It's our summer season! During this time, we're going to be exploring some topics that we haven't been able to talk about during the course of our first season. This week, we ask what does a conductor do?

In Time: A Music History Podcast returns June 7th. See you all soon. 

It’s our season finale. Join us as we wrap up our story, share the things we’ve learned, evaluate how we did, and answer a listener’s question. We’ll be taking a break after this week, but In Time: A Music History Podcast will return June 7th with our summer season. Until then, remember to #StayInTime.

1969 is when the idealism of the hippie generation rises to its greatest heights, and falls into its greatest lows. This week on In Time: A Music History Podcast, we wrap up the story of the music of the 1960s. Our season finale will release next week on May 3rd.

The end of 1968 signified both a new beginning and an end to the idealism of the hippies. The Beatles were succumbing to infighting, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix were arrested, and the specters of Charles Manson and the unknown Zodiac Killer were beginning to overtake the popular consciousness. In the midst of all this, mankind achieved a dream that it never truly believed to be possible - stepping foot on the moon.

Do you want to ask a question of Zach and Susan for our final episode of the season on May 3rd? If so, send us an email at [email protected] or reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all @InTimePod. Time is running out, so if you want your questions answered in our season finale, please submit them to us by May 1, 2021.

The chaos of 1968 continued well after the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. As the society at large seems to be coming undone, the music scene goes through an equally tumultuous episode. The chaos of the year does yield three masterful works, which reflect 1968 in its disjointed entirety: Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland, The Beatles White Album, and The Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet.

As 1967 turned into 1968 it seemed like the hippie dream was on the verge of collapse. The Tet Offensive galvanized the Antiwar Movement at home. In musical circles, The Beatles along with Mike Love of the Beach Boys and the folk singer Donovan sojourned to India to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Just as the Vietnam War began another phase of escalation, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, sending the nation into a period of mourning and riots.

The Vietnam War is the defining event of the back end of the 1960s. When it begins in 1948, it is a war for independence that is waged by the Vietnamese people against the French, who had possessed it as a colony. By the time that the Americans become fully involved in 1964, it has morphed into something much harder to describe.

For every musical change, there is a shift in fashion that follows. New styles bring new images that reflect the new way of thinking. Today on our Time Signature Special we look at how the look of the 1960s changed over the course of the decade. 

As 1966 draws on, a new sound enters the popular landscape. Fueled by a new substance, this form of rock is going to push the boundaries of what is possible on stage and in the studio. By 1967, this sound has a name - psychedelia and it isn't going anywhere any time soon. 

The British Invasion inevitably sparked an American response. What would follow would be a dialogue between Britain and the States that would push music into strange and new directions. The ethos of this line of communication was one of pure artistic freedom and in the spirit of this age, the whole of music history opened up and became ripe for exploration. 

Following the arrival of the Beatles in February of 1964 a flood of British acts hit the American market place. Many of these new groups were pop bands who came out of the North of England by the river Mersey in Liverpool. This Merseyside sound became the dominant force on the British charts, and made a good dent in the American market as well. Meanwhile in London, a generation of players influenced by American blues will rise to prominence.  

The most acclaimed band in history probably doesn't need an introduction. In case you've been living under a rock though, we're beginning our next arc on the British Invasion, by looking at the band that started it all - The Beatles. Today, we're going to focus on their rise and early releases from Please Please Me to A Hard Day's Night.

Music is about communication between different groups - the players themselves, the labels, and the audience that buys the product. Over the course of the late fifties and early sixties, this communication between Soul, Doo-wop, and Rock’n’Roll spur the creation of some of the most influential music forms of the era - Motown and Surf.

Today we bring you the second part of Bob Dylan's 60s career from Another Side of Bob Dylan to Nashville Skyline. (Part 2 of 2)

What more can we say about today's episode topic? Nothing. Just sit back and enjoy this one. Part 1 of 2.

It's the early 1960s and America is at the height of her power. Today, we're going to look at the Kennedy Administration and the culture surrounding this mythic golden age.

Today, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we look at the relationship that the Civil Rights Marchers of the early 1960s shared with the music they chose to sing together. 

We're back! This episode is a brief recap/ catchall episode wherein we discuss some of the things that we missed before we went on break. Joining Zach is the new co-host/producer/ Susan Zahringer. 

The late 1940s and early 1950s are mostly remembered as an optimistic time, wherein musicians and composers flexed their intellectual muscles and boldly pushed the boundaries of jazz. Outside the confines of jazz, folk, Western, the blues, R&B, soul, and rock'n'roll are all gaining their own momentums. In our mid-season finale, we look at the development of the new American music of the post war years, and how the seeds to the music of the 1960s are planted. 

It's that time of year again. The snow is falling (maybe), the hall is being decked, and it's cold outside. If it seems like I'm leading up to something, it's because I am.  There is one song that while definitely overplayed, doesn't deserve the ire it's receiving these days. Today on In Time: A Music History Podcast I am joined by our new co-host/producer/editor/fount of all knowledge Susan Zahringer as we explore the misunderstood Christmas classic: Baby, It's Cold Outside. 

As World War II ended two new senses swept the world. For some, this post-war period was an optimistic experience, wherein America was the dominant power on earth. For others, this was a deeply troubling time, where paranoia, suspicion, and fear reigned.  Today, we are going to examine the latter of these emotions, and how they led to the creation of some of Western Art's most cynical creations. 

In this brief episode, we look at two works that going forward will provide two seperate templates for the American Experience: Richard Wright's Native Son and Betty Smith's A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. 

War erupts in Europe. This time, the lines between good and evil are cut and dry (mostly) and music is going to play an international role in the effort. By the end of this conflict, the world of the 1960s will be coming into view, but first we have to defeat some Nazis.