Chad Clark | What I Learned From My Father’s Role With Martin Luther King and Jimmy Carter

Chad Clark's father was Martin Luther King's lawyer, a man who, as Chad puts it, "changed the 20th century."  On this episode of Identified with Nabil Ayers, the Beauty Pill and Smart Went Crazy musician talks about what it means to make art in the shadow of that kind of legacy, including the thin…

Silversun Pickups' Brian Aubert: "Family Is Where You Don't Have to Perform"

Brian Aubert of Silversun Pickups doesn't believe in perfect families, just ones where you feel safe and loved. Everything else, he says, is colouring. On this episode of Identified with Nabil Ayers, he traces where that idea comes from: a childhood in Los Angeles shadowed by his mother's brain tum…

X Ambassadors and The Story of the Band Two Brothers Never Meant to Start

Sam and Casey Harris of X Ambassadors never meant to be in a band together. They were two brothers making music separately in the same house, until Casey started sneaking downstairs to jam with Sam's band.  On this episode of Identified with Nabil Ayers, they trace how brotherhood became the band.…

Jon Ronson on Family and the Extraordinary Story Behind The Castle

Jon Ronson joins Nabil Ayers on Identified for a conversation about family, fatherhood, growing up in Wales, finding his identity as a writer, and the strange series of events that ultimately led to his new book, The Castle. Jon traces his story back to Cardiff, where he grew up feeling like a squ…

Reissue: Hermanos Gutiérrez on Their Musical Beginnings, and the Meaning of Family

Hermanos Gutiérrez never planned to be a band. On this episode of Identified, Estevan and Alejandro Gutiérrez sit down with host Nabil Ayers to trace where their music, and their bond, actually comes from: an older brother who became a father figure, a younger brother who picked up the guitar just …

Reissue: Comedian Reggie Watts on the Meaning of Family and Belonging

A brand new and exclusive reissue from the Identified archive, with one of our most fascinating guests, Reggie Watts.  Reggie Watts joins Nabil Ayers on Identified to trace where he actually comes from — a military childhood from Germany to Great Falls, Montana; the house he grew up in and still o…

Award Winning Director Nabil Elderkin on The Family We Choose

Photographer and filmmaker, Nabil Elderkin, joins Nabil Ayers on Identified for a conversation about his Iranian-American identity, childhood in Australia and the United States, family history, the Baha’i faith, vulnerability, creativity and belonging.  Born in Chicago to an Iranian mother and Ame…

Adam Buxton on Why No Parent Has It Figured Out

In this episode of Identified with Nabil Ayers, Adam Buxton explores family, identity, childhood, boarding school, fatherhood, parenting, class, and friendship.  The comedian, writer, broadcaster, and host of The Adam Buxton Podcast reflects on growing up with a Chilean mother and British father, …

Daymé Arocena on Leaving Cuba to Follow Her Dreams

Raised in a house with fourteen family members, Daymé Arocena reflects on how music, ancestry, and community shaped the woman she became. n this episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers sits down with Cuban singer, songwriter, and composer Daymé Arocena for a conversation about family, ancestry, identit…

Dry Cleaning’s Florence Shaw on Growing Up in a Family of Artists

In this episode of Identified with Nabil Ayers, Florence Shaw of Dry Cleaning explores family, creativity, artistic legacy, collaboration, and identity. Growing up in South London surrounded by generations of artists, Florence reflects on how family shaped her understanding of creativity long befor…