The Transformational Power of the Cassette Tape

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When the Sony Walkman arrived in 1979 it not only changed the way we experience audio, it also changed the way we experience the world. Suddenly listening was a private experience and everyone with headphones on was experiencing their surroundings with a different soundtrack. Radiolab senior producer Simon Adler created a five part series for the podcast and a new live performance about the transformations spawned by that easy access to audio through the cassette tape and Walkman. We talk with Adler about the impact of the cassette tape across the globe – from opening communist China’s ears to rock and roll through our exported plastic trash to delivering hypnotic self help messages straight to listeners’ souls. What’s a cassette tape that changed your life? Guests: Simon Adler, senior producer, Radiolab Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for KQIWID podcasts comes from Rancho LaPuerta, a wellness resort 45 minutes from San Diego.
0:07.2	Summer packages of three, four, or seven nights include hiking, mindfulness, and culinary adventures with farm-fresh ingredients.
0:15.0	Rancho LePuerta.com.
0:16.9	Support for Forum comes from Broadway S.F. presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:24.4	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:30.8	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia.
0:34.8	When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable
0:40.2	test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade
0:47.2	plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now
0:54.0	at Broadwaysf.com.
0:57.8	From KQED. from kQD in san francisco i'm alexis madrigal hey it's friday the warriors won and spring has sprung
1:17.9	let's pop in a cassette tape and give ourselves a little daily affirmation i like myself i'm glad to be me
1:25.9	i like myself i am glad to be me. I like myself.
1:28.3	I am glad to be me.
1:30.3	We have a special show for you this morning.
1:32.3	Radio Lab's Simon Adler joins us to preview a new live show that he's doing about his project,
1:37.3	Mix Tape, which focuses on the transformations rot by the Humble Cassette Tape.
1:41.3	He'll take us all over the world and to the moon,
1:44.4	but most especially, into that space where you may be hearing my voice right now.
1:48.7	Between your headphones and soul, somewhere right in there.
1:51.4	That's all coming up next after this news.
2:09.3	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. Think back to the defining image of the radio from the mid-century.
	...

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