How often do you think about how you listen? What assumptions do you make about a person's voice, their pitch or accent? What sound is desirable, and what's rejected as noise? Prof. Jennifer Stoever thinks about these questions, a lot. And so do a growing number of scholars working in a field called Sound Studies. That's the topic of the "Sounding Out" blog and podcast, which Prof. Stoever co-founded. She's an associate professor of English at the University of Binghamton, and she's our guest to discuss the cultural politics of sound and listening, and how these analyses apply to music, radio and podcasting.

The Radio Survivor weekly show explores the future of community media, with a focus on community radio, college radio, low-power FM and public access TV, along with subscribable audio shows and internet radio. Hosts Paul Riismandel, Eric Klein, and Jennifer Waits highlight the best and most innovative audio programming and keep you updated on the news that affects our ability to make, create, hear and see great community media. http://www.radiosurvivor.com/