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In honor of WGXC Appreciation Week, this episode of Music In Time features a long-form interview with Brendan Donegan, host of Playing Favorites, about his life and connection to music. The interview traces Donegan's formative years in Yonkers after his family's move from Ireland, his career in education, and his later relocation to Hudson, NY. Framed by the sounds of Tortoise's TNT (1998) -- one of Donegan's favorites -- the two presenters discuss radio's ability to create musical worlds, the role of sound in creating a sense of place (and vice versa), and the traits that make WGXC such a special community in the Hudson River Valley, "The cherry on the ice cream," as Donegan puts it. 

You can listen to Playing Favorites on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Mondays of every month from 7-8pm. 

Playlist
1. TNT - Tortoise
2. The Equator - Tortoise
3. Born in Xixax - Nina Hagen
4. Four-Day Interval - Tortoise
5. Swung From The Gutter - Tortoise
6. A Simple Way To Go Faster Than Light That Does Not Work - Tortoise
7. Everglade - Tortoise

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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.