This episode of Music In Time gets back to its political roots by focusing on ELECTION CYCLES. Back in 2022, the first-ever broadcast of this show centered on Neil Young's 1980 album Hawks & Doves, exploring how the album reflected the stakes of the Reagan/Carter election, held just days after the album's release. On this episode, host Evan McCormick revives the bit, revisiting the most pivotal elections in the last 60 years and playing songs from albums that came out in the weeks prior -- and which *might* be inflected with the vibes of the campaign season. Do the political stakes of election cycles inflect the way we hear and remember certain music? Come along on this sonic-historical road trip to find out. 

Playlist
1. The Ballad of Ira Hayes - Johnny Cash (1964)
2. She's Alright - Muddy Waters (1968)
3. Ask the Angels - Patti Smith (1976)
4. Hawks & Doves - Neil Young (1980)
5. Drive - R.E.M (1992)
6. Idioteque - Radiohead (2000)
7. Gettin Up - Q-Tip (2008)
8. You Want It Darker - Leonard Cohen (2016)
9. Are We Alright Again - Eels (2020)
10. Resolution/Revolution - The Linda Lindas (2024)

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Music does not just exist. It exists in specific times and places, and in the sonic world of each individual listener who engages with it. That’s the basic idea behind "Music in Time," which explores the social and political context in which songs and albums emerge, are listened to, and reflected on over the years. Each broadcast focuses on a single album, detailing the social and political circumstances surrounding its release and moments in time that made certain music resonate anew. How is music shaped by these historical moments, and, in turn, how does it shape the histories that we remember?

By day, Evan McCormick is a historian at Columbia University, where he is part of the Obama Presidency Oral History project, interviewing a range of people — from cabinet members to ordinary folks — about their memories of the Obama years. By night, McCormick is a music lover and singer-songwriter, recording under the stage name Egan Caufield. For most of his life these two worlds remained separate, but after relocating to Catskill, in 2020, he chose to bring history and music together over the airwaves, and "Music in Time" was born.