Ben Ratliff spoke about his book, Every Song Ever, at Politics & Prose on Tuesday, February 23, 2016.

Most discussions of music in the digital age have focused on open access and the ethics of downloading. Ratliff, a New York Times jazz and pop critic for nearly twenty years, and the author of The Jazz Ear, Coltrane, and Jazz: A Critic’s Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings, looks instead at the sheer wealth of music available today, and considers how this unprecedented diversity changes how we listen. Focusing on musical qualities such as speed, repetition, and harmony, Ratliff explores the music-making traditions of several continents and periods to posit a new aesthetic of listening. Ratliff is in conversation with Chris Richards, the pop music critic for The Washington Post.