A Brief History of Protest Music: Part 1

This can be a weird, difficult world, filled with injustice, inequality, and bad people doing bad things…we’re always up against things like racism, women’s rights, labour rights, the plights of marginalized people, class struggle, the disenfranchised, various social movements—the list of righteous causes and grievances is pretty much endless. And sometimes, you just gotta fight back…but how?... Not all occasions called for armed insurrections and assassinations. One way is through music…come up with something topical and specific, put it all to music, and you have a chance of getting your message to a lot of people…and because it’s music, you might be able to reach those who might not otherwise be aware of the problem or understand what the problem is. This music isn’t confined to a specific people or group or genre or era…you can be loud and angry and filled with the greatest moral virtues screamed at the top of your lungs. But you don’t have to be in-your-face about it…your messaging can be subtle while still maintaining all the necessary effectiveness, rage and authenticity. Such songs have a long and fascinating history that goes back way further than you might realize…and these songs are everywhere today, although you may not realize it. This is a brief history of protest music, part 1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can listen to A Brief History of Protest Music: Part 1 online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

A Brief History of Protest Music: Part 1 is an episode from Ongoing History of New Music by Curiouscast.

This episode is 28:54 long.

This episode was published on Feb 11, 2026.

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