Bone Music, amongst many other things, is a a story about censorship. The forbidding of people listening to the music they want to. As such it exists in a history of cultural repression for cultural, economic, class, aesthetic, ideological and religious reasons that is as old as language itself.
Songs, singers, rhythms, genres.music all instruments and dancing were all forbidden to different degrees at different times - along of course with books, films, poetry, paintings, theatre and artists of all types - for often burr reasons. Did any of it really work?
I recently had the pleasure to interview human rights lawyer ERIC BERKOWITZ about his epic new book 'Dangerous Ideas: A History of Censorship from Ancient Times to Fake News.
You can listen here:
The book is a thrilling read, full of sometimes comical, often alarming and always thought-provoking human stories - from that of the ancient Chinese emperor who destroyed any works implying there had ever been a better era than his own, to the current Chinese leader's attempts to have Winnie the Pooh banned (after his and the bear's resemblance was pointed out). The UK and the US don’t fare too well either.
We discuss the situation around the x-ray culture, the fear of dances that might around the passions of young people and the hypocrisy of the Soviet elite when it came to songs.
Why have books, films, images words and ideas always been censored by those in power? Are there times when they should be? Does censorship ever work?
Eric digs deep into the touchiness of tyrants, into our current issues around blame, shame and cancel culture and why he thinks that almost nothing should be censored. We explore why countercultural ideas are so necessary for the culture and why they are only really dangerous when denied expression.
For more on Eric and the book www.ericberkowitz.com
For more on the Bureau of Lost Culture www.bureauoflostculture.com