Whither the Encore?

I add my ten cents about the origins of the rock and roll encore--and the growing disdain for playing them among cool-kids bands--on Slate's latest Decoder Ring podcast. My segment begins at 48:30.

The Rolling Stones were famous for mostly refusing to play encores before they succumbed to the ritual when they graduated to outdoor stadiums in the ‘80s.

Click here to listen to the podcast (sorry my audio sounds like it’s arriving from a ship at sea—jes’ the usual last-minute tech hassles.)