THE SONOCENE THE SONOCENE

Listening can be many things. It is an exchange of vibrational energy in the form of waves. It is a means for auditory perception and cognition. It is a relational endeavor between a listener and a sound-source. In this episode, “INTRO,” you will be guided through a deep-listening exercise. The soundscape of a rainy day in Manhattan is explored through the concepts of listening, sound, and the Anthropocene.

Some of the most widely-held sentiments toward NYC rats include disgust, fear, aversion, and horror. But how could these associations be challenged if we momentarily see or hear things from their perspective? How might our relationships to rats change in light of their ability to communicate and speak to one another?

For his project, Urban Intonation, Brian House (sound artist and Professor of Art at Amherst College) recorded rats on the streets of NYC using an ultrasonic microphone. He then pitch-shifted those recordings into the range of human hearing, capturing the uncanny speech-like sounds of rat communication.

In this episode, “Become Rat,” House tells a story about ultrasonic soundscapes, Urban Intonation, and the ecological relationships between humans and the Norwegian Brown Rat in New York City. All proceeds from this episode will be donated to Word Up Community Bookshop, a multilingual and collectively owned bookshop and arts space in Washington Heights. 

In 2020, Hannibal Bracey created the Instagram page @TheBlackBeanNYC, which is dedicated to reviewing BIPOC-owned and operated coffee institutions throughout NYC. Partly inspired by his own experiences of exclusion and racism in various coffee shops, Bracey hopes to use @TheBlackBeanNYC to empower local communities and businesses that were hit hard during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this episode, “The Black Bean,” Hannibal Bracey tells a story about his personal love of coffee, the emerging Black coffee culture movement in New York City, his family’s dedication to activism, and the colonial legacy of coffee production and consumption. For him, ecological change is not just environmental, but social as well. And that change comes about “one cup at a time.”

All proceeds from this episode will be donated to Together We Thrive, an NYC-based coalition that provides access to capital, social networks and technical assistance to support the survival, success and sustainability of Black-owned businesses.

Compost is not soil but a soil amendment, which means that you add compost to soil in order to reintroduce nutrients to those microbiomes. Beyond its ability to foster healthy plant growth or green spaces in urban environments, healthy soil can also sequester carbon and mitigate flooding events. Therefore, incorporation of compost within soil can help reverse some effects of climate change that we currently face today. 

In this episode, “Compost Cycles,” Renée Crowley (Deputy Director of the Lower East Side Ecology Center) tells a story about a local compost program in New York City. Crowley discusses how the creation, collection, processing, and reuse and integration of food-waste is a cyclical process and sustainable application of our food resources. 

All proceeds from this episode will be donated to the Lower East Side Ecology Center, a community-based organization that offers e-waste and composting services, environmental stewardship opportunities, and educational programming to all New Yorkers.

The presence of coyotes in New York City may seem contradictory, as wild animals living in such a densely populated city might be hard to believe. However, numerous packs of coyotes have been able to thrive across the city’s pockets of green space. 

In this episode, “Following Coyotes,” Jay Simpson (artist-researcher and National Geographic Explorer) tells a story about coyotes, soundscape ecology, and how to listen to a landscape. Drawing from his research and sensory ethnography practice, Simpson leads us along coyote paths that run throughout Pugsley Creek Park, along Westchester Creek, and throughout Ferry Point Park in the Bronx. We’re able to hear the extent of noise pollution within these environments, and the ways coyotes and humans can co-create city spaces. What can we learn about New York City, about our notions of a “wild” nature, and about environmental change as we walk along the pathways of coyotes? 

All proceeds from this episode will be donated to the Gotham Coyote Project, a collective of researchers, educators, and students working together to study the ecology of the northeastern coyote in New York City and the region.

“Recycle, reuse, and reduce. And rein-in carbon on the loose. Pack your bags just in case. Prepare to go to outerspace!” While the health of our planet is concerning, inequities continue to pervade society today. In trying to build a world where all life can thrive, music, performance, and drag can serve as mediums through which systemic change can occur. 

In this episode, “Terraformin’ Drag,” Chris Goodrich (who performs in drag as Analee Fisher, @analeefisher), tells a story about his parody song “Terraformin’ Mars,” and how the political energy of drag can be important to environmental advocacy. Goodrich, in conversation with Cacophony Daniels (“The Belty Broad from Broadway,” @cacophonydaniels), discusses the history of drag, its current political spotlight, and the ways that queer voices and perspectives are crucial to shaping a better future. 

All proceeds from this episode will be donated to Housing Works, a healing community of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS who are dedicated to ending the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through relentless advocacy, the provision of lifesaving services, and supporting entrepreneurs.