Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Ralph Jones, "Microphone" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Ralph Jones, "Microphone" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
Since its invention more than 150 years ago, the microphone transformed the world in an instant. Yet its evolution and integration into our daily
lives has been comparatively gradual – so gradual, crucially, that it is easy to
forget just how much we take it for granted. As explored in Microphone (Bloomsbury, 2026) by Ralph Jones, every phone has a microphone. Every laptop has a microphone. We are surrounded by microphones.
The microphone wields enormous power. But when we're 'on mic' we aren't just powerful, we're vulnerable. Microphones can destroy careers as quickly as make them. The microphone is inextricable from our need to be heard. This book takes a curious, always humorous look at this object as a metaphor for power and how the fulfillment of our desire to be heard has created a multi-headed beast we are still learning how to tame.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book
focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty
negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative
analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find
Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society
View all episodes
By New Books Network
3.7
3131 ratings
Since its invention more than 150 years ago, the microphone transformed the world in an instant. Yet its evolution and integration into our daily
lives has been comparatively gradual – so gradual, crucially, that it is easy to
forget just how much we take it for granted. As explored in Microphone (Bloomsbury, 2026) by Ralph Jones, every phone has a microphone. Every laptop has a microphone. We are surrounded by microphones.
The microphone wields enormous power. But when we're 'on mic' we aren't just powerful, we're vulnerable. Microphones can destroy careers as quickly as make them. The microphone is inextricable from our need to be heard. This book takes a curious, always humorous look at this object as a metaphor for power and how the fulfillment of our desire to be heard has created a multi-headed beast we are still learning how to tame.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book
focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty
negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative
analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find
Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society
More shows like New Books in Science, Technology, and Society
View all
The New Yorker Radio Hour
6,821 Listeners
The LRB Podcast
318 Listeners
On the Media
9,210 Listeners
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
4,063 Listeners
The Gray Area with Sean Illing
10,740 Listeners
In Our Time
5,540 Listeners
New Books in Critical Theory
147 Listeners
Jacobin Radio
1,461 Listeners
The Lawfare Podcast
6,287 Listeners
Interesting Times with Ross Douthat
7,248 Listeners
Know Your Enemy
2,070 Listeners
Tech Won't Save Us
576 Listeners
Acid Horizon
205 Listeners
Hard Fork
5,554 Listeners
The Ezra Klein Show
16,340 Listeners