e186. Wayne, Hannah, Mav & Jehnie’s Infinite Mixtape

Episode artwork featuring mixtape technology through the ages

Have you ever made a mixtape? We’re sort of willing to guess that if you’re listening to our show, at some point or another you have. But… did you actually do it on “a tape” or was it a mix CD? Was it a playlist in the cloud? Does this matter? Are all of these things mixtapes or is the mixtape something special? Two weeks ago, Mav had this fleeting thought and posted it to Twitter at 3am before going to bed. When he woke up, he learned that someone had written a whole book just to answer this question. On today’s show, Mav, Hannah and Wayne welcome Jehnie Burns, author of Mixtape Nostalgia: Culture, Memory, and Representation to talk about the history and cultural significance of the mixtape, the playlist and the artistry of collating your own musical experience.

Why does the idea of mixtapes give us such a feeling of nostalgia? Why does it feel like a special artistic and creative experience? Why are they so personal? Is there a difference between a mixtape and a playlist? Listen and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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