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Rocking the charts and reckoning with inequity: The dichotomy of country music

Jason Aldean performs onstage for night 3 of the 50th CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium on June 10, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee.
John Shearer
/
Getty Images
Jason Aldean performs on stage for night three of the 50th CMA Fest on June 10, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Nose is off.

In its stead: Country music dominated the charts for most of the summer. But the genre has also been the subject of controversy. This hour, we take stock of the state of country music.

GUESTS: 

  • Jason Lipshutz: Executive director of music at Billboard
  • Amanda Marie Martinez: Postdoctoral fellow in the Department of American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who is currently working on a book project titled The Industry Is Playing the People Cheap: Race and the Country Music Business from Nixon to 9/11
  • Chris Molanphy: Chart analyst and pop critic who writes about the intersection of culture and commerce in popular music; he is host of Slate’s Hit Parade podcast, writes Slate’s “Why Is This Song No. 1?” series, and he is author of the new book Old Town Road 

The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. 

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Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

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Lily is the senior producer for The Colin McEnroe Show. She first worked at Connecticut Public as an intern in 2014. She has previously worked for WBUR, KUNC and as a producer for the New England News Collaborative's weekly show Next. Lily can be reached at ltyson@ctpublic.org.
Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.