There are concertgoers who like having their phones out to capture short videos or photos as they enjoy a show. Others absolutely hate this and argue that phones should be banned from these spaces. Pitch’s Whitney Jones digs into 200 years of US cultural history to get at the roots of what is “OK” at concerts, what isn’t and who gets to decide that.

In the low-income — but rapidly gentrifying — neighborhood of South Philadelphia, Andrew Jackson School’s first music teacher in 20 years builds a new middle school program that becomes a massive success story. The program, called “Home,” became a refuge for Jackson’s underserved, low-income students. But as Pitch contributor Avi Wolfman-Arendt reports, "Home’s" very success could in fact drive the demise of the values that made "Home" so important to the kids who participate in it.

Why would a musician make a pop album in a language spoken by fewer than a thousand people? Pitch contributor, Laura Snapes, revisits Cornwall, England with musician Gwenno as she contemplates her native languages, her identity and her new album.

How much control does a musician have over the meaning of their work? Beginning with Ronald Reagan mangling a Bruce Springsteen album at a campaign rally, Pitch’s Whitney Jones dives into the complex relationship between what artists say and what audiences hear.

Meet David Teie, an established cellist and composer trying to reach somewhat unexpected audiences. Pitch’s Alex Kapelman follows the twist in Teie’s career as he makes a journey across fields as he attempts to solve one of the biggest mysteries in all of music. Spoiler alert: there are lots of furry four-legged friends in this episode.

In the early 1990s, the French government made a dramatic move to protect French music: they set quotas for the amount of French music that had to appear on the radio. To their surprise, the politicians may have unintentionally aided the rise of French hip hop. Pitch contributor Emma Jacobs has the story.

In the 1950s, many artists with cultural power became targets of rumor, accusation and blacklists. One of these artists was Hazel Scott, a popular jazz musician who achieved fame at the renowned New York City club Café Society. Pitch’s Whitney Jones explores how Hazel’s appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee changed the course of her life and her legacy. 

Soca is insanely danceable Caribbean dance music that provides the soundtrack to Carnival in Trinidad. It’s also been traditionally dominated by men and tinged with misogynistic undertones. Pitch contributor Martine Powers reports on how the original “Queen of Soca” changed the whole tone of Carnival in 2017 with a song that’ll make you want to dance, but with a message of empowerment.