Cool Tunes For a Hot Planet

 Episode 50 explores the mysteries of Geologic Time with geologist Marcia Bjornerud and composer Niloufar Nourbakhsh, offering musical and scientific perspectives on Earth's multi-billion-year history. We discuss Dr. Bjornerud's award-winning books, Ms. Nourbakhsh's compositions, and other pieces of music that spread over mind-boggling time spans, including "As Slow As Possible," John Cage's 639-year organ piece currently unfolding in Halberstadt, Germany.

#geology #deeptime #timescale #rocks

https://humansandnature.org/marcia-bjornerud/

https://niloufarnourbakhsh.com/

https://www.mnphil.org/

https://www.aslsp.org/

https://www.arthurganson.com/

https://longplayer.org/

https://africanrockart.org/

MUSIC & VIDEO

Marcia Bjornerud

& Niloufar Nourbakhsh

Interview

August 21, 2026

"Deep Time"

Minnesota Philharmonic

Orchestra,

Brian Dowdy - Conductor

May 16, 2026

"How To Make A Palaeolithic Hand Axe"

Flint Knapping with Phil Harding

Courtesy Time Team

Vietnamese đàn đá

Binh Phuoc (Central Highlands)

Courtesy YouTube user ykumich

Lithophone Grand Pressigny Ringot

Played by Jean-Loup Ringot

Local musicians playing rocks at

Birnin Kudu, Jigawa State, Nigeria

Courtesy The Trust For African Rock Art

Yadgar - Voice and Qairaq (stones)

An Anthology Of The World's Music: Afghanistan III

AST-4007

"White Helmets as White As Death"

Niloufar Nourbakhsh - Composer

Flute: Eun Hae Grace Oh

Viola: Micaela Fruend Haimov

Violin: Shanrong Sabrina Tuo

"Cavities"

Niloufar Nourbakhsh - composer

Ensemble for These Times

Lylia Guion - Viola

Megan Chartier - Cello

Taylor Chan - Piano

April 4, 2025

San Francisco, CA

Gavotte in D Minor

J.S. Bach

Marguerite Andre-Chastel - piano

Pathe PD 119

"ASLSP" Chord Change

February 5, 2022

Courtesy John Cage Organ

Project Halberstadt

Rainer Neugebauer

Interview

October 26, 2021

"Beholding The Big Bang"

Arthur Ganson, 2009

"Longplayer"

Jem Finer - composer

London, 1999-2999

"Olitsky"

Ian D. Mellish (aka Mel)

May 1987, Breck's Nook, York

"310: ΩΣPx0(2^18×5^18)p*k*k*k"

Bull Of Heaven

bullofheaven.com

"Our Love Is Here To Stay"

George Gershwin & Vernon Duke

Rosemary Clooney & The Glenn Miller Orchestra

New Year's Eve PBS broadcast 1988

Every attempt has been made to secure permission from copyright holders of audio and video content used in this program. The use of copyrighted material is for non-commercial, educational purposes, and is intended to provide benefit to the public. Copyrighted material used is supplementary and illustrative, and does not detract from the commercial value of the original content. "Cool Tunes For A Hot Planet" uses only the minimum amount of copyrighted material to fulfill its educational purpose. We believe our use constitutes "Fair Use" of this material as provided for in the US Copyright Act of 1976, Sections 106A-117.If you feel any content in this episode violates your copyright, please contact us immediately and we will address your concern appropriately.

Episode 49 of Cool Tunes for a Hot Planet compels us to take action to Get Out The Vote! With the stakes so high it’s not enough to depend on just “likely voters”. How do we encourage and mobilize more voters to register and vote?

We know that music has given people hope and inspired action in past times of crisis. Think of the songs that have been guiding lights for the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War era. Tune in and you’ll agree that this collection of songs will deliver that guiding light with purpose and energy!

#getoutthevote, #election2026, # midterm2026, #vote2026, #royzimmerman, #marciataylor, #lisabastoni,#parlournoir

Episode 47 of Cool Tunes for a Hot Planet is about “keeping the hearth fires burning.” Holding a safe, welcoming place for those with the passion to struggle against the dark forces that sometimes seem to be closing in on us. It's a tribute to those who battle, through acts small and large, to keep us safe. And it’s up to all of us to provide shelter for those heroes - spiritual nourishment - to keep their memories alive even if they're ground down in service to the larger community.#hearthfires, #crysmatthews, #davidgsmith, #tylerjenkins, #marychapincarpenter, #studentprotest, #littlevillagefoundation

Welcome to Episode 46.  We do a deep dive into what happens when governments and authorities ban music, with examples from Trinidad, India, Afghanistan, Russia, and Brazil.  Warren Senders interviews three experts: ethnomusicologist Matthew Rahaim (the 1941-1971 ban on the harmonium on India's national radio system), Derek Beckvold (the Afghanistan National Institute of Music after the Taliban), and Brazilian pianist and composer Henrique Eisenmann (Samba traditions as musical resistance).

#censorship #samba #afghanistan #harmonium #trinidad #roentgenizdat #xrayrecords #matchbox #brazil

Music and Video

Claxton Bay Tamboo Bamboo

Laventille Steelband Festival

Trinidad, August 4, 2013

Courtesy World Steelpan Trust

of Trinidad and Tobago

"Music From Oil Drums"

Documentary film produced

by Pete & Toshi Seeger (1955)

Community Steel Band

Trinidad, 2013

Courtesy YouTube user

emlatham1

Matt Rahaim Interview

June 29, 2026

Rajasthani Geet

Mohan & Lathib Khan — Dholak & Harmonium

Courtesy YouTube user #Healthy King

"Jogi Rup Banayo Ravane"

Mahomed Hoosein — Voice & Harmonium

Ramagraph  572

"Vande Mataram"

Vishnupant Pagnis (1940)

His Master's Voice – P. 13361

"Tobu Mone Rekho (Remember Me Still)"

Rabindranath Tagore (1932)

Hindusthan Record Co — LH 98

John Foulds - Essays in the Modes, Op. 78 (1928)

Peter Jacobs — Piano

Altarus Records – AIR-2-9001

"Bajuband Kholo"

Govindrao Tembe — Harmonium

HMV 78 — P 8942

Drut gat in Raga Bihag

Dr. Aravind Thatte — Harmonium

Shri Ramdas Palsule — Tabla

Gaanwardhan, Pune, India

May 26, 2008

Courtesy Chaitanya Kunte

"Gaura Pooja"

Vanita Willie - voice

Produced by Bunty Singh, Trinidad, 2021

Courtesy West Indian Chutney Music

"Mohammed dai nabiyana"

Ustad Doray Logari — voice

Radio Afghanistan Orchestra

Afghanistan: Music From The Crossroads Of Asia

Nonesuch – H-72053

Derek Beckvold Interview

July 28, 2026

"Ay Doostan"

Sarur Logari — Voice

MMC Cassette M-659 (1980s)

"Afghanistan National Institute of Music

Polar Music Prize 2018 Official Announcement"

Video by Polar Music Prize

"Pahadi"

Mohammed Omar — Rabab

YAP Cassette R-101 (1980s)

"Banghari Neem Khat Na Neem"

Pashtun song

Abdullah Muqurai

(Voice & Harmonium)

TAJ Video, courtesy

YouTube user Agha

"Youngsters Make Music in

Afghan School" (2013)

Video by World Bank

"Ay Dil Ay Dil "

Ahmed Zahir  

(Voice & Harmonium)

from "Ahmad Zahir Majlisi Volume 3"

Pashtun Traditional Music

for voice, rabab, tabla

Courtesy YouTube user SijawalKhan

"Chi Pa Sina " (Pashto song)

Zarsanga — Voice

With rabab, harmonium,

tabla, and dholak

Pakistani TV

Courtesy Imdad Ali

"I'm In Love Again"

Pat Boone

Soviet X-Ray record

courtesy Dimitry Seferov

"Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree"

The Andrews Sisters

Soviet X-Ray record

Courtesy Great American Songbook Foundation

"Nie Pokiday (Don't Leave Me)"

Pyotr Leshchenko

Soviet X-Ray record,

Courtesy Clay Peek

"Hippy Hippy Shake"

The Beatles

Soviet X-Ray record

Courtesy George Khutsishvili

Henrique Eisenmann Interview

July 8, 2026

Capoeira Demonstration

Afro-Brazilian Block Party, 2012

Granville Street  Vancouver, BC

"Homenagem ao Malandro"

Chico Buarque

Brazilian TV, December 25, 1978

"Aquarela do Brasil"

Francisco Alves & Mario Reis (1939)

"O Sol Nascerá"

Cartola & Elton Medeiros

from the documentary film, "Meu Tempo é Hoje"

"Estrela"

Eduardo Gudin & Elton Medeiros

Brazilian TV appearance (1999)

"Hello"

Performed by Devin Ramoutar - harmonium

Rohanshyam Deonarain — tabla & dholak

Bhisham Harripersad  — steel drum

Every attempt has been made to secure permission from copyright holders of audio and video content used in this program.  The use of copyrighted material is for non-commercial, educational purposes, and is intended to provide benefit to the public. 

If you feel any content in this episode violates your copyright, please contact us immediately and we will address your concern appropriately.

Episode 45 of Cool Tunes for a Hot Planet addresses our need (as activists and as humans)  to care for ourselves and each other. We spotlight songs that celebrate the restorative, healing joy we find in music, humor, nature and dance– and in community, because ––even, or especially in dark times –  when we share positive energy, it can multiply exponentially, strengthening our courage and resistance, and clarifying our vision of a future worth fighting for. No kidding!

#joyfulsongs, #healingjoy, #positiveenergy, #dancinginthestreets, #emmagoldman

Episode 44 is a profile of “Canopy Meg” — forest ecologist Meg Lowman, whose work revealed the “eighth continent” of life in treetop canopies everywhere.  Dr. Lowman talks with Warren Senders about her long career exploring forests all over the globe, and we share music on tree themes (including Meg’s own composition from 6th grade as played by Cool Tunes team member Seth Handelman!).

#RainForests #Trees #Ecology #Music #Environment
Music and Video
"The Perfumed Forest
Wet With Rain"
Abdullah Ibrahim
from "Dollar Brand at Montreux"
Enja ER-3079
Interview with Meg Lowman
May 29, 2026
"The Leaf Detective"
Video trailer courtesy
Heather Lang
"Now Every Tree Renews"
Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623)
The 200 Singers
October 30, 2022
"Underneath The Pines"
COPYRIGHT 1996 David Dodson
Sung by Kallet, Epstein & Cicone
from "Heartwalk" — Overall Music OM-3
"First Indian Sketch"
Charles Tomlinson Griffes — Composer
The Kreiner Quartet
Friends of Recorded Music
Disc 5-A
"Somersaults in Song/
Hannibal Air"
Composed by Meg Lowman
Seth Handelman — clarinet
"Hark Each Tree Its Silence Breaks"
Henry Purcell — Composer
Performed by La Tempesta, Poland
December 17, 2016
"The Birks of Aberfeldie"
Lyrics — Robert Burns, Tune traditional
Performed by Jean Redpath, from
"Sings the Songs of Robert Burns Vol. 5"
Philo 1093
Scotland photographs
courtesy Meg Lowman
Sounds of the Tambourine rainforest,
Australia, recorded by Jereme Hegge
Yagua Elders sing Ancestral Songs
January 19, 2026
Outside Iquitos, Peru
Courtesy Conscious Collective &
Paititi Institute
Amazon canopy walkway video
Courtesy Tree Foundation
"Saghan bana bole re koyaliya"
Khyal in Raga Maru Bihag
Sung by the Kashyap Brothers
Vadodara, India, April 4, 2020
Courtesy Komal Nishaad
"Prayer of Praise to the Creator"
Bahta Church, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Unesco Anthology of African Music
BM 30L 2304
Ethiopia photographs & video
courtesy The Tree Foundation
Ba'Aka Pygmy video
Courtesy Michelle Kisliuk
"Alus — Spirit of the Tiger"
Hala Alus, Ulu Nenggiri, Kelantan
December 3, 1941
Upper Perak, Malaya
From "Temiar Dream Music of Malaya"
Folkways FE 4460 (1955)
Penang Bioblitz video
courtesy Tree Foundation
"Redwood"
Paul Chihara — composer
Rose Wollman — Viola
Ross Erickson — Percussion
April 24, 2013
"Tree of Life"
Dorothy Carter & Bob Rutman
From "Waillee Waillee"
Celeste CR 1004 (1978)
"Fleurette Africaine (African Flower"
Composed by Duke Ellington
Performed by Ed Eastridge
August 2014
"Now Every Tree Renews"
Thomas Weelkes — Composer
The Electric Madrigal Society
Directed by Elliot Thompson
"Lý Cây Đa (The Banyan Tree)"
Vietnamese folk song
Performed by Nguyễn Thanh Thuỷ

Every attempt has been made to secure permission from copyright holders of audio and video content used in this program. The use of copyrighted material is for non-commercial, educational purposes, and is intended to provide benefit to the public. Copyrighted material used is supplementary and illustrative, and does not detract from the commercial value of the original content. "Cool Tunes For A Hot Planet" uses only the minimum amount of copyrighted material to fulfill its educational purpose. We believe our use constitutes "Fair Use" of this material as provided for in the US Copyright Act of 1976, Sections 106A-117.

If you feel any content in this episode violates your copyright, please contact us immediately and we will address your concern appropriately.

Episode 43 of Cool Tunes for a Hot Planet celebrates the 250 thanniversary of our country, with songs of tribute to what America is really all about – the strength of immigrants, and the richness of the diverse cultures they bring to the party; the nobility of the working man and woman, upon whose shoulders we all stand; the gifts of freedom and democracy, as we extend our hands to those less fortunate who need a lift up – and how that act lifts all of us.#democracy250, #america250, #steveearle, #brockpeters, #cashvilletrashpandas, #balladforamericans, #alisonmoore, #jeanroheVideos"City of Immigrants"performed by Steve Earle"Ballad for Americans, Part 4"performed by Brock Peters"Handful of Earth (The Worker's Song)performed by The Cashville Trash Pandas"Liberty"performed by Alison Moore"National Anthem: Arise! Arise!"performed by Jean Rohe

Episode 41 of Cool Tunes for a Hot Planet speaks to the plight of workingclass folks suffering under the thumb of corporate exploitation, the rise of fascist cruelty, and the betrayal of America’s social compact by leaders who seem determined to undermine our ethics and betray our trust. But just naming these evils for what they are is the first step to creating a community of resistance and righteousness.

Episode 40 is a dive into the extraordinary world of Climate Choirs, as Warren interviews Chris Hutchings of the UK-based clearinghouse Choirs For Climate. Hear and watch choral singing on environmental themes, including many selections of Hutchings' own music as well as performance excerpts from the 1000-singer mega-concert presented in Finland in 2024 by Choirs For Ecocide Law.

For more information check these links:https://choirsforclimate.com/https://www.stopecocide.earth/choirs

https://craftycarrot.co.uk/another-world/

"Another World"
Jane Lewis, composer
text by Arundhati Roy
Choirs For Climate Concert,
March 5, 2025,
Edinburgh, Scotland

"Let Them Not Say"
Chris Hutchings, composer
Jane Hirshfield, text
The Piedmont Singers
Helena von Rueden - director
April 22, 2021
"Warming Warning"
Chris Hutchings, composer
Milan Jazz School Choir,
Giorgio Ubaldi, Director
August 15, 2024,
Milan, Italy
"I Was Listening To A Pogrom"
Michael Rosen, text,
Chris Hutchings, composer
Loré Lixenberg — Voice,
Rolf Hind — Piano
“Occupy The Pianos" Concert,
October 18, 2020,
St John’s Smith Square, London
"When The Snow Came"
Chris Hutchings — Composer
Kantos Chamber Choir
Ellie Slorach — Director
December 18, 2021
"Why We Sing"
Chris Hutchings, composer
Choirs For Climate Concert,
March 5, 2025,
Edinburgh, Scotland
"The Turmut-Hoer's Song"
Sung by Fred Perrier & Villagers
West Lavington, Wiltshire, 1951
From Lomax & Kennedy:
"World Library of Folk & Primitive Music"
Columbia SL 206
"Melisommelos, or the Bees Madrigal"
Rev. Charles Butler (1623)
Choir of Little St. Mary's
Simon Jackson, Director
"Our House Is On Fire"
Commoners Choir
March 29, 2023
"The Rules"
Chris Hutchings - music and lyrics
Performed by Grex Musicus,
Kirsi Tunkkari - conductor (Finland)
Choirs for Ecocide Law Mega-concert, Musiikkitalo, Helsinki, Finland, April 27th, 2024
"Creation"
Kevin Fox - music,
Astrid Vang Pedersen - text
Performed by Flok (Helsinki, Finland)
Choirs for Ecocide Law Mega-concert,
Musiikkitalo, Helsinki,
Finland, April 27th, 2024
"We Used to Know"
Astrid Vang Pedersen- music and lyrics
Performed by Philomela,
Jennifer Moir - conductor (Finland)
Choirs for Ecocide Law Mega-concert,
Musiikkitalo, Helsinki,
Finland, April 27th, 2024
"I Wanna See You Free"
Simon Tandberg Christensen - words & music
Performed by Vaskivuoren Lukion Kamarikuoro,
Anni-Kaisa Haukka - conductor  (Finland)
Choirs for Ecocide Law Mega-concert,
Musiikkitalo, Helsinki,
Finland, April 27th, 2024
"Ask Not"
Peder Karlsson - music and text
Performed by Tampereen Ihankaikkinen
Kuninkaallinen Tuomiokuoro,
Petra Poutanen, conductor (Finland)
Choirs for Ecocide Law Mega-concert,
Musiikkitalo, Helsinki,
Finland, April 27th, 2024
"Send Lazarus"
Chris Hutchings, composer
Choirs For Climate Concert,
March 5, 2025,
Edinburgh, Scotland
"Monster"
Chris Hutchings, composer
March 28, 2025,
Oxford University
Museum of Natural History
City of Oxford Choir,
Duncan Aspden, director
"Hope" — Merzi Rajala - music,
Emily Dickenson - text
Performed by Vaskivuoren
Lukion Kamarikuoro,
Anni-Kaisa Haukka -
conductor  (Finland)
Choirs for Ecocide Law
Mega-concert,
Musiikkitalo, Helsinki,
Finland, April 27th, 2024

Every attempt has been made to secure permission from copyright holders of audio and video content used in this program. The use of copyrighted material is for non-commercial, educational purposes, and is intended to provide benefit to the public. Copyrighted material used is supplementary and illustrative, and does not detract from the commercial value of the original content. "Cool Tunes For A Hot Planet" uses only the minimum amount of copyrighted material to fulfill its educational purpose. We believe our use constitutes "Fair Use" of this material as provided for in the US Copyright Act of 1976, Sections 106A-117.If you feel any content in this episode violates your copyright, please contact us immediately and we will address your concern appropriately.

Episode 39 of Cool Tunes for a Hot Planet is about honoring the rebirth of springtime, the workers who bring life to the community, and the elders who have held strong to the harmony of the planet despite centuries of opposition and pollution. Building on the mandate of April’s Earth Day, now is the time to put those good ideas into action, and move forward together to bring peace and justice to an ailing world.