Josh Friedberg: Music Historian's Corner writesCHIRP Radio Summer Reading List 2022: Josh Friedberg

From July through September, CHIRP Radio is sharing reading recommendations from its DJs and volunteers. Up next is a list from CHIRP volunteer Josh Friedberg.

Footsteps in the Dark: The Hidden Histories of Popular Music by George Lipsitz

Buy: Bookshop.org | Chicago Public Library

George Lipsitz is one of the most important and insightful American cultural historians of the last few decades, known for writing such books as The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics. His work on music does a better job than most at incorporating academic concepts and terminology into useful and accessible essays and chapters. This 2007 book looks primarily at music movements and moments from the 1990s and 2000s. I’ve read more than half of the book so far, and I appreciate Lipsitz’s wide range of musical subject matter and expertise. The book is very theoretically sophisticated, but very much worth reading for anyone interested in pop, hip hop, jazz, EDM, salsa, and other forms and their connections to the wider world.

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Brad Morgan writesCHIRP Radio Summer Reading List 2022: Bradley Morgan

From July through September, CHIRP Radio is sharing reading recommendations from its DJs and volunteers. Up next is a list from CHIRP volunteer Bradley Morgan.

Nothing beats a good book during the summertime. Whether you’re sitting on a park bench, swinging in a hammock, or lounging on a sunny beach, books are often our best companion when the days are at their longest (there’s more light out to read by)!

I always suggest going with whatever turns your page. A harlequin romance? It isn’t just the sun that’s hot! The latest in your favorite graphic novel series? No spoilers because I’m still catching up! Early 20th century French philosophy? Ooh la la!

As for myself, I like a good mix. I like to keep it both serious and silly, reading something for a good laugh and then something that challenges and expands my surroundings. As Fran Lebowitz says, “A book is not supposed to be a mirror. It's supposed to be a door.” Books convey ideas and encourage us to live our lives beyond what we just see right in front of us.

Here’s a list of books that recently did that for me and much more. 

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