PODCAST & ORAL HISTORIES.

Soundscapes NYC is a podcast and oral history project focused on music created in New York that has shaped the history and cultural identity of the city. SNYC is a bi-weekly podcast series in which historian Ryan Donovan Purcell talks with artists, music industry professionals, and scholars about NYC music history.

  • Street Level
    Bench Ansfield, Kent Watkins, John Finch, and Kristin Sylvian. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. In 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) marked its 60th anniversary. Created amid the optimism and urgency of the civil ri... Read more →

  • Sharon White Rewires Disco
    Sharon White. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. At the center of 1970s New York's most iconic clubs—from the celebrity-studded Studio 54 to the premiere lesbian discotheque Sahara—stood a queer Blac... Read more →

  • James Brown's War on Disco
    Alice Echols. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. In the penultimate episode of season 2 of Soundscapes NYC, hosts Ryan Purcell and Kristie Soares sit down with acclaimed historian Alice Echols, autho... Read more →

  • Disco's Revenge
    Micah Salkind. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. In the wake of Disco Demolition Night in 1979—a cultural bonfire that seemed to signal the end of disco—something unexpected began to rise from Chicag... Read more →

  • Signal Award Re-Release: Lost Women of Disco
    Lulu Le Vay. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. We're thrilled to announce that our episode "S2.E2. Lost Women of Disco" has been named a finalist in the Best Indie Podcast category at the 2025 Sign... Read more →

  • Disco Sucks
    Gillian Frank. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. On July 12, 1979, Chicago's Comiskey Park erupted into chaos during what was supposed to be a quirky baseball promotion. Shock radio jock Steve Dahl's... Read more →

  • Night at the Baths
    Lucas Hilderbrand. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. Disco didn't just happen—it emerged from the vibrant gay club scene of 1970s New York City. In this episode, hosts Ryan Purcell and Kristie Soares exp... Read more →

  • From Stonewall to Studio 54
    Nicky Siano. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. In the fifth episode of Season Two of Soundscapes NYC, hosts Ryan Purcell and Kristie Soares sit down with the legendary DJ Nicky Siano. The history o... Read more →

  • Disco's "Latin Tinge"
    Luis Mario Orellana Rizzo. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. In the 1930s, musician Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton identified the influence of Latin American rhythms like the habanera in jazz, as a sonic "tinge"... Read more →

  • A Spatial History of Disco
    Jesse Rifkin. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. In the third episode of Season Two of Soundscapes NYC, hosts Ryan Purcell and Kristie Soares take you on an immersive journey through the hot nights ... Read more →

  • Ford to City: Drop Dead
    Benjamin Holtzman. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. On October 30, 1975, the New York Daily News printed the most famous headline in its history: "Ford to City: Drop Dead." The previous day, President G... Read more →

  • Turning the Page, Tuning the Dial
    Will Hermes. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. In the tenth episode of Soundscapes NYC, host Ryan Purcell expands upon previous episodes to consider the various musical styles that emerged in New Y... Read more →

  • Lost Women of Disco
    Lulu Le Vay. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. Women have been central to the evolution of dance music culture since its earliest days, yet their contributions have often been overlooked. From Régi... Read more →

  • Jubilee (1978)
    Matt Worley. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. In the ninth episode of Soundscapes NYC, host Ryan Purcell traces the trans-Atlantic movement of artists associated with punk culture in New York and ... Read more →

  • Rock 'N' Roll Resurrection
    Steve Waksman. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. In the eighth episode of Soundscapes NYC, host Ryan Purcell talks with music history professor Steve Waksman about the social and stylistic transforma... Read more →

  • Love Saves the Day
    Tim Lawrence. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. The Loft was a dance party series organized by DJ David Mancuso in his Manhattan warehouse apartment at 647 Broadway from Valentine's Day 1970 to June... Read more →

  • Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ
    Jim Cullen and Melissa Ziobro. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. Bruce Springsteen was keenly aware and excited by the sounds of the CBGBs scene during the Seventies. With his own bands, the Boss performed in the sa... Read more →

  • Illustrating Punk
    John Holmstrom. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. In the sixth episode of Soundscapes NYC, host Ryan Purcell talks with John Holmstrom a comic illustrator and founder of Punk magazine. In the early 19... Read more →

  • A Queer Etymology of Punk
    Jon Savage. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. In the fifth episode of Soundscapes N.Y.C., host Ryan Purcell talks with British music critic Jon Savage about how LGBTQ resistance shaped American po... Read more →

  • Sounds of the City Collapsing
    Jesse Rifkin. Hosted by Soundscapes NYC. In the fourth episode of Soundscapes NYC, host Ryan Purcell and music historian Jesse Rifkin tour a constellation of seedy bars and venues in the 1970... Read more →