This month Brian Wilson, one of the most gifted song writers and composers of the 20th Century passed away. In order to explore his work and the social and cultural context behind it, along with the meaning of the surfer sound of the early 1960s Toby Manning joins the podcast to talk about Pet Sounds, Smile, Surf’s Up and more. *****STOP PRESS*****I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of aspirant fantasy author and if that’s your thing you can get
Reading time:
1–2 minutes

Explaining History Podcast
For more than a decade, the Explaining History Podcast has helped listeners around the world make sense of modern history. What began in 2012 as a simple experiment—short, accessible episodes explaining major historical events—has grown into a long-running library of carefully researched, thoughtful explorations of the 20th and 21st centuries.
If this was useful, there’s more where it came from.
Every week I publish one piece connecting a current event to its historical roots — free, every Tuesday. Paid subscribers get two additional deeper dives and full archive access.
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