Light Box

Mark Henry Phillips has spent twenty years making music for a living. Then one night he typed a few words into an AI music generator and it did his job better than he ever could. In ten seconds. Basically for free. Light Box is what happened next: a season-long investigation into what AI is doing to music and the people who love it. What happens when a machine can do the thing you thought made you, you?

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4. The Critic (Marc Ribot) Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

Marc Ribot has played guitar for Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Norah Jones, Robert Plant, and about a thousand other people. He's also one of the most outspoken critics of AI music. He calls Suno and Udio plagiarism machines. And for him, the whole thing comes down to consent: nobody asked the musicians.

I caught him on the phone somewhere between Milwaukee and Minneapolis, driving to a gig. Of all the conversations I've had about AI music, his might be the one I keep coming back to the most.

Sign Marc's "We Need a Union" petition.

Music in this episode:
Marc Ribot, Map of a Blue City
Marc Ribot, Saints
Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos

Also mentioned: Liz Pelly, Mood Machine

For more info go to www.LightBoxPodcast.com
Email us! Mark@LightboxPodcast.com

Light Box is reported, written, edited and produced by Mark Henry Phillips at Windhill Studios. Our producer is Drew Thurlow and assistant editor is Ryan Seaton.
We make this show completely independently, so PLEASE support us by sharing the show with a few friends. Light Box is a proud member of the Radiotopia network from PRX.

3. The Hit Factory (Part II: Steal From Everyone) Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

A producer with 13 billion streams posts on Reddit about how much he loves making music with AI and... gets banned. We have the conversation that wasn't allowed there.
In Part II of our hitmaking story, Mickey Shiloh and David Phelan say the quiet parts out loud: everyone's using it, nobody's admitting it, and if it's happening anyway, you might as well get on the trolley.
Also, Mark plays his own AI experiments for his old mentor Jad Abumrad (Radiolab, Dolly Parton's America), who does not react the way either of them expected. Along the way: a $3 million record deal for an "AI music designer," a hip-hop hit built on a soul singer who never existed, and the argument that if you steal from everyone, you've stolen from no one.
For more info go to www.LightBoxPodcast.com.
Email us! Mark@LightboxPodcast.com

Light Box is reported, written, edited and produced by Mark Henry Phillips at Windhill Studios. Our producer is Drew Thurlow and assistant editor is Ryan Seaton.

We make this show completely independently so PLEASE support us by leaving a rating and review.

Light Box is a proud member of the Radiotopia network from PRX.

2. The Hit Factory (Part I: No Songs Left Behind) Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

There's already a #1 hit made with AI. You just don't know which one. In this episode, we go inside the world of professional songwriting camps -- where hits for the biggest artists are assembled by rooms of strangers. And we meet two hitmakers with billions of streams -- Mickey Shiloh (Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Iggy Azalea) and David Phelan (ZAYN, Charli XCX, Jason Derulo) -- who are starting to use AI in their process. The question is... why? Why would successful songwriters need AI? The answer has as much to do with the songwriting industry as it does with AI.
For more info go to www.LightBoxPodcast.com.
Email us: Mark@LightboxPodcast.com
Light Box is reported, written, edited and produced by Mark Henry Phillips at Windhill Studios. Our producer is Drew Thurlow and assistant editor is Ryan Seaton.
We make this show completely independently so PLEASE support us by leaving a rating and review.
Light Box is a proud member of the Radiotopia network from PRX.

1. Inside the Black Box Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

Composer Mark Henry Phillips logs onto an AI music generator expecting slop. Instead... he has an existential crisis. What it made wasn't slop -- it was good. Really good. This plunges him into a year-and-a-half long rabbit hole. He discovers -- with help from Sonarworks' Helmuts Bēms -- that professional musicians are secretly adopting AI like performance-enhancing drugs. Mark also digs into how these tools actually work with AI researcher Maya Ackerman. And he confronts an uncomfortable question: if a machine can replicate your creative instincts, were they ever really yours to begin with?
For more info go to www.LightBoxPodcast.com.
Email us: Mark@LightboxPodcast.com
Light Box is reported, written, edited and produced by Mark Henry Phillips at Windhill Studios. Our producer is Drew Thurlow and assistant editor is Ryan Seaton.
We make this show completely independently so PLEASE support us by leaving a rating and review.
Light Box is a proud member of the Radiotopia network from PRX.

Teaser Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

A sneak peek at what's coming this season on Light Box, the new show from PRX's Radiotopia. Launching September 15.

Host and creator Mark Henry Phillips is a professional composer who accidentally opened Pandora's box by experimenting with an AI music generator. In this teaser, he shows his wife what he's gotten himself into.

The first two episodes drop next Tuesday (September 15) and then a new episode comes every week. Subscribe now!

Questions / thoughts / comments — write us: Mark@LightBoxPodcast.com

Trailer Sep 01, 2026

Show notes

Listen to LIGHT BOX, the new show from PRX's Radiotopia. Out now!
Mark Henry Phillips spent twenty years composing music for a living. Then one night he typed a few words into an AI music generator and it did his job better, he thought, than he ever could. In ten seconds. Basically for free. Light Box is what happened next: a composer and audio journalist investigates what AI is doing to music and the people who make it.
It's a 10 episode season, with new episodes coming out every Tuesday. Listen now!

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