What does it mean to be a music researcher? How does a musician use music as a medium to foster community? Featuring interviews with other musicians, scholars and artists, host Lydia Bangura seeks to ask interesting questions about music and execute important and relevant music research. Join Lydia as she reads, writes and chats her way through a music PhD program.
Got questions or feedback? Interested in being a guest on the pod? Send inquiries to: hermusicacademia@gmail.com
Protest Music in the Civil Rights Movement (with Dr. Stephen Stacks)
In this episode, I chat with Dr. Stephen Stacks (North Carolina Central University) all about his musical upbringing as a multi-instrumentalist, his time studying musicology at UNC Chapel Hill, and what he’s currently teaching at NCCU. We also discuss his most recent book The Resounding Revolution: Freedom Song After 1968, all about the music of the long Civil Rights Movement.
Stephen’s book (https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p088704)
Stephen’s website (https://stephenastacks.com/)
Playlist of music mentioned in Stephen’s book (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5fG678lfmnSHOJBL8c7rAnSnq8ffKr2U)
My episode with Candace Bailey (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/her-music-academia/id1562909620?i=1000649554842)
bell hooks on Beyoncé (https://youtu.be/rJk0hNROvzs?si=iJbpC-fV_4BLXwWL)
29 Jun 2026
Lingua Ignota and Metal Music (with Dr. Olivia Lucas)
In this episode, I chat with Dr. Olivia Lucas (Louisiana State University) all about her musical upbringing as a vocalist, her time studying music theory at Harvard, and what she’s teaching at LSU. We also chat about how her early interest in metal music led to her current research on Lingua Ignota, who blends references to art music and classical vocal training with noise and extended techniques.
TW: domestic violence, religious trauma
Olivia’s SMT-Pod Episode (https://smt-pod.org/episodes/season04/e4.5/ )
Olivia’s 2018 Meshuggah article (https://mtosmt.org/issues/mto.18.24.3/mto.18.24.3.lucas.html )
Olivia’s 2021 Meshuggah article (https://mtosmt.org/issues/mto.21.27.4/mto.21.27.4.lucas.html)
Olivia’s 2014 article on experience of extreme loudness at a Sunn O))) concert (https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/84314/87805 )
2024 Teaching Difficult Topics book (https://press.umich.edu/Books/T/Teaching-Difficult-Topics3)
Olivia’s forthcoming chapter on Lingua Ignota and Eminem (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003489924-25/silencing-kim-lingua-ignota-transformation-eminem-kim-olivia-lucas?context=ubx&refId=2d0d6671-79ff-4b25-be91-523fcd74c52b)
“That He May Not Rise Again” by Lingua Ignota (https://vimeo.com/198053615)
Jonathan Pieslak’s article on Meshuggah (https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/mts.2007.29.2.219?seq=1)
Assimilate by S. Alexander Reed (https://global.oup.com/academic/product/assimilate-9780199832606?cc=us&lang=en&)
27 Apr 2026
Co-Performance (with Dr. Jennifer Ronyak)
In this episode, I chat with Dr. Jennifer Ronyak (Institute of Music Aesthetics, University of Music and Performing Arts Graz) about her musical upbringing as a pianist, her time studying musicology at Eastman, and the major differences between music graduate programs in different countries. We also discuss her 2017 performance and analysis article “Meeting Barthes at Fischer-Dieskau’s Mill: Co-Performance, Linguistic Identity, and a Lied.”
Jennifer’s article (https://online.ucpress.edu/jm/article-abstract/34/1/32/93903/Meeting-Barthes-at-Fischer-Dieskau-s-MillCo?redirectedFrom=fulltext)
Boccherini’s Body by Elizabeth LeGuin (https://www.ucpress.edu/books/boccherinis-body/hardcover)
My episode of SMT-Pod (https://smt-pod.org/episodes/season04/e4.6/)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
93,554
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.9 / 5
16 ratings
Spotify
4.6 / 5
21 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 46 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
28
Social presence
0
YouTube
76
Engagement
85
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Guest appearances
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