Meaning What

This week Mason, Sean, and Chris discuss the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. They happened last Sunday and none of us actually watched the broadcast, but Sean really wanted to talk about them and they're "music's biggest night" so here we are.

What follows is a conversation about who won what of course, but more importantly about what sinking so much attention and money into an inherently undemocratic celebration of the corporate music machine tells us about the state of music, art, and culture in America. Mason also makes a suggestion concerning Metallica.

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Meaning What is a product of it's no sam studios.

Created by Mason Hershenow.

Produced by Sean Ang and Christopher Scott McNeill.

This episode edited by Christopher Scott McNeill. Additional editing and mix by Mason Hershenow.

Our theme music is "January: Brief" by Mason Hershenow.

Welcome to Listen Now!, a monthly mini-podcast from it's no sam studios hosted by Meaning What producer and cohost Sean Ang.

Sean is joined by Alan Dill to discuss the life and legacy of the late, groundbreaking trans musician SOPHIE, whose avant-garde sound helped redefine contemporary pop and dance music.

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Listen Now! is a product of it's no sam studios

Created and hosted by Sean Ang.

Produced by Mason Hershenow, Sean Ang, and Chris McNeill. Edited by Christopher McNeill, mixed by Mason Hershenow.

Theme music by Mason Hershenow.

This week Mason, Chris, and Sean consider the work of posthumously-celebrated photographer Francesca Woodman and discuss our culture's toxic habits of deifying tragic figures, romanticizing struggling artists, and replacing basic human empathy with academic jargon. It's a heavy one.

Content warning: this episode contains strong language, adult themes, and frank discussion of the subject of suicide. If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.

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———

Meaning What is a product of it's no sam studios.

Created by Mason Hershenow.

Produced by Sean Ang and Christopher Scott McNeill.

This episode edited by Christopher Scott McNeill. Additional editing and mix by Mason Hershenow.

Our theme music is "January: Brief" by Mason Hershenow.

This week, Mason and Sean speak to chalk artist and muralist Naomi Haverland about her practice, the influences of social media on her projects, and how public art has changed over the past year.

See more of Naomi's art on Instagram.

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter.

———

Meaning What is a product of it's no sam studios.

Created by Mason Hershenow.

Produced by Sean Ang and Christopher Scott McNeill.

This episode edited by Christopher Scott McNeill, with additional editing and mix by Mason Hershenow.

Our theme music is "January: Brief" by Mason Hershenow.

Welcome back to the Meaning What Movie Club! This month's film is Barry Jenkins' 2016 Academy Award winning film Moonlight. Mason, Sean, and Chris discuss the film's masterful use of visual storytelling to critique and complicate themes of masculinity, race, and sexuality—all with far more heart than Best Picture winners generally have.

Some additional things we mention in the episode:

The role typographic design played in the Moonlight Oscar gaff.

A brief history of Shirley Cards and color films' racial bias.

The Saturday Night Live "Papyrus" skit.

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter.

———

Meaning What is a product of it's no sam studios

Created by Mason Hershenow.

Produced by Sean Ang and Christopher Scott McNeill. This episode edited by Christopher Scott McNeill, with additional editing and mix by Mason Hershenow.

Our theme music is "January: Brief" by Mason Hershenow.

On today's episode we discuss the rise and fall of disco, its relationship to race and sexuality in America, and what its reemergence in pop music means for culture at large.

Further reading/listening:

Disco Demolition Night

Dua Lipa - Physical

Jessie Ware - Remember Where You Are

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter.

———

Meaning What is a product of it's no sam studios

Created by Mason Hershenow.

Produced by Sean Ang and Christopher Scott McNeill. This episode edited by Christopher Scott McNeill, with additional editing and mix by Mason Hershenow.

Our theme music is "January: Brief" by Mason Hershenow.

Welcome to Listen Now!, a monthly mini-podcast from it's no sam studios hosted by Meaning What producer and cohost Sean Ang.

As you know, February is the month where multinational corporations order us to buy heart-shaped pink stuff, so this episode is about love songs! Cuddle up with your partner/pet/favorite pillow/teddy bear as Sean takes you through a sampling of the many ways pop music celebrates romantic attraction.

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter.

———

Listen Now! is a product of it's no sam studios

Created and hosted by Sean Ang.

Produced by Mason Hershenow, Sean Ang, and Chris McNeill. Edited by Christopher McNeill, mixed by Mason Hershenow.

Theme music by Mason Hershenow.

This week Mason, Sean, and Chris discuss the legendary photography collective Magnum, the effects that recent reporting on sexual misconduct allegations against one of its members is having on the organization, and what we can learn from all of this about how we consume art in general and photography in particular.

The article which inspired this episode can be found here. It's an important story; please take some time and read it.

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter.

———

Meaning What is a product of it's no sam studios

Created by Mason Hershenow.

Produced by Sean Ang and Christopher Scott McNeill. Edited by Christopher Scott McNeill, with additional editing and mix by Mason Hershenow.

Our theme music is "January: Brief" by Mason Hershenow.

On today's episode, Mason and Sean talk to violinist, educator, and arranger Zak Grafilo about his group The Alexander String Quartet, the unique challenges of arranging for such a group, and how teaching classical music has changed in our tech-focused era.

Learn more about The Alexander String Quartet here.

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter.

———

Meaning What is a product of it's no sam studios

Created by Mason Hershenow.

Produced by Sean Ang and Christopher Scott McNeill. This episode edited by Christopher Scott McNeill, with additional editing and mix by Mason Hershenow.

Our theme music is "January: Brief" by Mason Hershenow.

Welcome to the first episode of the Meaning What Movie Club! This year Mason, Sean, and Chris will be ending each month by discussing a movie of particular note.

This month, we discuss Wong Kar-Wai's seminal 1994 romantic-comedy-drama Chungking Express. Quentin Tarantino loved this movie so much that he personally petitioned to bring it to U.S. cinemas. It gathered critical acclaim, and now enjoys an 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 77 on Metacritic, and a spot in the Criterion Collection (who offer a free two-week trial and is how we watched it (we are not sponsored by Criterion (but we are looking for sponsors, so...hit us up))).

We have thoughts!

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Meaning What is a product of it's no sam studios Created by Mason Hershenow Produced by Sean Ang and Christopher Scott McNeill

This episode edited by Christopher Scott McNeill, with additional editing and mix by Mason Hershenow

Theme music "January: Brief" by Mason Hershenow