Replay: Alan Light shares Five Things He's Learned about America - from Five American Musicians
Check out the replay of the first five minutes of his recent 90-minute class.
“In the face of the challenges America faces today, I believe that the ideals these musicians represent—their ambitions and achievements—offer both the opportunity to better understand each other and some models for continuing to move forward, as listeners and as citizens.”
– Alan Light
Five Things I’ve Learned about America - from Five American Musicians offers insights into American culture through the lens of five influential musicians, as shared by veteran music journalist Alan Light. Over 90 minutes, participants will explore lessons on power, commerce, and creativity from Nina Simone, Johnny Cash, Prince, Public Enemy, and Taylor Swift, illustrating how music reflects and shapes American society.
This class is presented free, in partnership with Resolute Square, a pro-democracy media company that is taking the fight beyond the ballot box to where the autocrats are winning–the media landscape of America.
If you missed the class, we hope you’ll check out the Replay. And, if you’re not already, we hope you subscribe for free to Resolute Square and sign up for a special three-part conversation with Rick, Stuart, and Joe on the media’s failures in rising to this critical moment in our nation's history—one that will determine our future.
Alan Light is one of America’s leading music journalists and is the cohost of the music news podcast Sound Up!. He was a senior writer at Rolling Stone, founding music editor and editor-in-chief of Vibe, and editor-in-chief of Spin. He is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Esquire, among other publications. Alan is the author of Let’s Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain; biographies of Johnny Cash, Nina Simone, and the Beastie Boys; and was the cowriter of New York Times bestselling memoirs by Gregg Allman and Peter Frampton.
During his class he is joined by Megan Matson, a dynamic organizer and entrepreneur who has initiated and driven numerous projects across political, technological, and infrastructural domains. Most recently, Megan got the pro-democracy media platform ResoluteSquare.com capitalized and launched, where you can find writings, podcasts and streaming shows anchored by Rick Wilson, Stuart Stevens et al, against the autocratic movement that is today’s GOP. She has also played significant roles in The Lincoln Project and various climate and clean energy ventures.
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