By Daniel Bennett

Published: Friday, 07 October 2022 at 12:00 am


Instant Genius is a bite-sized masterclass in podcast form. In this week’s episode, we talk to prof Susan Rogers, legendary record producer-turned-neuroscientist.

Rogers worked with Prince for almost five years during his commercial peak in the 80s, including on albums Purple Rain, Around the World in a Day, Parade, and The Black Album.

She’s the director of the Berklee Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory, and author of This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You (£20, W. W. Norton & Company).

In this episode of Instant Genius, Rogers reveals what science can tell us about our musical taste, what our favourite songs might tell us about ourselves and, of course, what it was like to work with Prince.