1 Jazz as a Metaphor for Democracy
In our music, the objective is to maintain
your self-interest, but to understand that
the momentum of the group is in your best
self-interest. So it would be like if we were
actually challenged to make life easier for
our neighbors and for people who are not
like us, like the drummer’s job is to play
with the bass player — not to say: “Well, I
play the loudest. Let me figure out how to
play over this bass player or make them
play in my time.”2 The Blues
The fundamental form in all of American
music — that’s what the blues is. It’s in
every folk song, gospel song, the sound of
the banjo and the sound of the guitar. It’s in
the sound of ragtime, it’s in the sound of
John Philip Sousa’s marches. It’s hard to
get the blues out of your sound. Blues is
also call and response, which is a demo-
cratic form. It generally has lyrics that
describe something tragic or sad. But
many times it reverses that and gives you
something that’s hopeful.3 ‘Skain’s Domain’ Conversations
We’ve reinvented ourselves online. The
idea of doing “Skain’s Domain” came out of
that experience of telling stories and keep-
ing our community connected, and me
having a chance to answer questions peo-
ple may have.4 His Father
Sometimes you have a really good relation-
ship with one of your parents where it’s not
something you can explain. And for me, it
was like that. It’s deeper than love. My
father was real gentle as a person. He was
much more like an intellectual. He taught a
lot of people and loved his students, and a
lot of people loved him.5 Justice for George Floyd
I wrote that it’s more difficult to draw a
crowd every day for the sanctioned and
accepted forms of corruption and disre-
spect of black Americans that are shouted
from countless recordings and videos —
and even more powerfully whispered in the
form of discriminatory laws, practices and
procedures that result in unfair housing
and employment practices and more trag-
ically, lengthy, unjust prison sentences.
And I should have said, even to death.6 The Beauty of Jazz
Duke Ellington, just the way he dressed
and spoke. Louis Armstrong, just the
brilliance of his genius taught the entire
world how to play and refuted the ster-
eotypes of black people in his time. Benny
Goodman put his life on the line to present
an integrated band in 1936. Dave Brubeck
had the first integrated band in the U.S.
military. I’m just giving you a few. There
are many more. This is a great time for
our mission [at Jazz at Lincoln Center].
We don’t have to change anything. Our
mantra from our beginning was: “No
segregation. No generation gap. And all of
our music is modern.”7 Essentially Ellington
I’m proud of all my alumni, the band di-
rectors, the level people are playing on.
Just this year alone we had “25 Years, 25
Solos,” which was great to hear how kids
played across time.8 Real Solutions
What about figuring out how to have
universal health care that’s not connected
to people’s jobs? What about education?9
Frederick Douglass
And William Butler YeatsI just read David Blight’s [“Frederick
Douglass: Prophet of Freedom”]. It’s a
fantastic book. Me and my father were
reading it together, and I said, “Do you
want me to tell you about the end of it?”
And he said, “No, man, no.... ” I actually
met with David Blight. I absolutely love
him. Just to have a chance to sit with
David and talk about Frederick Doug-
lass’s life and the 1850s with that kind of
clarity. And William Butler Yeats. That’s
my man. I’ve read his poetry for years. I
read it on the road. I read it to catch a bus.
His worldview is a lot like my father’s —
very grounded in an Eastern, spiritual
overview. “Sailing to Byzantium” is a
good poem for this time: “An aged man is
but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a
stick.” Yeats, he transcends.10 My Colleagues
It has been an absolute blessing to work
with my people. I can’t say that enough.
Like, what I learned about my colleagues
and what they were willing to do to climb
up the mountain.Wynton Marsalis, Calling and Responding
In March, Wynton Marsalis, trumpeter and composer, went
into lockdown thinking about what he might get done. But
as leader of Jazz at Lincoln Center, he had an organization to
keep afloat. Then on April 1, his father, the jazz pianist Ellis
Marsalis Jr., died of complications from Covid-19. So
Marsalis went into overdrive, helping develop Jazz at Lin-
coln Center’s online content. He also wrote a tribute to his
father and a statement on George Floyd. In a phone conver-
sation, he elaborated on 10 things that have been on his
mind. These are edited excerpts. KATHRYN SHATTUCK
‘The fundamental
form in all of
American music —
that’s what the blues
is. It’s in every folk
song, gospel song,
the sound of the
banjo and the sound
of the guitar.’COLE WILSON FOR
THE NEW YORK TIMESTHE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2020 AR 3Headliner
MY TEN‘The History
Of American Slavery’
There’s never been a more vital
time to get educated on the long
history of racial violence in the
United States, and Slate’s exhaus-
tive oral history is as enlightening
as it is gripping. Originally aired
in 2015, “The History of American
Slavery” tracks the development
of slavery in this country over
nine densely researched episodes,
with its hosts, Jamelle Bouie and
Rebecca Onion, delivering hu-
mane and hard-hitting analysis.
The show challenges preconcep-
tions from its very first episode,
which focuses on slaves in early
America. Later installments delve
into the fateful explosion of the
cotton industry, the skewed his-
torical narrative around the Un-
derground Railroad, and the ways
that modern capitalism and medi-
cine have been shaped by slavery.
Joined by historians who offer
context and insight, the hosts
begin each episode by spotlight-
ing the life of one enslaved man
or woman whose experience
speaks to a larger theme.
STARTER EPISODE“The Terrible
Transformation”
Dan Carlin’s ‘Hardcore History’
Dan Carlin is one of podcasting’s
most established voices, having
started his first show, “Common
Sense,” back in 2005. For that
podcast, Carlin took a “Martian”
approach to discussing current
events, positioning himself as an
alien with no preconceptions
about earth or its politics, and the
same approach pays off in the
popular “Hardcore History.” With
an emphasis on military history,
Carlin tackles subjects like the
perils of the Nuclear Age, World
War II and, most recently, the
Second Sino-Japanese War, in a
style that feels like a one-sided
(but highly engaging) conversa-
tion. Although new episodes are
released only twice a year, they
run four to six hours apiece, and
Carlin’s affable and engaging
manner ensures your attention
won’t wander.
STARTER EPISODE“(Blitz) The
Destroyer of Worlds”‘Uncivil’
“History ain’t what it used to be,”
announces the spiky intro to this
Gimlet Media gem, which could
hardly be more timely listening as
Civil War monuments are being
toppled nationwide. In 12 crisp,
thrilling episodes, the show’s
hosts, Jack Hitt and Chenjerai
Kumanyika, examine long-ac-
cepted narratives and unearth
stories that may surprise even
history buffs. There are tales
about covert operations, govern-
ment secrets and elaborate cons.
But the most impactful chapter
may be about the nature of story-
telling itself, delving into the ways
Confederate history has been
rewritten over the years through
a calculated 150-year “P.R. cam-
paign.”
STARTER EPISODE “The Spin”‘The Memory Palace’
Though it’s grounded in historical
fact, “The Memory Palace” feels
like fiction in its ability to com-
pletely transport the listener.
Nate DiMeo has created some-
thing unique in this now-classic
show: a repository of wistful,
evocative snapshots that capture
a moment in time. Each episode
lasts 15 minutes or less and an-
chors its mesmerizing narrative
around a particular place, person
or event — it might be as large as
the original Coney Island amuse-
ment park, which burned down in
1911, or as small as a snowball
fight on Boston Common. Using a
mixture of research and inven-
tion, DiMeo weaves a web of
imagined memories that feel
about as close to time travel as
audio can get.
STARTER EPISODE“Other Bodies”‘Black History Year’
Slavery is often mis-taught in
schools, while black history in
general is too often either not
taught at all or taught through a
white lens. The nonprofit news
organization PushBlack is work-
ing to change that through this
new show, which delivers sharp,
concise black history lessons with
a focus on “history, thinkers and
activists that are left out of the
mainstream conversation.” Bol-
stered by interviews with histori-
cal experts, the host, Jay Walker,
narrates compelling stories about
subjects like racial bias in medi-
cine, the tradition of black gun
ownership and, in one instance,
the extraordinary kidnapping of a
young black female millionaire.
STARTER EPISODE“Fear of a Black
Woman’s Body”‘BackStory’
After a dozen years on public
radio, the history behemoth
“BackStory” will be ending pro-
duction this summer. But its back
catalog of 300-plus episodes will
keep you informed and enter-
tained for a while, as the histori-
ans Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh,
Joanne Freeman and Nathan
Connolly delve into a broad range
of subjects. One of the show’s
strengths is framing current
events against a broader histori-
cal backdrop; one recent episode
discussed Zoom within the con-
text of how American classrooms
have increasingly been forced to
embrace technology, for both
better and worse.
STARTER EPISODE“1980s Envi-
ronmentalism and How the Rea-
gan-Era Shaped the Natural
World”‘Radiolab Presents:
More Perfect’
In light of this month’s Supreme
Court ruling protecting L.G.B.T.
workers — a decision that came
as a surprise to many, given the
court’s current conservative
leaning — it’s a great time to get
curious about the inner workings
of this hallowed institution. A
spinoff from WNYC Studios’
classic “Radiolab,” “More Perfect”
offers lively, detailed and often
startling history lessons about
justice through the lens and per-
sonalities of the Supreme Court.
Some episodes detail specific
rulings — like the 1962 redistrict-
ing case that drove one justice to
“a nervous breakdown” — while
others explore broader topics like
the death penalty, race-based jury
selection and sexism within the
court. The show shook things up
in its third season, titled “The
Most Perfect Album,” which
featured 27 original songs in-
spired by amendments to the
constitution, and nine accompa-
nying episodes that functioned
like “liner notes” offering deeper
analysis. Far from a gimmick, this
mixtape format gave rise to some
intriguing hypotheticals: For
instance, what if the 12th Amend-
ment had never passed, and
Hillary Clinton had to serve as
President Trump’s vice presi-
dent?
STARTER EPISODE“Cruel and Un-
usual”Listening to the Past Is Kind of Perfect
Even with half the year left, it’s clear 2020 will be one
for the history books. A pandemic, economic collapse
and a reckoning on race and police brutality will en-
sure that this year will be remembered as one of seis-
mic change. And in times of uncertainty and upheaval,
one of the best ways to understand the future is to look
to the past. If a historical tome doesn’t feel like sum-
mer reading, consider delving in via audio. Podcasts
not only explore just about every corner of history —
whether the Civil War or the origins of environmental-
ism in the United States — they also elevate diverse
voices and perspectives often neglected by history
books. These seven shows will transport you into the
past, fill in some of the gaps left by your school curric-
ulum, and deepen your understanding of what’s hap-
pening right now. EMMA DIBDIN IRENE RINALDI
Podcasts