n'roll – that is musicians, the media, and the record industry – has ever taken responsibility for it...the notable absence of significant archival documentation underscores rock'n'roll's failure to confront its past."

You can buy "This Ain't Rock'n'Roll" here.

We hope you enjoy Marc's conversation with Daniel Rachel!

On this episode, Marc talks with Howard Fishman, author of "To Anyone Who Ever Asks: The Life, Music, and Mystery of Connie Converse", published in May of 2023. It's part biography, part detective story, as Fishman combs through the facts and myths behind singer and guitarist Connie Converse, who made music in the 1950s that went unreleased in her time, and then vanished in the mid-70s at age fifty, never to be heard from again. Fishman meets her family members, friends, people who saw her play, and more, making the case for her music as important and unique, and painting a picture of a singularly creative person.

As Howard writes, "The more I listened to her music, the more my curiosity grew...In short order, I stopped writing my own music and became devoted only to Connie Converse – to learning more about her; to piecing together her life; to spreading the gospel of her particular brand of genius everywhere and everyhow I could; to, eventually, inserting myself into the life she left behind to the point that – at times – I felt that I'd become part of the plot."

You can buy "To Anyone Who Ever Asks" here.

We hope you enjoy Marc's conversation with Howard Fishman!

On this episode, Marc talks with Matthew Blackwell, author of "Plunderphonics," part of the 33.3 "Genres" series of books focusing on specific musical styles and movements. "Plunderphonics" covers artists who use other people's recordings in their music without permission, often to make a statement about copyright law, the idea of fair use, and so forth. Blackwell focuses primarily on four artists - John Oswald, who coined the term Plunderphonics, Negativland, Avalanches, and Girl Talk - but he also covers many more who've played a vital role in this genre, such as Evolution Control Committee, the Tape Beatles, and Dangermouse.

As Matthew writes, these artists "tried to change the system. They did so by creating music that was deemed illegal, responding to lawsuits with daring media blitzes, and educating their audience about their own right to adapt and transform media."

You can buy "Plunderphonics" here.

We hope you enjoy Marc's conversation with Matthew Blackwell!