The Radio Free Hillsdale Hour End-of-Year Extravaganza '25
January 2, 2026
Host: Scott Bertram
Guest: Hyperion Knight

Episode Overview

This special episode marks the end of 2025 and the start of 2026 by reflecting on The Radio Free Hillsdale Hour’s most popular programs from the past year, celebrating record growth, and offering listeners a preview of exciting future episodes. The centerpiece is an in-depth conversation with concert pianist and Hillsdale College distinguished fellow Hyperion Knight, introducing the new online course "History of Classical Music Part 2: Chopin Through Gershwin." The episode explores how classical music reflects and shapes culture, the unique narratives behind composers, the role of storytelling in music appreciation, and the evolution of the “American sound” in the 20th century. It concludes with a countdown of the five most-listened-to Radio Free Hillsdale Hour episodes from 2025.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Growth and Impact of the Hillsdale Podcast Network

• 2025 was the show’s "biggest year to date," with over half a million listeners for The Radio Free Hillsdale Hour and more than 2 million across all Hillsdale College podcasts [00:06].
• The radio version now airs on 53 stations in nearly 30 states, further expanding its national presence.

Preview of 2026 Programming

• Scott Bertram previews 2026 guests and topics, including:
  • Stephen Hayward on Jimmy Carter’s legacy
  • Michael P. Foley on feast day drinks (both low- and no-alcohol)
  • Dr. Ivan Pongracic (economist and surf guitarist)
  • Dr. Allen Gelzo on the monumental “Golden: A History of the Western Tradition” [03:19].

Feature Interview: Hyperion Knight on "History of Classical Music Part 2"

Hyperion Knight’s Background and Motivation

• Hyperion Knight describes himself as “primarily… a music lover and just a professional pianist,” drawn from childhood immersion in Bach with his father [05:02].
• Chose music as his profession “because of my deep passion for music… and how they are interconnected and what the music really means for us, especially today” [05:09].
• The first course, Pythagoras Through Beethoven, covers 2,000 years of musical evolution, scientific and philosophical breakthroughs, and the origins of symphonic music [05:30].

The Romantic Era: Emotion and Politics in Music

• Romanticism is characterized by music as “a language that can express what words cannot” [07:05].
• The era explored themes “not about the worship of our creator, as with Bach... but rather more trying to find out our place both in love of the world and love of music” [07:29].
• Composers like Chopin combined personal expression—“nocturnes, Night music that turned the piano into poetry”—with political statements, as in his “Revolutionary Etude” reflecting Polish struggles for independence [08:08].

Quote:
Chopin “was simultaneously writing these gorgeous nocturnes... But at the same time, his nation was trying to become an independent nation... his revolutionary etude making a dramatic statement about individual liberty.”
—Hyperion Knight [08:08]

Composer Stories and Musical Eccentricity

• Many great composers’ early recognition and isolated upbringing made them eccentric, leading to “fascinating” stories that help audiences connect with their work [09:58].
• Notable anecdotes include:
  • Chopin’s love affair with George Sand (Aurora), a woman who assumed a man’s identity to publish as a novelist
  • Brahms jesting at parties: “If I've neglected to offend anyone here at all, I humbly apologize” [11:06].
• Knight connects biography and artistry: the struggle with cultural, social, and artistic revolution is woven into the music.

Quote:
“Unlike great painters or great novelists, great musicians are usually singled out at a very young age… So many of them are quite eccentric, like Brahms... they never lead normal lives.”
—Hyperion Knight [09:58]

Dichotomy: Beauty vs Truth in Music

• The late-19th-century music scene splintered into Impressionist composers in France, making the world “more beautiful than ever by blurring the edges," and Italian verismo opera, where “the utmost truth in storytelling” coexists with “incredibly beautiful music” [12:41].

Quote:
“The poet John Keats very famously said, ‘Beauty is truth, truth, beauty.’ But are those actually the same thing? I think they’re not.”
—Hyperion Knight [11:47]

Performance-Based Teaching and Musical Survival

• Knight’s course is distinguished by live performance, not only explaining but demonstrating music: “Not listening to recordings… but actually playing it and showing the deep emotion both the audience feels and that I myself feel” [13:56].
• He challenges what counts as “classical music,” positing, “great music is music which survives the test of time.” This argument culminates in the American composers like Copland, Ives, and especially Gershwin [15:03].

Quote:
“Anything that survived the test of time had to be taken seriously. We have to treat it as classical music.”
—Hyperion Knight [15:58]

Gershwin and the American Sound

• Gershwin symbolizes the emergence of a uniquely American identity, fusing jazz, Broadway, and classical forms after World War I.
• American music, with jazz and ragtime rhythms, “completely took the world by storm starting in the 1920s” [16:56].
• European composers began adopting American styles, exemplifying cross-cultural exchange (e.g., Ravel and Darius Milhaud) [17:31].

Quote:
“This music that emerged from the rhythm of ragtime, which became jazz… merged into something uniquely American, which completely took the world by storm.”
—Hyperion Knight [17:31]

Making Classical Music Accessible

• Knight frames himself as “a salesman for great music,” aiming to “make this music approachable both on a personal level… and cultural story that is the story of all of us, really” [18:39].
• He centers lessons on the “War of the Romantics”:
  • Conservative/traditional camps (Mendelssohn, Brahms)
  • Avant-garde (Chopin, Liszt, Wagner—the “artwork of the future”)
• This drama forms the narrative backbone, making the history of classical music relatable as a “fascinating drama, both musically and personally… as these different camps fight it out in Vienna, in Paris, and then ultimately in New York as well” [20:39].

Music and Culture: A Mirror

• Russian modernists like Stravinsky (“Petrushka”) portrayed the alienation of modern life, mirroring literature (Kafka, Hesse).
• American music reflected social changes, especially new freedoms in romance and individuality, celebrated in the American Songbook and “the Roaring Twenties” [22:31].
• “The culture is absolutely woven in every note of the music. There is no separation there” [22:56].

The Enduring Value of Classical Music

• Knight’s ultimate hope: students will be “curious and preferably in love with these great composers,” relishing music that “never loses its fascination… It’s always fresh sometime. And this is what makes it great music, what makes it classical, because it endures, and it endures in our own lives and our own hearts forever” [23:16, 23:52].

Quote:
“To really appreciate great music is a love affair that will last a lifetime.”
—Hyperion Knight [23:21]

[Segment Timestamps]

• [00:06] – Show introduction, 2025 listener stats, network expansion, 2026 preview
• [04:38] – Hyperion Knight joins the program
• [05:02] – Knight's musical background and philosophy
• [07:05] – Early Romantics and music as unique language
• [09:58] – The role of story and the eccentric lives of composers
• [11:47] – Beauty vs. truth: Impressionism and verismo
• [13:35] – Knight’s teaching approach; live performance in online courses
• [15:03] – Defining "classical music" in a 20th-century context
• [16:56] – Gershwin, Jazz Age, and the American sound
• [18:39] – Accessibility: “war of the Romantics” framework
• [21:12] – Music as culture in 19th and 20th centuries
• [23:16] – What Knight hopes students will take away
• [24:34] – Interview close
• [24:56] – Top five Radio Free Hillsdale Hour episodes of 2025 recap

Notable Quotes

• “Chopin… made perfume rise out of the piano, as Rubinstein put it.”
  —Hyperion Knight [08:08]

• “Johannes Brahms… was noted for, for instance, leaving a party and on his way out saying, ‘If I've neglected to offend anyone here at all, I humbly apologize.’”
  —Hyperion Knight [11:06]

• “Anything that survived the test of time had to be taken seriously. We have to treat it as classical music.”
  —Hyperion Knight [15:58]

• “To really appreciate great music is a love affair that will last a lifetime.”
  —Hyperion Knight [23:21]

2025 Top Five Programs Recap

Scott Bertram counts down the show’s most popular episodes of the year [24:56]:

1. Scott Jennings Explains the Common Sense of Donald Trump
   • Jennings on Trump’s style; Ava Downes on international trap shooting.
2. Who Killed the California Dream?
   • Susan Crabtree on her book; Jeremiah Regan on Colonial America online course.
3. Molly Hemingway on the Comey Indictment
   • Hemingway on journalism and the legal system; Benedict Whalen on The Great Gatsby.
4. How Trump Survived and Won America’s Heartland
   • Selina Zito on the Trump assassination attempt; Christopher Matsos on theater in liberal education.
5. How Transparency Weakens the Deep State
   • Dr. Khalil Habib, Kevin M. Shipp, and Brent Klein explore transparency, statesmanship, and the Harlem Renaissance.

Closing: Spirit and Tone

The episode embodies Hillsdale College’s commitment to education “rooted in the good, the true, and the beautiful,” while blending scholarly depth with warmth, wit, and personal connection—especially through Knight’s storytelling and passionate advocacy for classical music’s enduring value. The lively, engaging exchanges make high culture feel accessible and vital for listeners of all backgrounds.