Category Archives: Music

October Issue Front Cover

The Human Cost of the War on Gaza Ms Rachel, a YouTube preschool educator, has suffered online and offline harassment for bringing attention to children suffering in the Israeli War on Gaza. She is shown here with Rahaf, a three-year-old … Continue reading

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Ms. Rachel is Not Hamas: Zionist Propaganda Debunked

Ms. Rachel, as she’s known to many, is the stage name of Rachel Griffin-Accurso, part of a new generation of children’s educational programming creators that have moved off of television and onto streaming services. Stars like Blippi and shows like … Continue reading

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UIUC Engineering Open House

This year the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Engineering Open House 2025 was expecting 40,000 visitors April 4 and 5. Designed to showcase the talents and research of students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields, the theme this year … Continue reading

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Music Curio: Improvisers Exchange Sheds Sonic Shreds

Improvisers Exchange exudes experimental sounds at the Rose Bowl Tavern every first Monday of the month from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Organized and directed by Jason Finkelman, Improvisers Exchange is a fluctuating eclectic ensemble of musicians, all of whom share … Continue reading

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Feminism, the Environment and Stolen Land: Socially Conscious Music from Africa and the South Pacific

Readers may remember my two previous world music reviews, in the February 2021 and Summer 2021 issues of the Public i. All of the music described here was reviewed in the great magazine Songlines. The music is available on Apple … Continue reading

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Ubuntu, Hope, and Respect: Socially Conscious Music from the African Continent, the Indian Ocean, and North America

Music is often a reflection of struggles for social change, and a source for joy and hope for the future. This can be heard in the songs noted in my first music review article in the February 2021 issue of … Continue reading

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Remembering John Prine

As we trudge through the second year of the pandemic, the calendar brings gloomy anniversaries. April 7, 2021 was an especially mournful day, marking one year since John Prine died from COVID-19 complications in a Nashville hospital at the age … Continue reading

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Remembering: Anne Feeney

She carried a business card that read: “Performer, Producer, Hellraiser.” And that is who Anne Feeney was throughout her time as a traveling troubadour on behalf of social justice. Born July 1, 1951 just outside of Pittsburgh into an Irish-American … Continue reading

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“Congo to the Mississippi”: Recent Socially Conscious Music from Africa and the Americas

It is wonderful that so much music from around the world is now easily available to us, especially through the Internet and radio. My main source is Songlines magazine, a monthly published in print and online in London. Every print … Continue reading

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Goodbye, Ms. Franklin

Aretha Franklin’s musical talents were legion. Incomparable singer that she was, it is hardly surprising that multiple critics have identified her as the greatest voice in popular music of the 20th century. Labeled the “Queen of Soul,” she was in … Continue reading

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