Light On Light Through

Welcome to Light On Light Through episode 420, in which I interview Deana Weibel about her new book, The Ultraview Effect .  I consider Deana the Margaret Mead of outerspace -- find out why in this interview. Relevant links: More about The Ultraview Effect here Touching the Face of the Cosmos -- the anthology with Deana's Weibel's "Pennies from Heaven" Paul Levinson's reviews of For All Mankind an...

Welcome to Light On Light Through episode 419, in which I review Solvej Balle's On the Calculation of Volume (Vols 1-4) . Relevant links: written review of Solvej Balle's On the Calculation of Volume (Vols 1-4) It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles McLuhan in an Age of Social Media

Welcome to Light On Light Through episode 418, in which I interview Dan Abella about The Philip K. Dick Film Festival to take place in New York City, March 13-14, 2026. Relevant links: Philip K. Dick Film Festival details my interview with Rufus Sewell about The Man in the High Castle TV series my novelette The Chronology Protection Case ... short film adapatation of The Chronology Protection Case...

Welcome to Light On Light Through episode 417, in which Sarah Clarke Stuart and her husband Jonathan Oakes join me and my wife Tina Vozick in a conversation about Sarah's debut novel, Song of the Unsung Mushroom , published January 15, 2026 by Connected Editions (a boutique publisher that I and Tina created and operate).  At times joining our conversation are Alexis Stuart (who created the cover f...

Welcome to Light On Light Through episode 416, in which I review the The Beatles Anthology 2025 documentary. Relevant links: my written review of Anthology 2025 my 2024 podcast review of  Beatles '64 my 1972 article in The Village Voice : Murray the K in Nostalgia's Noose my 1971 article in The Village Voice : A Vote for McCartney my 1972 song Murray the K's Back In Town my 2024 novel It's Real Li...

Welcome to Light On Light Through episode 415, in which I interview Brooklyn Demme about Paul Thomas Anderson's movie  One Battle After Another , in which Brooklyn played a minor role.  But in a movie this great, every role is important. Relevant links: my review of One Battle After Another Simon Vozick-Levinson's  A Guide to the Revolutionary Music in 'One Battle After Another'  in  Rolling Stone...

Welcome to Light On Light Though episode 414, the complete "radio documentary" on WFDU-FM from 1977 -- "Life & Death of a 20th Century Troubadour" -- in which Josh Meyrowitz and I discuss the life, death, and timeless impact of Phil Ochs and his music. Relevant links: Lou Canto media conversions Marilyn and Monet

Welcome to Light On Light Through episode 413, in which I interview Mike Grynbaum about his book Empire of the Elite: Inside Condé Nast, the Media Dynasty That Reshaped America , which was just published today. Condé Nast is the publisher of The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ, Wired , and other iconic magazines, so we had a lot to talk about. order Empire of the Elite Maureen Dowd interviews M...

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 412, in which I interview Tom Cooper about his new book Wisdom Weavers: The Lives and Thought of Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan published on May 1, 2025 by Connected Editions. A group of 51 scholars from the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and Poland gathered on May 1 via Zoom -- a mini global village -- to see this interview with Tom Cooper. Th...

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 411: I returned to Captain Phil's Planet on WUSB (Stony Brook University) Radio the other day to talk to  Captain Phil about Tom Cooper's new book, Wisdom Weavers: The Lives and Thought of Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan , to be pubished by Connected Editions (my publishing company) on May 1.   As we discussed in the interview, I'll be interviewing Tom...

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 410, in which I interview Kingsley Marin and Massimo Seriale, two freshmen at Fordham University, who have created and edit a new publication (independent of the University), The Polar . More about The Polar here .  

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 409, in which I interview Simon Vozick-Levinson, Deputy Editor of Rolling Stone , about the magazine's list of the 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time.  We talk in particular about Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Sam Cooke, and also discuss the importance of publications like Rolling Stone standing up for democracy in these politically troubling times. As a spec...

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 408, and my in-depth interview with Lance Strare about his new book, Not A, Not Be &C . Relevant links: Get a copy of Not A, Not Be &C Come see Lance, Thom Gencarelli, and me talking about Lance's book at The Players in Manhattan on 19 February 2025 at 6pm.  More information about this book launch, including FREE registration, here Frank LoBuono 's Facebo...

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 407, and my in-depth interview with Sarah Seltzer about her novel, The Singer Sisters. Relevant links: Get a copy of The Singer Sisters My review of The Singer Sisters Sarah Seltzer personal appearances at JCC-MidWestchester ( Scarsdale, NY ) February 28, and JCC-Rockland ( West Nyack, NY ) March 12 Dramatic reading from It's Real Life: An Alternate Histo...

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 406, and my in-depth interview with Rolling Stone writer David Browne about his masterful book, Talkin' Greenwich Village . We talk at length about Dave Van Ronk, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, The Blues Project, Bob Lind, and a little less about many others, including Hegel and his spirit of an age. Relevant links: Get a copy of Talkin' Greenwich V...

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 405: Howard Margolin invited me to join him on his  Destinies: The Voice of Science Fiction show (on WUSB Radio) in a dramatic reading from the second chapter of my 2024 novel, It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles .  Here's the reading, with some commentary before and after by me. Relevant links: Get the Kindle , paperback , or hardcover of...

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 404, in which I review A Complete Unknown , the new Bob Dylan biopic, which my wife and I went to see on its opening day, Christmas, in New York. Relevant links: my written review of A Complete Unknown Frank LoBuono's podcast interview with Terri Thal, Dylan's first manager my written review of Jack Dann's The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History ....

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 403, in which I interview Jared Moshe about his movie Aporia, a time-travel movie on Hulu that explores, in a way I've never seen before, the wrenching ethical dilemmas that arise when you try to change the past. Relevant links: my written review of Aporia Aporia on Hulu more about Jared Moshe here my best-known time travel novel my best-known alternate h...

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 402, in which I review Dexter: Original Sin on Paramount+Showtime. Relevant links: written reviews of Dexter: Original Sin 1.1 and 1.2-1.3 (with links to written reviews of all episodes of Dexter: New Blood and all eight seasons of the original Dexter)   audio podcast reviews of Dexter: New Blood 1.1 ... 1.2 ... 1.3 ... 1.4 ... 1.5-1.6 ... 1.7-1.8 ... 1.9...

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 401, in which I interview Dan Abella about The Psychedelic Film and Music Festival, NYC, 14 Dec 2024. (Kendall Brown, Operations Manager for the Festival, joins us in the interview.) Relevant links: The Psychedelic Film and Music Festival written interview with me by Evan Levine, in which I discuss Hegel's "spirit of an age" (see 10th question in the inte...

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 400, in which I review the Beatles '64 documentary that just went up yesterday on Disney+. Here are links to some of the many people and things I discuss in the podcast: my written review of Beatles '64 my 1972 article about  Murray the K in The Village Voice my 1971 article about Paul McCartney in The Village Voice the song I wrote and recorded about Mur...

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 399, in which I review Dune: Prophecy 1.1-1.2 on HBO Max. written review of Dune Prophecy 1.1-1.2

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 398, in which I interview Andrew Hoskins about the new book he is writing, The Deadbot Society: AI and the End of the Human Past . Relevant links: " AI and Memory " an article by Andrew Hoskins the AI-created video I mentioned in our conversation more about McLuhan in an Age of Social Media

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 397, in which I interview Gerrit Van Houtenberg about his new multiple universe feature film, Quantum Suicide , debuting on Amazon Prime Video on October 18. Relevant links: my review of Quantum Suicide The Chronology Protection Case movie on Amazon Prime Video The Chronology Protection Case novelette

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 396, in which I interview Bob Hutchins about AI.  My guess is you'll find this discussion much more optimistic about AI than what you'll usually hear. Discussed or mentioned in this interview: " On Behalf of Humanity: The Technological Edge " my 1996 article The Media Ecology Association New Explorations: Studies in Culture and Communication my review of...