Coming off the loss of Quincy Jones, Benny Golson, Roy Haynes and Lou Donaldson at the end of 2024, it’s truly a treat to bring you a fresh interview with one of the last musicians of the Bebop era, the saxophone colossus himself, Sonny Rollins. Since we last spoke, a couple interesting artifacts from Rollins life have surfaced: "The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins" and "Rollins in Holland." We discuss those releases, his spirituality and the loss of some of his comrades in 2024.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite Sonny Rollins songs HERE.

Coming off the loss of Quincy Jones, Benny Golson, Roy Haynes and Lou Donaldson at the end of 2024, it&rsquo;s truly a treat to bring you a fresh interview with one of the last musicians of the Bebop era, the saxophone colossus himself, Sonny Rollins. Since we last spoke, a couple interesting artifacts from Rollins life have surfaced: "The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins" and "Rollins in Holland." We discuss those releases, his spirituality and the loss of some of his comrades in 2024.
You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite Sonny Rollins songs <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2wS92cRbTRCA2jnCrdwSd2?si=13cfe6fdb1af4f8b&amp;nd=1&amp;dlsi=c943b1f96cde4571">HERE</a>.

Music and storytelling meet on Broken Record, where artists across genres and generations sit down to explore the joy, chaos, and vulnerability of creating—and what it means to devote a life to music. From legendary icons to groundbreaking new voices, each episode captures artists in conversation sharing the inspirations and experiences that shape their craft.

Music and storytelling meet on Broken Record, where artists across genres and generations sit down to explore the joy, chaos, and vulnerability of creating&mdash;and what it means to devote a life to music. From legendary icons to groundbreaking new voices, each episode captures artists in conversation sharing the inspirations and experiences that shape their craft.

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

Sonny Rollins

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/0b870db3-4c48-4326-a9d1-b26b013d872f/transcript

The United States has far more homicides than any of its peers around the world. Why? 

In his new audiobook book, The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic, Malcolm Gladwell explores the American “peculiarity” — how the world’s wealthiest country came to suffer from a problem typically only seen in the world’s poorest countries. 

Drawing on original interviews, archival and social science research, and his trademark insight, Gladwell approaches the American paradox through a series of stories. What can we learn from the miracle of a young gunshot victim in Washington, D.C.? How have the legal troubles of a seventeenth-century English knight influenced American attempts at gun control? Why would a European police chief be baffled by the graduation ceremony at any American police academy? 

In a sweeping narrative, Gladwell travels from a shooting range in North Carolina, to the South Side of Chicago, to an old plantation house in Alabama, painting a picture of a country that does not understand its most pressing social problem, and as result, does not understand how to fix it. 

Here's a preview. Get the full audiobook at pushkin.fm/audiobooks or wherever you get audiobooks.

The United States has far more homicides than any of its peers around the world. Why?&nbsp;
In his new audiobook book, The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic, Malcolm Gladwell explores the American &ldquo;peculiarity&rdquo; &mdash; how the world&rsquo;s wealthiest country came to suffer from a problem typically only seen in the world&rsquo;s poorest countries.&nbsp;
Drawing on original interviews, archival and social science research, and his trademark insight, Gladwell approaches the American paradox through a series of stories. What can we learn from the miracle of a young gunshot victim in Washington, D.C.? How have the legal troubles of a seventeenth-century English knight influenced American attempts at gun control? Why would a European police chief be baffled by the graduation ceremony at any American police academy?&nbsp;
In a sweeping narrative, Gladwell travels from a shooting range in North Carolina, to the South Side of Chicago, to an old plantation house in Alabama, painting a picture of a country that does not understand its most pressing social problem, and as result, does not understand how to fix it.&nbsp;
Here's a preview. Get the full audiobook at <a href="https://airtable.com/appZTFQex5QyqNtvc/pushkin.fm/audiobooks" data-airgap-id="12">pushkin.fm/audiobooks</a> or wherever you get audiobooks.

The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic | Malcolm Gladwell's New Audiobook

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/30dc94d9-2e9e-4b01-bfa1-b4da0115b531/transcript

Elvis Costello seemed to arrive fully formed with his 1977 debut, My Aim Is True. The look, the voice, the wordplay and the attitude were already there, along with songs like “Alison,” “Watching the Detectives” and “(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes” that helped establish him as one of the most distinctive songwriters of his generation. But behind that seemingly sudden arrival were years spent absorbing everything from Motown and country to Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman and the California folk-rock of the late ’60s and early ’70s, as Costello worked to find a musical language of his own.

Now, nearly 50 years later, Costello is revisiting that evolution with an expansive new anniversary edition of My Aim Is True. The collection reaches back to songs and demos he recorded before the album, tracing his early experiments as a songwriter through the sessions with producer Nick Lowe and the American band Clover, and eventually to the formation of the Attractions.

On today’s episode, Bruce Headlam talks with Elvis Costello about how he found his voice as a songwriter, the music that shaped him, and the stories behind some of the songs on My Aim Is True. They also talk about the “angry young man” persona that followed Costello through his early career, what he learned about music from his parents, and what he hears now when he looks back at the young songwriter he was nearly half a century ago.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Elvis Costello HERE.

Elvis Costello seemed to arrive fully formed with his 1977 debut, My Aim Is True. The look, the voice, the wordplay and the attitude were already there, along with songs like &ldquo;Alison,&rdquo; &ldquo;Watching the Detectives&rdquo; and &ldquo;(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes&rdquo; that helped establish him as one of the most distinctive songwriters of his generation. But behind that seemingly sudden arrival were years spent absorbing everything from Motown and country to Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman and the California folk-rock of the late &rsquo;60s and early &rsquo;70s, as Costello worked to find a musical language of his own.
Now, nearly 50 years later, Costello is revisiting that evolution with an expansive new anniversary edition of My Aim Is True. The collection reaches back to songs and demos he recorded before the album, tracing his early experiments as a songwriter through the sessions with producer Nick Lowe and the American band Clover, and eventually to the formation of the Attractions.
On today&rsquo;s episode, Bruce Headlam talks with Elvis Costello about how he found his voice as a songwriter, the music that shaped him, and the stories behind some of the songs on My Aim Is True. They also talk about the &ldquo;angry young man&rdquo; persona that followed Costello through his early career, what he learned about music from his parents, and what he hears now when he looks back at the young songwriter he was nearly half a century ago.
You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Elvis Costello <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5DGM1VzKzlcPUs3PlWcsWL?si=9182c4dab4934877&amp;nd=1&amp;dlsi=a5040205951e4077">HERE</a>.

Elvis Costello

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/eaf6bb0f-6768-4fec-8364-b4d400102a1c/transcript

Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo helped transform the possibilities of the electric guitar at a time when its role in rock music could seem well established. He came of age in New York City’s downtown No Wave art scene in the late 1970s before co-founding Sonic Youth with Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon in 1981. Over the next three decades, the band became an artistically and critically important act in American rock, serving as a conduit between the underground and the mainstream.

Since Sonic Youth’s dissolution in 2011, Ranaldo has continued to work prolifically as a solo artist and collaborator, moving freely between noise, folk, drone, and spoken word. His work reflects a restless curiosity that has made him a genuine musical polymath.

On today’s episode, Justin Richmond talks with Lee Ranaldo about his life and work, including the recent release of The System, a soundtrack he composed for Dutch filmmaker Joris Postema’s documentary about three climate activists working to imagine a different world.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Lee Ranaldo HERE.

Sonic Youth&rsquo;s Lee Ranaldo helped transform the possibilities of the electric guitar at a time when its role in rock music could seem well established. He came of age in New York City&rsquo;s downtown No Wave art scene in the late 1970s before co-founding Sonic Youth with Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon in 1981. Over the next three decades, the band became an artistically and critically important act in American rock, serving as a conduit between the underground and the mainstream.
Since Sonic Youth&rsquo;s dissolution in 2011, Ranaldo has continued to work prolifically as a solo artist and collaborator, moving freely between noise, folk, drone, and spoken word. His work reflects a restless curiosity that has made him a genuine musical polymath.
On today&rsquo;s episode, Justin Richmond talks with Lee Ranaldo about his life and work, including the recent release of The System, a soundtrack he composed for Dutch filmmaker Joris Postema&rsquo;s documentary about three climate activists working to imagine a different world.
You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Lee Ranaldo <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5BAKDKqJbctLkcbjEuEQuv?si=669f6ad6d320455d&amp;nd=1&amp;dlsi=40349673a5cb45de">HERE</a>.

Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/f0af817d-8f91-4ef6-a710-b4cc0157ac35/transcript

Sonny Rollins

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Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

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