Magali told me about Laina Dawes’s book about being a metalhead and a black woman and coming up against racism in the metal community. Sounds like just the thing for this songwriting course. I hope I can position the students to think about all mixed messages in music whether it’s about identity or capitalism or who claims to have authority on what’s good and what’s bad. When I was at music school it felt like everyone was trying to prove how smart they were, teachers too – or at least that’s how I remember it. I want to champion the dummies. Didn’t Socrates figure this out about teaching 2500 years ago?