Welcome to Light On Light Though episode 414, the complete "radio documentary" on WFDU-FM from 1977 -- "Life & Death of a 20th Century Troubadour" -- in which Josh Meyrowitz and I discuss the life, death, and timeless impact of Phil Ochs and his music.

Relevant links:

• Lou Canto media conversions
• Marilyn and Monet

Welcome to Light On Light Through episode 413, in which I interview Mike Grynbaum about his book Empire of the Elite: Inside Condé Nast, the Media Dynasty That Reshaped America, which was just published today. Condé Nast is the publisher of The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ, Wired, and other iconic magazines, so we had a lot to talk about.

• order Empire of the Elite
• Maureen Dowd interviews Mike Grynbaum at the 92nd Street Y tonight!
• Mike Grynbaum's "Mangia Mafia! Food, Punishment, and Cultural Identity in The Sopranos" in The Essential Sopranos Reader, eds. David Lavery, Douglas Howard, and Paul Levinson; University Press of Kentucky, 2011
• Excerpt from Empire of the Elite in The Hollywood Reporter

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 412, in which I interview Tom Cooper about his new book Wisdom Weavers: The Lives and Thought of Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan published on May 1, 2025 by Connected Editions.

A group of 51 scholars from the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and Poland gathered on May 1 via Zoom -- a mini global village -- to see this interview with Tom Cooper. The interview and subsequent Q&A is presented here in audio its entirety. We started off with some casual conversation ...

• Transcript of the complete Zoom Chat that took place after the interview
• Get the book in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover here
• Other audio interviews about Wisdom Weavers:  Captain Phil interviews Paul Levinson about Wisdom Weavers on WUSB Radio ... Frank LoBuono interviews Paul Levinson and Tom Cooper about Wisdom Weavers on the Being Frank podcast
• Watch the entire interview on video

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 411: I returned to Captain Phil's Planet on WUSB (Stony Brook University) Radio the other day to talk to  Captain Phil about Tom Cooper's new book, Wisdom Weavers: The Lives and Thought of Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan, to be pubished by Connected Editions (my publishing company) on May 1.  

As we discussed in the interview, I'll be interviewing Tom about his book via Zoom on the evening of Wisdom Weavers' publication -- 8pm (New York time), May 1.  If you'd like to attend, email me at Levinson at Fordham dot edu and I'll be happy to send the Zoom URL to you.

In the meantime, check out my Marshall McLuhan playlist on YouTube for 50 of my lectures, interviews, etc about McLuhan over the past 20 years.  Here are my two books about McLuhan: Digital McLuhan and McLuhan in an Age of Social Media.  You'll also find numerous essays about McLuhan on my Academia.edu page.  And, if you're a fan of audio podcasts, just search on "McLuhan" on my Light On Light Through podcast page.

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 410, in which I interview Kingsley Marin and Massimo Seriale, two freshmen at Fordham University, who have created and edit a new publication (independent of the University), The Polar.

More about The Polar here.

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 409, in which I interview Simon Vozick-Levinson, Deputy Editor of Rolling Stone, about the magazine's list of the 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time.  We talk in particular about Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Sam Cooke, and also discuss the importance of publications like Rolling Stone standing up for democracy in these politically troubling times.

As a special treat, at the end of this interview, I play a song, "Dance with Destiny," from James Harris's new LP, The Moons of Jupiter.  This is consistent with Phil Ochs' view that we needs works of beauty especially in troubled times.

Relevant links:

• Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time
• The science fantasy story I wrote, "Sam's Requests," inspired by Sam Cooke's song "Having a Party" ... read the story here ... or here (free)
• My review of Trupa Trupa at the Bowery Electric, Manhattan, 1 March 2025
• My Light On Light Through interview with David Browne about his book, Talkin' Greenwich Village
• NY Times listing of the three-hour show Joshua Meyrowitz and I did about Phil Ochs, after his death in 1976, on WFDU-FM Radio
• My Light On Light Through interview with Sarah Seltzer about her novel The Singer Sisters
• The Moons of Jupiter on Bandcamp (soundscapes by Nicky Rowe, vocals by James Harris)

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 408, and my in-depth interview with Lance Strare about his new book, Not A, Not Be &C.

Relevant links:

• Get a copy of Not A, Not Be &C
• Come see Lance, Thom Gencarelli, and me talking about Lance's book at The Players in Manhattan on 19 February 2025 at 6pm.  More information about this book launch, including FREE registration, here
• Frank LoBuono's Facebook page -- where he will be live streaming the dramatic reading from my novel, It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles, taking place at Big Red Books in Nyack, NY, 23 February 2025.

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 407, and my in-depth interview with Sarah Seltzer about her novel, The Singer Sisters.

Relevant links:

• Get a copy of The Singer Sisters
• My review of The Singer Sisters
• Sarah Seltzer personal appearances at JCC-MidWestchester (Scarsdale, NY) February 28, and JCC-Rockland (West Nyack, NY) March 12
• Dramatic reading from It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles with Paul Levinson, Anthony Marinelli, Amanda Greer, Frank LoBuono, and Denise Reed, at Big Red Books, Nyack NY, February 23.

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 406, and my in-depth interview with Rolling Stone writer David Browne about his masterful book, Talkin' Greenwich Village. We talk at length about Dave Van Ronk, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, The Blues Project, Bob Lind, and a little less about many others, including Hegel and his spirit of an age.

Relevant links:

• Get a copy of Talkin' Greenwich Village
• My review of Talkin' Greenwich Village
• Catch David Browne at Big Red Books in Nyack, NY, March 6
• Catch me at Big Red Books, Nyack, NY, February 23, doing a dramatic reading from It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles, with Anthony Marinelli and Amanda Greer, real people who appear as characters in the novel, and Frank LoBuono and Denise Reed.

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 405: Howard Margolin invited me to join him on his Destinies: The Voice of Science Fiction show (on WUSB Radio) in a dramatic reading from the second chapter of my 2024 novel, It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles.  Here's the reading, with some commentary before and after by me.

Relevant links:

• Get the Kindle, paperback, or hardcover of the novel
• Read the award-winning first chapter of the novel, FREE
• Listen to the award-winning radioplay adapted from the 1st chapter, FREE
• Anne Reburn's recording of "Real Love" for the radioplay
• Watch my reading the 1st chapter of the novel at its book launch at The Players in NYC, March 27, 2024
• Interview about the novel on Bloggerythms
• February 23, 2025 up-coming in-person dramatic reading from parts of the novel -- at Big Red Books in Nyack, NY -- featuring Anthony Marinelli (playwright, director) and Amanda Greer (actor), who are real-life characters in the novel
• My reviews of Max & Domino (play), and Why I Had to Kill You While You Slept (movie), both written and directed by Anthony Marinelli and starring Amanda Greer
• Listen to the full episode of Destinies: The Voice of Science Fiction, with both the reading in this podcast, and Howard Margolin's interview with me, before and after our reading, December 27, 2024, FREE