The Last Mixed Tape

This episode of The Last Mixed Tape examines how pop music and cultural aesthetics are increasingly absorbed into the machinery of state authority. From government agencies using popular songs without consent, to the broader memeification of culture that softens and sanitizes violence, music becomes less a form of protest and more a form of insulation.

Drawing on the recent violence on the streets of Minneapolis leading to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE agents and artists who have publicly withdrawn their work, such as Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, and SZA, this episode explores how authoritarian power operates not only through force, but through familiarity, spectacle, and sound.

As ICE raids and detentions escalate across the United States, the withdrawal of music the refusal to allow culture to be used as propaganda may represent a quieter, but more unsettling form of resistance. When the soundtrack disappears, what remains is the reality itself, unsoftened and unresolved.

The Last Mixed Tape is hosted by Stephen White, and is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.