Shattering Gleam: A Podcast About Music and Gender

What does it really mean when people say "Tina Turner taught Mick Jagger how to dance"? Join Sasha Geffen as they welcome author Maureen Mahon and Nkeki Obi Melekwe, who stars as Tina in the Broadway musical, to break down Tina's strategic navigation of gender and race in the music industry, embodying her on the broadway stage and, of course, those dance moves. From The Ike and Tina Turner Revue of the 1950s and 60s to the present day, Tina has proven she can rise to the top while refusing to conform to expectations. **CONTENT WARNING** This episode contains mentions of domestic violence and sexual and emotional abuse.

Is the electric guitar really so masculine? Sasha Geffen unravels our misconceptions about how the electric guitar has been gendered since its creation, with a lens on today’s shredders like Willow, Brittany Howard, and St. Vincent -- but starting from the beginning, with the Godmother of Rock 'N Roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Geffen is joined by professor and author Gayle Wald to discuss Tharpe's musical career, style and influence, and the "slippery gendering" of the electric guitar.

This episode unravels how such an unusual, musically different band like R.E.M. was able to enter the mainstream, and how queer desire was woven covertly throughout their music before lead singer Michael Stipe even came out. Stevie Knipe of the band Adult Mom and of R.E.M. megafandom joins Sasha Geffen to unpack the influence of the band, from mandolins to the indie genre today. Tune in for a conversation about the explosive music scene in Athens, Georgia in the eighties, erotic Tumblrs, swimming while gay, witholding lyrics, and a suspiciously silly (read: drunk) acoustic video. 

LaBelle, the musical trio of Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash, inspired much of the queer, expressive freedom that defined glam rock in the mid-70s, and yet their story and music has essentially been erased from the genre’s history. Our host Sasha Geffen and writer Adele Bertei dive into the self-contained unit of fiery, inspired women: three musicians and one manager, whose influence has stretched from Grace Jones to Lil Nas X. Bertei tells the stories of her own experience at a LaBelle “wear silver” show and meeting David Bowie and Geffen gets into the band’s famous costumes – whose designer would later go on to design wear for Parliament-Funkadelic and KISS.

Mainstream metal in the 1980s may appear very straight and masculine at first glance, but look a little further with host Sasha Geffen and uncover a history of queer plausible deniability and vocal and visual androgyny. Vic Creature of the doom metal band Vile Creature and writer Micco Caporale offer insight on metal’s anti-authority culture, body modifications, and subtle BDSM visuals.

Men have been singing in typically female vocal ranges for decades, and Sasha Geffen shows us how this “falsetto” technique has broken both vocal and gender norms throughout history. Estelle Caswell from Vox Media joins to share her love for R&B slow jammers like Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield, as we explore the phenomenon of men singing really high in popular music, from Sam Smith and Justin Timberlake, to the Bee Gees and Sylvester. 

Robotic imagery, prominent in music since the turn of the millennium,  confuses traditional expectations about gender and sexuality. But why? Sasha Geffen breaks it down with author Ann Powers, touching on everything from Beyonce’s cyber glove in “Single Ladies,” to cyborg Britney fan art, and even Janelle Monae in giant vagina pants.

How do our ears gender vocal pitch, and what happens when artists intentionally play with this? Sasha Geffen introduces us to a long, dynamic history of how artists like Kanye West, Parliament Funkadelic and more have experimented with vocal pitch in different ways, but with a focus on the legendary Prince. Professor Susan Rogers, Prince’s sound engineer, gives us the inside scoop on Prince’s fascination with creating personas and a story about musical revenge...through pitch-shifting.

Welcome to Shattering Gleam, a podcast hosted by music critic and author Sasha Geffen that highlights the stories of pop stars smashing the gender binary with their music.

You can find Shattering Gleam on Apple Podcasts, the SXM App, Pandora, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And don’t forget to hit ‘Subscribe’ or ‘Follow’ so you never miss an episode.