Mack Hagood is a scholar, writer, and creator who specializes in sound and listening. Best known for his research on the cultural origins and social effects of technologies such as noise-canceling headphones, Hagood's writing, media work, and public lectures vividly animate the world of sound. In 2024, he was awarded a Public Scholar grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Mack has been interviewed by NBC, BBC, CBC, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal and many others.
Phantom Power is a monthly newsletter on sound and listening. It features essays and interviews on the culture, politics, physics, and philosophy of sound, as well as reviews of new music, film sound, sound art, and books on sound.
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How did we humans become so dependent on white noise machines, noise-canceling headphones, lo-fi girl and other technologies that help us privatize and individualize our soundscape? An important character in that cultural history is Irv Teibel, whose environments series helped change how we listen. These records were the first to
Graham Reznick is a multifaceted sound designer, screenwriter, director, and musician, best known for his work on indie horror films like Ti West's X and the critically acclaimed video game Until Dawn]. In this episode, Reznick discusses Rabbit Trap, a film based on Welsh folklore blending analog synthesis
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-been in the U.S., playing lounges in Bangkok, Thailand until his grisly murder
This month, we have a guest pod in the feed: It’s the debut episode of Critical Listening, music technology criticism from journalist Liz Pelly and composer-educator Max Alper, “two lifers of the Northeast underground and independent scholars of streaming era dystopia.” Liz and Max’s guest is Greg Saunier,
Mack speaks internationally at venues ranging from music festivals to Ivy League universities. Hire Mack to speak about sound, listening, and communication at your organization.
Contact for Speaking, or See His Speaking History and ScheduleA cultural study of sound and control. What we cancel. What we keep. What we can’t hear anymore.
These newsletters are Mack's space to reflect on sound, listening, and the culture around us—plus share early thoughts, event news, and audio picks. Want in? Subscribe to stay in the loop.
Sound stirs us all
Its resonance connects us. Its noise divides. It numbs us with bombast and breaks us with the slightest whisper.
We've built instruments to make it, laws to tame it, walls to contain it, and great halls to sustain it. We've mic' it, amped it, converted and compressed it, broadcast it, mastered it, remastered it... and never mastered it at all.
Because sound is transgressive: a phantom power that refuses to be contained, canceled, or even limited to living in our ears. Sound can blur your vision, move your body, and change the taste of the food in your mouth.
But sound has a secret: It only becomes *sound* in the minds and bodies of those it touches.
Sound needs us as much as we need it.
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