Cultural critic Ted Gioia has gained a good deal of attention in recent years with his gimlet-eyed views of contemporary culture. In a typically jaundiced assessment last May he charged that “in the 21st century, creative stagnation is aggressively promoted by entertainment and culture businesses.”

But Gioia is hardly a pessimist, focusing equally on the long view and the cyclical nature of cultural innovation and decline. In a recent column on his Substack “The Honest Broker” he highlighted a countervailing force girding humanity against the torrent of formulaic pablum.

“When people hear music in a group setting their brainwaves start to synchronize,” he writes. “The body also releases the hormone oxytocin, which makes them more trusting and willing to bond together. That’s why so many

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