The first song delivered by a podcast was the Grateful Dead's 'Truckin.''

Stand-up Marc Maron invented the modern comedy podcast

In 2009, Marc Maron created his podcast “WTF,” featuring the stand-up holding long, candid conversations with an eclectic selection of guests. That template now defines modern podcasting, including some of the medium’s most popular shows.

Marc Maron helped define the modern podcast with 'WTF'

In 2009, Marc Maron began the "WTF" podcast, hosting a wide range of interesting celebrities in his garage studio. The extended format and unscripted conversations helped define the modern podcast.

The Grateful Dead pioneered a massive 3-story, 75-ton, 600-speaker sound system that revolutionized live audio in the early 1970s.

A professor explains how podcasts built on radio's strengths

When podcasts were first produced in the early 2000s, they were often recordings of radio shows aimed at listeners who wanted to listen outside of the broadcast windows. Siobhan McHugh, an associate professor of journalism at Australia's University of Wollongong, argues that the form is built on radio's intimacy, amplifying the connection listeners feel with their favorite hosts.

In the 2000s, Dylan began hosting a weekly radio show

Bob Dylan remained unpredictable, even 40 years into his career. Look no further than his satellite radio show from the 2000s, which found the legendary singer-songwriter riffing on a different theme every week. In this episode that theme is “Nothing.” He talks about Dr. Dre’s “Nuthin’ but a G Thang,” quotes several lines from Shakespeare, and speaks at length about his love for the musical “Porgy and Bess.” It’s a wild, unpredictable ride, just like the rest of his career.

How underground radio revitalized rock 'n' roll

Early FM was a wasteland and quickly became the domain of amateurs and risk-takers, including many stations and DJs who played music that flew in the face of mainstream trends. This history of the band's scrappy beginnings unpacks how it realigned the rock charts.

Dylan influenced many of his contemporaries

Dylan's groundbreaking approach to songwriting didn't just change his career; it changed the trajectory of American popular music. This podcast from the National Association of Music Merchants' oral history project features interviews with several Dylan compatriots and fans–including Pete Seeger, Emmylou Harris, and Robbie Robertson–who detail how Dylan changed their careers and how they viewed songwriting.

One podcast professional believes the format needs a new name

In the past few years, the podcast has moved from a purely audio-driven medium to one that doesn’t appear all that different from a television talkshow. Audio engineer Dennis Funk proposes renaming the classic podcast—an artful audio documentary—to distinguish it from the junk posing as the genuine article.

How 'Nevermind' realigned the music industry

Nirvana's breakout album inspired other major labels to hunt for similarly loud, countercultural bands. That led to a fascinating period in popular music that found defiantly anticommercial indie acts like the Melvins, the Butthole Surfers, and Ween (among many, many others) suddenly offered lucrative contracts.

'Grunge' was initially used as an insult

The first known use of "grunge" to describe music is believed to be by Mark Arm, a Seattle scenester, who mocked his own band by writing, "Pure grunge! Pure noise! Pure shit!" By 1987, it'd caught on as a more earnest descriptor for a sludgy mix of punk and metal: Sub Pop Records cofounder Bruce Pavitt described the band Green River as "ultra-loose grunge that destroyed the morals of a generation."

The biopic 'Deliver Me From Nowhere' was inspired by a podcast episode

The film’s producers were inspired to pursue the project after hearing an episode of Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast with Warren Haynes, who wrote the book the film was based on.

The first known use of 'punk rock' was in 1971

When Creem Magazine's Dave Marsh wrote about seeing '60s garage rockers ? and the Mysterians perform, he remarked it would be unthinkable "to miss such a landmark exposition of punk-rock." The band isn't considered a punk band, but Marsh's description would go on to define other scrappy, back-to-basics acts.

'Livery Stable Blues' was the first jazz recording and helped popularize the genre

The 1917 song by the Original Dixieland Jass Band was the first jazz recording to be issued and put the New Orleans sound on the national stage, along with inspiring several soundalikes.

True crime, explained

Tales exploring some of the most grisly and unthinkable crimes have satisfied the public's morbid curiosity for more than a century, and modern podcasting has shot the genre to new heights. Want to learn more about the history of true crime? 1440 has the breakdown here.

In 1984, Dylan began experimenting with punk

When Bob Dylan was asked to appear on David Letterman’s relatively new late-night show, he decided to call an audible. He’d been intrigued by LA’s exploding post-punk scene and had spent time jamming with one of its bands, the Plugz, whom he decided to bring to Letterman as his backing band. The appearance sounds unlike anything else in his catalog and is one of his more fascinating creative reinventions in a career loaded with them.

A history of the radio jingle

As the radio became a fixture in American households, advertisers recognized the airwaves' commercial potential. Inspired by 19th-century commercially minded poems, the radio jingle was born in 1926 with the ditty "Have You Tried Wheaties?" This guide from the University of Maryland walks you through the evolution of the form, with recordings of its earliest earworms.

According to Kurt Cobain, Wipers invented grunge

Wipers began in Portland, Oregon in 1977, playing a form of punk rock that sounded darker and heavier than their contemporaries in New York, California, and England. The band remained an underground secret for years, influencing countless artists, including Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. "What more can I say about them?" he said in an interview. "They started Seattle grunge rock in Portland, 1977."

Death, early innovators of punk, were unknown for decades

The band of three brothers from Detroit recorded a 1974 demo that predicted the punk explosion that would arrive just a few years later with the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. But the band, Death, were complete unknowns until collectors rediscovered their music in the 2000s.

A riveting retelling of the 1846 Donner Party, the doomed western pioneers

Eighty-one people went with the Donner Party into the Sierra Nevada mountains in the winter of 1846 via what they thought would be a shortcut to the West. Only 41 came out. The infamous episode of Western travel is captured in narrative detail in this four-part podcast series. This first episode reveals the motivations that pushed the party on this specific route.

Chuck Berry was one of the genre's early innovators

A pioneer of rock ‘n’ roll, Berry redefined music in the 1950s with hits like "Maybellene" and "Johnny B. Goode." Drawing from blues and country, his signature riffs and storytelling influenced generations of artists.

The news feature that broke grunge

The Sub Pop label paid for journalist Everett True, then writing for Melody Maker, to fly to the sleepy northwestern city to check out the scene, which was breeding a curious mix of punk rock and heavy metal. The gambit worked. "The most vibrant, kicking music scene encompassed in one city for at least 10 years," Everett wrote.

Listen to the 'Deep Six' compilation, one of the first collections of grunge

In the '80s, "grunge" was still not a widely used term, though there was a distinct sound coming from Seattle, one that blended punk and metal. C/Z Records decided to document the emerging sound in 1985 by releasing a compilation with six of the city's cutting-edge bands, including Green River, Melvins, and Soundgarden.

'Lazy Sunday' was YouTube's first viral hit

Initially aired on television, the 2005 "Saturday Night Live" digital short featuring Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell took off on YouTube, becoming one of the platform's first viral videos. The song may be a joke, but its success underscored how online video could extend the lifespan of regularly televised content.

'The Grand Ole Opry' radio show debuted in 1925

The Grand Ole Opry began as "The WSM Barn Dance," broadcasting from downtown Nashville. The name changed when its host, transitioning from the station's previous program, said, "You've been up in the clouds with Grand Opera; now get down to earth with us in a shindig of Grand Ole Opry!"

The electric microphone led to a country music boom

The electric microphone provided enhanced audio and greater portability, saving the fledgling record industry and making recording outside of New York and Camden, New Jersey, possible. This proved critical for capturing early country and rock ‘n’ roll.

Bad Brains sped up punk, creating hardcore

Punk was already fast, but Washington’s Bad Brains pushed the tempo even further, creating music that would come to be known as hardcore, influencing acts like Minor Threat, Nirvana, and countless others. The band was hardly one-dimensional. Their self-titled debut bounced between blistering hardcore and slow-burning reggae about Rastafarianism.

The best podcasts about Old Hollywood

If you’re intrigued by the gossip and scandals of Hollywood’s early years, you’ll want to check out this Vanity Fair list of some of the best podcasts on the topic. Some, like Karina Longworth’s "You Must Remember This," cover a different event from Hollywood history with every episode. Others follow a single topic over the course of an entire season, like "No Place Like Home", which explores the 2005 theft of the original "Wizard of Oz" ruby slippers.

What's behind the cassette renaissance

Cassettes fell out of fashion in the late 1990s as the popularity of compact discs ascended. But in the streaming era, tapes are having a moment thanks to changing audio preferences, the desire for tangible objects, and a healthy dose of nostalgia. This article explores the recent resurgence, asking whether it's the future of music consumption or just another passing trend.

Bebop's freedom inspired the Beat Generation

The jazz style took off in the 1940s, mesmerizing listeners with its wild, improvised solos. It had a particular impact on the writers of the Beat Generation, including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, who saw in bebop's freedom a model for what they could achieve through the written word. Beat writers like Lawrence Ferlighetti and Kenneth Rexroth even incorporated live jazz in their poetry readings.

Why Neil Young is sometimes called 'the godfather of grunge'

The legendary singer-songwriter's work with his band Crazy Horse, especially "Rust Never Sleeps" and "Ragged Glory," married infectious melodies with overpowering guitars, a formula that many grunge acts would replicate. Young would go on to perform with Pearl Jam (like in the performance of "Rockin' in the Free World" below) and record the 1995 album "Mirror Ball" with them.

The most popular drum sound of the 1980s was discovered by accident

You know it when you hear it: the distinct snare drum of songs like Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" or Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA." It's called "gated reverb," and it's something most people associate, for better or worse, with the sound of the '80s. This Vox explainer breaks down how it was discovered by accident, thanks to a microphone typically used for communication that picked up additional sounds.

Radio quiz shows took off in the '40s

The concept took hold during the Great Depression, with 50 shows on the air by 1940, because they allowed families to imagine a financial windfall was just a few questions away. Although the genre had a slight downturn during World War II, it experienced a resurgence by the end of the decade, with 200 shows on the air.

A DJ helped popularize the term 'rock 'n' roll' to resell R&B to a broad audience

Cleveland DJ Alan Freed launched his radio show "Moondog's Rock 'n' Roll Party," rebranding R&B records, largely performed by Black artists, as "rock 'n' roll" to appeal to a largely white audience. The name was a double-entendre, describing the sound and the sexual activities it was said to induce.

Rock 'n' roll's history in 60 seconds

In the late 1940s, rock 'n' roll emerged from a mix of blues, country, gospel, and jazz. It gained traction through radio, rebellious icons, and evolving sound. This overview traces the genre’s roots, rise, and lasting influence—from early pioneers to the British Invasion and beyond.

Explore 'The Grand Ole Opry' radio archive

"The Grand Ole Opry" changed the course of country music, bringing the music from the mountains and hollers to a nationwide audience through its weekly show. This archive of the radio program offers hundreds of hours of Opry radio programs from several decades of the show's existence.

The start of commercial radio depends on how someone defines the word 'commercial.'

Nirvana's 'Nevermind' brought punk (and grunge) to the mainstream

The Seattle band's second record, its first on a major label, went to number one four months after it was released in 1991. At one point, it was selling 300,000 copies a week. The band's lead singer, Kurt Cobain, believed in punk's countercultural aims and felt deeply conflicted about the band's success and its ties to the success of "grunge," a subgenre he felt ambivalent about.

Minor Threat inadvertently created the straight edge movement

The DC hardcore band released the song "Straight Edge" in 1981, which detailed singer Ian MacKaye's decision to abstain from alcohol, drugs and promiscuous sex. The track inadvertently inspired legions of young hardcore kids to similarly declare themselves "straight edge," which eventually grew into its own subgenre.

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.

Take a look at an early rock 'n' roll artifact

This 1956 jukebox musical, "Rock, Rock, Rock!," is an early example of the burgeoning rock 'n' roll culture—with performances from Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, D.J. Alan Freed, and several others. It was also a catalyst, sending the new youth culture into theaters around the country.

Nirvana's 'Nevermind' brought punk to the mainstream

The Seattle band’s second record, its first on a major label, went to number one four months after it was released in 1991. At one point, it was selling 300,000 copies a week. The band’s lead singer, Kurt Cobain, believed in punk’s countercultural aims and felt deeply conflicted about success.

Viral pop artists create systems of participation, not just music

Musicologist (and Swift expert) Paula Clare Harper weighs in on the factors that make music go viral. Tracks designed for shareability that feed well into content algorithms on streaming platforms are able to grow in popularity, with traditional human gatekeepers sidelined.

Read an early piece of journalism on country music

This 1904 Harper’s Weekly article from Emma Bell Miles offers an early example of country music criticism. Miles traces the music’s roots to the mountaineers who pioneered it. It’s a famous piece for music writers: Miles saw a phenomenon building in the hills long before any major record label.

Long before grunge, Hüsker Dü blended pop's melodies and punk's speed

The Minneapolis trio began as a lightning-fast hardcore band, but they slowly became more melodic than many of their early '80s peers without sacrificing their punk edge. That combination would eventually be called a mess of names: college rock, alternative, indie, and, eventually, grunge.

See a timeline of commercial radio history

Radio, as we know it, began in the 1910s. This FCC timeline traces the evolution of the medium over the century that followed, highlighting groundbreaking broadcasts, speeches, and technological breakthroughs.

The earliest known country recording is Louis Vasnier's 'Thompson's Old Gray Mule'

This BBC documentary offers a brief history of the recording, explaining how the wax cylinder recording was transferred to vinyl and how the singer was identified. Interestingly, it also suggests why this recording might have been overlooked for over a century.

An early Sex Pistols show is credited with inspiring other influential acts

When the Sex Pistols first ventured out to a small music hall in Manchester, only 40 people were in attendance. But, like the longtail influence of the first Velvet Underground album, the show's impact was massive: In the crowd that night were members of Buzzcocks, the Smiths, and Joy Division.

Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and Neal Cassady were early Beats

Works like Ginsberg’s "Howl" and Kerouac’s "On the Road" redefined literature, inspiring countercultural movements for several decades.

Before he was Soundgarden's singer, Chris Cornell was the band's drummer

Cornell was the band's first drummer, but got out from behind the kit in 1985 so he could focus on vocals. That foundation, though, is what his bandmate Kim Thayil claimed gave Cornell his unique singing style. "Chris has an amazing way of writing melody around these odd time signatures that a lot of people have a tough time doing," he said. "It's very natural for Chris, though, because he was our original drummer, so he can think in those terms."

Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys were an influence on early punk rock

The Beach Boys' sunny sound profoundly influenced early punk acts, such as the Ramones, who took Brian Wilson's sugary hooks and ramped up the tempo. In the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, California pop-punk acts such as the Descendents, Green Day and Blink-182 continued the tradition.