Abstract
<jats:p>The monograph “A Musical Window on the World: Non Stop Magazine” tells the story of the legendary monthly magazine, published between 1972 and 1990 as a supplement to “Tygodnik Demokratyczny” (“Democratic Weekly”), which played a unique role in Polish musical culture, becoming a kind of barometer of the communist era and the period of political transformation. The publication presents the magazine as a medium that vigilantly reflected social, political and cultural changes, and at the same time as a key space for the development of modern music journalism. Particular emphasis is placed on analysing journalistic genres such as reviews, interviews, columns and reportages, which shaped the discussion of music. Non Stop is presented as a laboratory of forms, in which the aesthetics of the text were as important as its content. Through an analysis of the entire collection of 217 issues of the magazine, archival documents from the New Files Archive (including censorship files), and in-depth interviews with editors and contributors, the monograph unveils the behind-the-scenes negotiations surrounding freedom of speech and the strategy employed to introduce Western music trends to readers. The research findings suggest that Non Stop acted as a bridge between the official specialist press and grassroots fanzines. It combined diverse content, ranging from rock and jazz to heavy metal, with an educational and community-building function. In conditions of information isolation, the magazine served as a guide to global culture, becoming a generational medium that shaped the identity of young people and built cultural capital for the free press after 1989. It combines media studies with historical and cultural perspectives while remaining accessible to readers outside the academic community.</jats:p>