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Why can familiar music still produce a shiver? Explore musical chills, anticipation, reward and the changing experience of listening. This episode distinguishes scientific findings from interpretation and explains why goosebumps are not a test of musical sensitivity.

This episode uses an AI-generated narration voice.

Watch Diminished History on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DiminishedHistory

Research references:

1. Blood AJ, Zatorre RJ (2001). Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in brain regions implicated in reward and emotion. PNAS. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.191355898

2. Salimpoor VN et al. (2011). Anatomically distinct dopamine release during anticipation and experience of peak emotion to music. Nature Neuroscience. https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.2726

3. Ferreri L et al. (2019). Dopamine modulates the reward experiences elicited by music. PNAS. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6397525/

4. Gold BP et al. (2019). Predictability and Uncertainty in the Pleasure of Music: A Reward for Learning? Journal of Neuroscience 39:9397–9409. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0428-19.2019

5. Bannister S, Eerola T (2018). Suppressing the Chills: Effects of Musical Manipulation on the Chills Response. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02046

6. Sachs ME, Ellis RJ, Schlaug G, Loui P (2016). Brain connectivity reflects human aesthetic responses to music. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. https://mindlab.research.wesleyan.edu/files/2014/01/Sachs-Ellis-Schlaug-Loui-2016-scan-chills-dti.pdf

7. Mori K, Zatorre RJ (2024). State-dependent connectivity in auditory-reward networks predicts peak pleasure experiences to music. PLOS Biology 22:e3002732. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002732

8. Wassiliwizky E et al. (2017). Tears Falling on Goosebumps: Co-occurrence of Emotional Lacrimation and Emotional Piloerection Indicates a Psychophysiological Climax in Emotional Arousal. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00041

Credits: Diminished History. Original narration and original illustrative sound design; no borrowed music recordings.

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In Chile in 1988, an accessible pop jingle became part of the No campaign. Diminished History follows the music's creative intentions, public participation and the practical work surrounding a historic vote.

We distinguish the October 1988 plebiscite from the March 1990 handover, and the composer's account of his aims from a measured effect on voters. Original percussive demonstrations make one musical idea audible without reproducing the campaign song.

AI-narrated.

Related listening: our episode on Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize in Literature, in the Diminished History feed.

Sources: Jaime de Aguirre, https://chile88.cl/jaime-de-aguirre-3/ ; Eugenio García, https://chile88.cl/eugenio-garcia/ ; Biblioteca Nacional, https://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-92412.html ; CNTV, https://cntv.cl/en-el-dia-de-los-patrimonios-revive-el-primer-capitulo-de-las-ultimas-tres-decadas-de-la-franja-electora/ ; Museo de la Memoria, https://catalogo.museodelamemoria.cl/video/franja-del-no-1988-capitulo-16/ ; official TRICEL result, https://tricel.cl/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SENTENCIA-PLEBISCITO-1988.pdf ; Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional, https://www.bcn.cl/historiapolitica/resenas_parlamentarias/wiki/Patricio_Aylwin_Az%C3%B3car .

Credits: original narration and percussive demonstration by Diminished History. The campaign recording is not included.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Why was Bob Dylan awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature? Marking the tenth anniversary of the October 13, 2016 announcement, Diminished History explores the literary craft of songwriting and the role of the performing voice.

We examine how repeated questions and accumulating testimony work in two Dylan songs, look back to oral poetry, and consider Dylan's own Nobel responses. Can lyrics be judged as words on a page? And is recognising literary achievement the same as agreeing with a prize committee's choice?

AI-narrated.

Related episode: Seikilos and the oldest surviving complete song. https://rss.com/podcasts/diminished-history/3220149/

Sources:

Nobel Prize, official 2016 announcement: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2016/press-release/

Swedish Academy, 2026 Literature Nobel: https://www.svenskaakademien.se/nobelpriset/2026

Swedish Academy, dated press index: https://www.svenskaakademien.se/press

Bob Dylan, Blowin' in the Wind, official text for analytical reference: https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/blowin-wind/

Bob Dylan, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, official text for analytical reference: https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/hard-rains-gonna-fall/

Bob Dylan, Nobel banquet speech: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2016/dylan/speech/

Bob Dylan, Nobel lecture: https://www.svenskaakademien.se/en/nobel-lecture

Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, oral poetic tradition: https://www-current.chs.harvard.edu/chs-open-house-sappho-44-with-gregory-nagy/

Credits: original narration by Diminished History.