Say what you want about the superiority of classical music or the complex intricacies of jazz, but according to novelist Dave Eggers, there’s simply nothing like good old-fashioned American pop music to get the creative juices flowing and make you smarter. “Like many citizens, I think a regular regimen of intense listening to the more literary or even pretentious songwriters should replace standard education… Music-as-learning-tool combines the three most potent sources of persuasion: a trusted voice, sublimity and endless repetition.”