How should we understand the legacy of Richard Wagner, the most controversial composer in history? Why did Wagner's music and ideas once assume such a colossal influence on culture, and what does it mean that the multiplicity of that influence has been largely forgotten in light of his anti-Semitism? A conversation with Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker and author of the forthcoming book Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music.Show notes and more at soundexpertise.org