A Harvard radio station once dedicated 24 hours to Jandek

Daniel Johnston's home recordings have inspired countless rock legends

The singer-songwriter self-released cassettes in the early '80s that were not fit for the radio—their sound quality was poor, and the songs were often little more than an organ and Johnston's high-pitched voice, singing about things like Casper the Friendly Ghost. The tapes eventually found their way to alternative tastemakers, who lauded the songs' brilliance and inspired a cult following that has admired Johnston's music for decades.

The psychedelic playlist inspired by a Johns Hopkins experiment

Dating back to 1967, the playlist is over seven hours long and organized in such a manner as to echo users’ experiences as their trips rise, crest, and fall. According to the initial creator of the playlist, the music is a “nonverbal support system” that keeps users from prematurely returning to normal consciousness.

Jazz's popularity inspired a moral panic

When jazz exploded in the 1920s, some believed the music's sudden popularity was the sign of a rotten nation, with one 1920 address at the University of Wisconsin proclaiming, "We are in deadly fear of the Jazz Devil, the demon which is consuming the country." Often, the connections were racialized, with columnists and preachers suggesting that jazz's Black artists were attempting to degrade white America.

Why is Bob Dylan on Patreon?

The singer's notorious for his inscrutability, but his venture into the content subscription website might be one of his stranger choices, especially given the posted content that resembles AI-generated material. Pitchfork's Nina Corcoran surveys the site and tries to make sense.

Arthur Russell's avant-garde music spanned many genres

The classically trained cellist moved to San Francisco in the early 1970s, mingling with the hippie movement and the Beat Generation. After arriving in New York in 1973, he began exploring the nascent punk and disco scenes, infusing them with his classical training; however, his eclectic style might've been part of the reason he never broke through during his lifetime. That variety, though, is what draws so many devoted listeners to his work today.

One man used an AI band to conduct an elaborate social experiment

In 2025, a Canadian using the pseudonym Andrew Frelon claimed to have used generative AI to create songs, an album cover, and a profile photo for a fake band he called The Velvet Sundown. Frelon eventually revealed that he lied, and his experiment highlighted the uncertainty surrounding AI.

‘The Artist Is Present’ is one of the most famous performance pieces in history

The exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art invited visitors to sit in silence in the company of a master performer. Many shed tears or gestured affectionately, claiming to have felt a profound connection with Abramović. (This resource contains some artistic nudity.)

Joaquin Phoenix's bizarre 2009 interview on Letterman was part of an elaborate performance

The actor appeared humorless and pouty in the late-night appearance. Host Dave Letterman seemed put off by his guest's behavior, but poked fun at him throughout the interview. Phoenix later returned and revealed he was playing a part in a mockumentary called "I’m Still Here," which satirized celebrity culture.

Why is there a regular event to call Houdini from beyond the grave?

An annual seance on the anniversary of Harry Houdini's Halloween death seeks to communicate with the great escapologist from the great beyond. This podcast episode explores why the Hungarian illusionist wanted these magical rites held after his...

Reports of a recording of Whitman's voice are said to be a hoax

A recording of Whitman reading a portion of his poem "America" has been mass-produced and broadcast, but the Library of Congress and other scholars say the recording is a hoax.

An electric pipe organ in Germany is playing a song for 639 years

Created by composer John Cage, the Halberstadt organ first began playing the piece in September 2001, and has since made only nine chord changes. The device within a medieval church utilizes compressed air to play continuous tones. The next chord change is scheduled for August 2026.

Find decades of Hanukkah stories to listen to

For over 30 years, National Public Radio has broadcast its Hanukkah Lights series, a collection of original fiction that relates to the holiday. Here, you’ll find a repository of listeners’ favorite past tales, going back decades.

Tracking the Isdal Woman

In 1970, a burnt body encircled by an odd assortment of items was found in a remote Norwegian valley. For nearly 50 years, the true identity of the woman escaped authorities who found she had traveled the country under many names. This podcast episode is the first in a 12-part series seeking to uncover the woman's identity and what happened in her final moments.

Hip-hop producer J Dilla reimagined musical time

There are few names in hip-hop more revered than J Dilla, a producer who’s credited with redefining the feel of the music by playing with its timing.

The tragic history of 'the 27 Club'

Kurt Cobain's 1994 suicide followed an eerie pattern in rock 'n' roll history: Several of the music's brightest stars' lives end at the age of 27. That group includes Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Amy Winehouse. This exploration of the phenomenon delves into the eerie and tragic circumstances that continue to shape its relevance.

Exposing a beloved British personality as a pedophile

After Jimmy Savile's 2011 death, comments damning him began populating an online networking site for an "emotionally disturbed girls" residential school. These comments pricked the ears of two BBC journalists whose desks had been slowly covered in rumors of abuse by the public figure and former BBC presenter. This podcast series focuses on how journalists bring stories to light and is one of two episodes detailing Savile's story.

Stream live radio from anywhere on Earth

Spin a 3D globe and tune into thousands of live radio stations by clicking any dot on the map. The project is seamless and acts as a reminder that somewhere, right now, someone is broadcasting music, news, or a call-in show in a language you've never heard.

Listen to Jimi Hendrix’s mind-bending cover of the national anthem

Towards the end of his Woodstock ‘69 set, the legendary guitar whiz went in an unexpected direction with an instrumental cover of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Hendrix’s version, though, was dissonantly deconstructionist, which many critics believed was a commentary on the ongoing US involvement in Vietnam.

Was Dalí an artistic genius or a marketing whiz?

Punk poet John Cooper Clarke and art historian Professor Dawn Ades explore Dalí's enthralling life and decipher whether he was an artistic genius, a marketing genius, or both. Listen to the full podcast here.

The mesmerizing harmonies of Georgia's 'singing village' feast

Listen along to a polyphonic feast in Georgia known as a Supra. The event is a long-held tradition in the "singing village" of Lakushdi, featuring intricate, stunning musical harmonies sung by attendees and performers. Learn how the singing is learned and performed and participate in the feast from afar with this fascinating podcast.

New York artist Donald Judd turned Marfa, Texas, into an artists' haven

In 1971, Judd arrived in the West Texas hamlet in the brutal high desert, not far from Big Bend National Park. He acquired 22 buildings, repurposing them and inviting other artists to create on-site installations. Today, the Donald Judd Historic District is part of the National Register of Historic Places.

The tiny Japanese village responsible for the world's best turntable needles

Hamasaka is an unassuming village four hours from Kyoto, but it's an important location for audiophiles thanks to its JICO factory, which manufactures turntable needles that replicate vintage and discontinued models.

Stonehenge produces concert-hall-like acoustics

Acoustics researcher Trevor Cox discovered that Stonehenge acts like a concert hall, reflecting and amplifying sound. This video shows Cox demonstrating the effect using a scale model inside a soundproof studio.

In 2008, Prince covered Radiohead

Prince's 2008 headlining set at Coachella is one of the most legendary in the history of the festival—in no small part because of this eight-minute cover of Radiohead's "Creep." His version turns the grunge-era classic into a tortured R&B ballad.

Kierkegaard used pseudonyms throughout his writing

“The Father of Existentialism” published over 40 texts and 40 articles during his life and used several pen names throughout them. The pseudonyms allowed him to present relevant opinions in a relatable, first-person manner without the reader believing that Søren Kierkegaard earnestly held them.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

The first image of a black hole was captured by creating an Earth-sized virtual observatory from a network of eight radio telescopes.

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.