Nicholas Tochka
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Nicholas Tochka

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Nicholas Tochka is an ethnographer and historian of popular music in Eastern Europe and the Americas. His research and writing has been supported through grants from the Fulbright Program, the American Council of Learned Societies, the International Research & Exchanges Board, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives in Cleveland, OH. His first book, "Audible States," presents a critical history of state-subsidized popular music in Albania since 1945. Based on interviews with singers, composers, and lyricists, the book offers readers a rich account of how socialist popular music was created under the most repressive regime in the eastern bloc. He is now working on a monograph about rock 'n' roll and the politics of freedom in postwar America. This book explores the roots of the idea that rock music can liberate its listeners, showing how this idea has evolved since the 1950s--and what it means for liberalism today. (Spoiler: Bruce Springsteen makes a couple of appearances. If you're really, truly, unironically into his shtick, you'll want to skip these parts.) As a professor, he teaches courses in ethnomusicology and popular music. He and his wife live in Maryland with three kids who spend an inordinate amount of time lecturing him about Harry Potter and Minecraft. He tweets at @nicktochka, and posts academic work at www.umcp.academia.edu/nicktochka.
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