About this episode

Christopher Johnson joins Anna Sale to discuss the cultural impact of 'The Quiet Storm' radio program and its music on the new Black middle class.

In the mid-1970’s, a small college radio station created an evening program catering to a new socioeconomic group referred to as the “new Black middle class.” The show was called “The Quiet Storm” and it grew so popular that an entire genre of music would spring up alongside it.  Artists like Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, and many more would find massive success in the genre, performing smooth and sexy songs you could turn on after a long day.   Audio producer Christopher Johnson made a piece about The Quiet Storm for the legendary podcast about design 99% Invisible and he joins Anna to talk about why Quiet Storm music will always feel like home to him. You can listen to The Quiet Storm playlist from 99% Invisible here and check out the seasons of Slow Burn that Christopher worked on here:  Season 3 - Biggie and Tupac and Season 4 - David Duke .   This episode was produced for DSM by Andrew Dunn.  Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus ! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on…

People in this episode

Host: Anna Sale

Guest: Christopher Johnson

Topics covered

• music
• Black middle class
• socioeconomic change
• cultural history
• radio programming
• nostalgia

Keywords

• Quiet Storm
• music genre
• socioeconomic group
• radio history
• Anita Baker
• Luther Vandross
• cultural impact
• nostalgia

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Slate Podcasts

Books & works: The Quiet Storm, 99% Invisible, Slow Burn, Season 3 - Biggie and Tupac, Season 4 - David Duke

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