iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Tashi Dorji's guitar explorations draw on the music of his childhood in Bhutan and the outsider guitar styles of John Fahey + Sir Richard Bishop. Tashi has developed a philosophy of improvisation that challenges ideas of permanence, hierarchy, and value. www.mackhagood.com/podcast/tash...

mackhagood.com

Tashi Dorji: The Radical Openness of Improvisation

In the early 2010s self-taught guitarist Tashi Dorji was recording improvised guitar explorations in his home near Asheville, North Carolina. These self-released outings drew on his unique mix of musi...

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Thanks! One of those “be careful what you wish for” things. 😂

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Seems like they just fixed it

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Am I the only one having horrible audio issues on the Tennis Channel feed for Tiafoe-Fils?

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

And then he celebrated by insulting the host city of Cincinnati live on Tennis Channel. Class act.

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Such a privilege to talk with Siavash. For an episode that centered on him making art in the middle of war, we had a lot laughs. It's all part of his refusal to let political powers diminish his humanity and individuality.

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

She has voiced some total bangers, right?!

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

If you’re talking about my show, my books will be appearing unclothed onscreen! 🤭

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Pretty ironic they fucked it up with the cheesy old Hollywood music instead of actual silence

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

I completely lack this gene. Which is not good for my attempts at successful adulting.

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

New on Phantom Power: synth legend Suzanne Ciani, New Age pioneer and second woman to score a Hollywood film. She tells us quadraphonic sound is superior, synths shouldn't have keyboards, and more. Spicy takes from the Diva of the Diode! www.mackhagood.com/podcast/did-...

A woman standing with fingertips touching in a prayer-like pose. Graphic reads, "NEW EPISODE: Suzanne Ciani. Five-time Grammy nominee speaks about her work and the history of the Moog and Buchla synthesizers."

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Making note of the pub date—maybe we can re-cast the Phantom Power ep we did on the book way back when!

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Eric Harvey @ericdharvey.com · 17/04/2026

@mactra.bsky.social goes in on the tired/lazy overuse of McLuhan (and Ong) and offers a long-overdue replacement syllabus (links to earlier posts/pods in this post) www.mackhagood.com/media-beyond...

mackhagood.com

Media beyond McLuhan

There are fresher ways to understand life's digital shit show. Welcome to the past sixty years of media theory. In last month's newsletter and on my podcast Phantom Power, I criticized how journalist...

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Do fish have ears? How does aquatic hearing differ from ours? To save the planet, do we need to learn to listen like the fishes? Today's Phantom Power guest is marine biologist and bioacoustics expert Sophie Nedelec. #sound www.mackhagood.com/how-to-liste...

Wearing a wetsuit, marine biologist Sophie Nedelec drives a motorboat on calm seas with an island in the background.

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

B's owned and liked both. The 1s battery died, so refurb maybe risky? 2s have noise cancellation and different ear hangers--heard mixed reviews of both. You're an ear hanger guy?

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

An old "theory of everything" seems to be everywhere. Media scholars left it for dead decades ago. Reporters keep giving it new life. What is "the Great Divide" and how does it hold us back from understanding our digital dilemma? www.mackhagood.com/oral-residue...

mackhagood.com

Oral Residue: A Zombie Media Theory Rises Again

Most media scholars left this premise about oral communication for dead decades ago. Reporters keep giving it new life. What is "the Great Divide" and why is this media theory so irresistible to those...

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

This week on Phantom Power: Yellow Swans' Gabriel Mindel on #sound, power, and Minneapolis. His research and criticism on noise, protest, and settler-colonialism couldn't be more relevant. www.mackhagood.com/podcast/nois...

Image from Al Jazeera: a Minneapolis protester blows a whistle in the face of ICE's Gregory Bovino.

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Leah Roseman @leahroseman.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

@mactra.bsky.social From white noise apps and noise-cancelling headphones to tinnitus and sound therapy, Mack helped me understand the complex relationship between media, technology, and the human need to tune in (or out). www.leahroseman.com/episodes/mac...

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Leah Roseman @leahroseman.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

I really enjoyed this opportunity to speak with Mack Hagood, author of Hush: Media and Sonic Self-Control, to explore how we use sound to manage our minds, moods, and modern lives. 🎧 Listen now and rethink the sounds you live with. www.leahroseman.com/episodes/mac... @mactra.bsky.social

Mack Hagood How We Cancel the Noise: Sound, Tech, and Attention Conversaitons with Musicians with Leah Roseman. Photo of Mack Hagood

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Graham was such a blast to talk to—loved this conversation with a great multi-hyphenate artist!

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Benjamin Tausig @burrata.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Did an episode of the podcast Phantom Power which you can enjoy here: blubrry.com/phantompod/1... @mactra.bsky.social , who runs it, is a sound studies legend and wonderful guy. I kept forgetting we were recording because I just really like talking to Mack.

blubrry.com

Maurice Rocco and the Psychedelic Roots of Thai Music: Race, Queerness, and Urban Chang…

With movie star looks and a raucous piano style, Maurice Rocco made a splash in the 1940’s, influencing future rock and rollers Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. By the 60s, however, he was a has-be...

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Ben, the pleasure was mine! It was a fantastic conversation that I’m glad we documented for the ages!

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Andrew Simon @simongandrew.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

As a long-time listener of @mactra.bsky.social’s "Phantom Power" podcast, it was an honor to have the opportunity to explore Egypt's cassette culture with a couple of colleagues on an episode that takes the form of a mixtape. phantompod.org/cassette-the...

phantompod.org

Cassette Theory: A Mixtape (Eleanor Patterson, Rob Drew, and Andrew Simon)

Three top media scholars discuss the impact of the cassette tape in American and Egyptian music and culture.

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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

It’s like watching a troop of chimpanzees smashing a watch

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Brian Fauteux @brianfauteux.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

On Friday, I dropped by #CBC studios in #Edmonton to talk about #SiriusXM and subscription music listening, and the book launch for Music In Orbit, taking place tomorrow at Audreys Books at 7pm. Event details here: www.eventbrite.ca/e/book-launc...

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Zack Stiegler @handle.invalid · 21/03/2025

Folks mourning the loss of Jonathan Sterne may enjoy revisiting his chats with @mactra.bsky.social. Jon's insatiable curiosity, passion, humor, and general joie de vivre are on full display. phantompod.org?s=sterne

phantompod.org

You searched for sterne - Phantom Power

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Just saw someone reading one on a plane two days ago.

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Hossein Derakhshan (حسین درخشان) @h0d3r.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

I always imagined @mactra.bsky.social with Barry Gibb's style long hair and beard. Video podcasts ruin everything!

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

If only I could grow chest hair like that!

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

I feel like I’ve heard the same error but it must’ve been a different audiobook.

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Harald Klinke @harald-klinke.de · 05/02/2025

I am listening to the inspiring podcast with @eryk.bsky.social about the age of noise (or rather diffusion?).

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

You were a Mermaid denizen? When did you live in NOLA? We probably rubbed elbows

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

My podcast about #sound + #audio, Phantom Power, recently dropped an excellent interview with @eryk.bsky.social on #AI in art, music, and culture. In the pod app of your choice or on YouTube. youtu.be/d6CXBZ2eAAU?... #soundstudies, #soundart, #mediastudies

youtu.be

Are AI art and music really just noise? (Eryk Salvaggio)

YouTube video by Phantom Power Podcast

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

My next book, The End of Listening, is now under contract with Penguin Press! We'll meet the developers of emerging technologies intended to give us complete control of the sounds around us. The dream of vanquishing noise is as old as antiquity--but what would it mean to actually succeed?

Publishers Marketplace announcement: "Miami University professor of media and communications and author of HUSH Mack Hagood‘s THE END OF LISTENING: WHAT WE LOSE WHEN WE CANCEL NOISE, about the unintended consequences of the rise of "the orphic industries"—from white noise machines and noise-canceling headphones to nature sound apps and in-ear, AI-driven "hearables"—whose stories raise urgent ethical, political, and societal questions, not the least of which is whether the very technologies we rely on to help control our stress-inducing environments might be eroding our emotional resilience and connection to society, to Penguin Press, at auction."

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Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

How terrible. I greatly appreciate Nicolas's work — including these two books I have in my own collection:

Dr. Smartphone: An Ethnography of Mobile Phone Repair Shops

Black cover depicting an eagle and a drone, with the title "A Bestiary of the Anthropocene"

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

So it’s a white noise chamber as well?

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

It looks rather… porous?

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Anna E. Clark @annaeclark.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

This is what's so baffling about so many suggestions for AI in the humanities classroom: they mistake the product for the point. Writing outlines and essays is important not because you need to make outlines and essays but because that's how you learn to think with/through complex ideas.

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

Anyone else had this stuck in their head for the past 48 hours?

Album cover of Chuck Mangione's Feels So Good. It displays a bearded, longhaired man in black fedora and red shirt, smiling and hugging a flugelhorn.

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

About to resurrect this motherfucker.

Portrait of self with fur hat and deflated snowman on ground

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Mack Hagood @mactra.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

I interviewed Eryk for Phantom Power. Should drop by January.

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