Torture memos and waterboarding are the subject of much debate in Washington, but few are talking about the use of music in detainee interrogations. Today: music as torture, past and present. Also: Ukrainian-born singer Alina Simone is acquainting Americans with the work of a tragic Soviet-era punk singer. She performs live.
Guests:
Alina SimoneMusic in Detainee Interrogations
With the debate over torture continuing in Washington, relatively little attention has been focused on the practice of music as torture. The CIA has used loud music at deafening volumes as an "enhanced interrogation technique" -- recently drawing protest from groups like the American Musicological Society. We examine music and ...
Alina Simone
With an album of cover songs, Alina Simone paid tribute to Russian punk poet and cult figure Yanka Dyagileva, who died tragically in 1991. Simone, a Brooklyn-based songwriter who was born in the Ukraine, talks about Dyagileva and her story. Plus, we hear a live performance.
Music as torture
It sounds like a joke, so it was no surprise that when we first learned of music being used as an "enhanced interrogation technique" there were lots of jokes to be heard. But we're not talking about being in a store and feeling like the music being piped in is going to drive you crazy. We are talking about music deliberately being used in way that can drive you crazy. You can walk out of a store; prisoners cannot escape from the loud onslaught of the music they're subjected to.