Want to Enjoy Music More? Go For a Run.
Episode
36 min
Read time
2 min
Topics
Software Development, Psychology & Behavior, Philosophy & Wisdom
AI-Generated Summary
Key Takeaways
- ✓Reverse the purpose of music while running: Most runners use music as a tool — to set pace, boost motivation, or distract from discomfort. Ratliff proposes inverting this: run specifically to deepen your listening. Treating the run as a vehicle for musical attention, rather than the reverse, shifts music from background utility to the primary experience worth engaging with.
- ✓Treat music as spatial architecture: To listen actively while running, mentally map the music as a physical space. Ask what occupies the left, right, and background of the sound. Identify what sits at the bottom — drums, bass, voice. Then locate the single element whose removal would cause the entire piece to collapse. Pursuing that question constitutes genuine listening.
- ✓Motion converts recorded music into live performance: Running while listening effectively transforms any studio recording into a live event. The physical act of moving through space alongside the music creates a sense of real-time presence and participation that stationary listening — even in acoustically optimized environments with high-end equipment — fails to replicate.
- ✓Repetitive music mirrors the mechanics of running: Music built on repeating phrases and cyclical structures — rumba, disco, hip-hop — aligns naturally with the repetitive cadence of running. Ratliff's marathon playlist uses this deliberately: Wu-Tang's instrumental *It's Yours* for the opening miles, Run DMC's *Slow and Low* at mile 13 to reinforce sustainable pacing over speed.
- ✓Sustained attention unlocks previously opaque passages: Ratliff spent years skipping past pianist Mal Waldron's four-minute solo on Eric Dolphy's 1961 recording *The Prophet*. Running the track revealed the solo's logic — non-virtuosic perseverance, steady forward motion without resolution. Physical endurance created empathy for the musical approach, making the formerly confusing passage the most resonant part of the record.
What It Covers
Former NYT music critic Ben Ratliff, author of *Run the Song* (longlisted for the 2025 National Book Award), argues that running transforms passive music consumption into active, embodied listening — reversing the conventional logic that music exists to improve your workout rather than the other way around.
Key Questions Answered
- •Reverse the purpose of music while running: Most runners use music as a tool — to set pace, boost motivation, or distract from discomfort. Ratliff proposes inverting this: run specifically to deepen your listening. Treating the run as a vehicle for musical attention, rather than the reverse, shifts music from background utility to the primary experience worth engaging with.
- •Treat music as spatial architecture: To listen actively while running, mentally map the music as a physical space. Ask what occupies the left, right, and background of the sound. Identify what sits at the bottom — drums, bass, voice. Then locate the single element whose removal would cause the entire piece to collapse. Pursuing that question constitutes genuine listening.
- •Motion converts recorded music into live performance: Running while listening effectively transforms any studio recording into a live event. The physical act of moving through space alongside the music creates a sense of real-time presence and participation that stationary listening — even in acoustically optimized environments with high-end equipment — fails to replicate.
- •Repetitive music mirrors the mechanics of running: Music built on repeating phrases and cyclical structures — rumba, disco, hip-hop — aligns naturally with the repetitive cadence of running. Ratliff's marathon playlist uses this deliberately: Wu-Tang's instrumental *It's Yours* for the opening miles, Run DMC's *Slow and Low* at mile 13 to reinforce sustainable pacing over speed.
- •Sustained attention unlocks previously opaque passages: Ratliff spent years skipping past pianist Mal Waldron's four-minute solo on Eric Dolphy's 1961 recording *The Prophet*. Running the track revealed the solo's logic — non-virtuosic perseverance, steady forward motion without resolution. Physical endurance created empathy for the musical approach, making the formerly confusing passage the most resonant part of the record.
Notable Moment
Ratliff sat in mastering engineer Bob Ludwig's purpose-built studio chair — the same seat used to master thousands of celebrated records — and listened to Miles Davis's *So What* expecting a revelatory experience. Nothing happened. That failure of the optimal environment directly prompted his search for a new listening method.
Episode Transcript
There's rewarding, and then there's remarkably rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve, like earning three times points on dining in or out and getting access to prime time reservations with Sapphire Reserve exclusive tables. So that hard to get Friday night reservation isn't so hard to get anymore. That's remarkably rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Learn more at chase.com/sapphirereserve. Cards issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank and a member FDIC, subject to credit approval terms apply. Hey, everyone. It's Rachel. If you are not yet a Time subscriber, we have some news for you. You can enjoy full access to The Times without a paywall for thirty days, and all you have to do is download the app to get your first month completely free. And if you're already a Time subscriber, I wanna say thank you. Okay. Here's the show. From The New York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams, and this is The Daily on Sunday. Hi. Can I ask you guys something? Last week, producer Elena Richards went to Central Park to ask runners a question. Do you need a question? I do. I do. What are you listening to? Everyone's preparing for the marathon. I'm stopping at twenty fifth. Your twenty fifth marathon. Can I ask what you're listening to? Oh, it's Tony Bennett with Nora Jones. Time is so old. And their answers were... This is it. Paris d'Ibue. All very different. I am listening to The Strokes. Why are Sundays so depressing? Radiohead, optimistic. Believe it or not, Bad Religion. Their Christmas album. Jimmy World. Why did I know the name? The... Did I know name? The middle. The middle. There you go. Eric Thomas. You might be smarter. Your family might come from privilege. Your daddy might own the company, but you will not outwork me. He's not a musician. He's like a motivational guy. Keep the best. Eric Thomas. Best. Keep me moving. Right? Yeah. They'll take his words and, like, chop them up and put a beat behind it, you know. Some of you need to give up your cell phone. It is not surprising that people like to listen to music while they run. And for the most part, people told us that it basically just takes the edge off. It just relaxes me. It helps them set the pace. It's just like a fast running mix. It's not like a song you know.... Fast BPMs. No. Just to help me, like, feel motivated. So I had to sort the BPM from, like, the slowest songs to the fastest songs at the end of my run so I'd save my energy towards the end. Makes things more fun. I probably look like a weirdo sometimes because I'm going crazy with my music. Or it helps them pretend maybe just for a minute that they actually aren't running. Anything to really distract me from, like, where you're at in the run? I guess it just gives me something to think about that's not running. Right. …
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Books, tools, and gear mentioned in this episode
SignalCast may earn commission on purchases via these links. As an Amazon Associate, SignalCast earns from qualifying purchases.
Books
by Ben Ratliff
“Former NYT music critic Ben Ratliff, author of *Run the Song* (longlisted for the 2025 National Book Award)”
other
- Slow and LowRecommended
by Run DMC
“Run DMC's *Slow and Low* at mile 13 to reinforce sustainable pacing over speed”
- The ProphetRecommended
by Eric Dolphy
“pianist Mal Waldron's four-minute solo on Eric Dolphy's 1961 recording *The Prophet*”
by Miles Davis
“Ratliff sat in mastering engineer Bob Ludwig's purpose-built studio chair — the same seat used to master thousands of celebrated records — and listened to Miles Davis's *So What*”
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