Episode #42 | 10.22.19

Madonna: Music as Sex and Sex as Power in the Reign of the Queen of Pop

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In this episode

Madonna always knew her life would be art. She rose through the late 70s New York scene reinventing pop iconography and feminism alike. But whether it was Toronto police threatening her for indecency, her short-fuse husband, Hollywood bros exploiting her charisma, or far worse, Madonna learned quick: the world doesn’t know what to do with a truly free woman.

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Sources

All About Madonna, Interview: SongTalk

Into the New York Groove: How Madonna’s Punk Early Years Fuelled Her Rise to Superstardom, by Nick Levine

The Story of How Madonna Became Famous Will Make You Love Her Even More, by Tom Barnes

Sean Penn broke out of jail: biography, Sydney Morning Herald

Madonna Truth or Dare, directed by Alek Keshishian

Madonna’s Back, by Madonna

Bitch, I’m Madonna: I Want to Live Forever and I’m Going to” by Kim Taylor Bennett

Disgraceland is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.

 

Music

Score by Jake Brennan. 

Mixed and Engineered by Sean Cahalin.

Disgraceland theme song, "Crenshaw Space Boogie" written and produced by Jake Brennan. Performed by Jake Brennan, Bryce Kanzer, Jay Cannava and Evan Kenney. Mixed and engineered by Adam Taylor.

*illustrations by Avi Spivak @avispivak