Abstract
Daniel Chua and Alexander Rehding's book Alien Listening: Voyager's Golden Record and Music from Earth (2021) offers a deep philosophical discussion of NASA's Golden Record that had been attached to the side of its 1977 Voyager probe. The Golden Record was an album of sounds from around the world that was sent in the hope that an alien listener might be able to hear examples of music and language from planet Earth. Chua and Rehding's book uses NASA's Golden Record as a portal through which to imagine a new philosophy of music and listening based in vibration, inconsistency, generosity toward the unknown, and unconditional inclusion. This review analyzes the philosophical content of their book and poses questions about the underlying epistemological and political complexity of their ethical injunction.
