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

By Pushkin Industries

Society & Culture Music

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From Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, and Bruce Headlam, liner notes for the digital age. Digressions, arguments, back-stories, and random things to disagree with about music.

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Amanda Shires For Christmas

12.07.2021

Today we have a special Broken Record Holiday episode with Nashville singer Amanda Shires. Shires’ new holiday album, For Christmas, isn’t meant to make you feel merry and bright. Instead it’s an acknowledgment of the complicated feelings that can come ...

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

12.07.2021 Amanda Shires For Christmas Today we have a special Broken Record Holiday episode with Nashville singer Amanda Shires. Shires’ new holiday album, For Christmas, isn’t meant to make you feel merry and bright. Instead it’s an acknowledgment of the complicated feelings that can come ...
11.30.2021 Mary Gauthier: Saved By A Song Mary Gauthier is a folk singer/songwriter whose songs have quite literally saved her life. Writing music did not come easily to Gauthier. She began abusing drugs and alcohol as a young girl growing up in Louisiana. After years of struggling ...
11.23.2021 Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast Michelle Zauner is the lead singer and creative force behind the indie, dream pop band, Japanese Breakfast. This year Zauner released a series of career-defining projects that propelled her band to widespread critical acclaim including her New York Times best-selling ...
11.16.2021 An Excerpt from Miracle And Wonder: Conversations With Paul Simon Justin Richmond shares the first chapter of a new book he's been working on with Malcolm Gladwell and Bruce Headlam. It’s called Miracle And Wonder, Conversations with Paul Simon. Download the audiobook today at miracleaudiobook.com and receive an exclusive listener's ...
11.09.2021 Angelique Kidjo: Africa’s Premier Diva According to Time Magazine, singer Angelique Kidjo is “Africa’s premier diva.” Kidjo started out singing traditional music in her native Benin, West Africa when she was a teenager. In 1983, she escaped the conflict-riddled Benin for Paris, where she studied ...
11.02.2021 Pastor T.L. Barrett’s Gospel Pastor T.L. Barrett has been known on Chicago’s South side as a religious and community leader for 50 years. But it wasn’t until recently that people started to uncover Barrett’s trove of gospel music. In the 1970s, Barrett began making ...
10.27.2021 Singing Secrets of the Stars with Backstage Pass Today we are sharing an episode of Pushkin’s newest show, Backstage Pass, hosted by Eric Vetro, the voice coach to the stars. From Camila Cabello, to Shawn Mendes, to John Legend, Eric Vetro has guided your favorite singers during some ...
10.26.2021 Diane Warren: Songwriter Extraordinaire If you’ve sung along to a power ballad in the last 30 years, chances are you’re already intimately familiar with Diane Warren’s songs. Some of her biggest hits include Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time,” Celine Dion’s “Because You ...
10.19.2021 Amythyst Kiah Sings Her Truth On her intimate new album Wary + Strange, Amythyst Kiah sings her heart out about losing her mom to suicide, and what it’s like being the only black person in the room at country gigs. She created the album with ...
10.12.2021 Scarface: The Reunion Houston rapper Scarface is one of the most recognizable, respected voices in hip-hop. When he was just 17 years-old, Scarface was recruited to join Bushwik Bill and Willie D in the Geto Boys. The group was one of Rick Rubin’s ...
10.05.2021 White Lotus Composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer Cristobal Tapia de Veer is the composer and musician behind Mike White’s HBO show, White Lotus. The sounds in the score range from percussive African and Latin American instruments to guttural human chants. On today’s episode Justin Richmond talks to ...
09.28.2021 Lindsey Buckingham: Going His Own Way Lindsey Buckingham’s signature finger-style guitar is perhaps as recognizable as the countless classic songs he wrote while he was in Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham is a self-taught guitar virtuoso and songwriter who famously joined Fleetwood Mac in the mid ‘70s with ...
09.21.2021 Ringo Starr: Peace and Love Ringo Starr is one of the most iconic musicians living today. Famed drummer for The Beatles and a prolific songwriter in his own right, at 81, Ringo’s gearing up to release his latest EP, Change The World. Rick Rubin and ...
09.14.2021 John Hiatt and Jerry Douglas John Hiatt is a Nashville-based singer/songwriter whose songs have been covered by a wide range of popular artists including Iggy Pop, Paula Abdul and Jimmy Buffet. Hiatt recorded his latest album, Leftover Feelings, with the Jerry Douglas Band. Douglas, who’s ...
09.07.2021 Henry Rollins Henry Rollins speaks with Rick Rubin from Shangri-La pre-pandemic and in full Rollins fashion, the stories just poured out of him. Henry talks about the time he was christened a lead singer by H.R. from Bad Brains, the day he ...
08.31.2021 Jaden Smith Gets Trippy Jaden Smith has proved to be much more than just the sum of his famous parents. At 23 he’s spent more than half of his life working as an actor, a musician, and an entrepreneur. Since the release of Jaden’s ...
08.24.2021 Lukas Nelson: A Star Is Born Growing up in a family full of musicians, Lukas Nelson was basically raised on stage. He started playing guitar in his dad Willie Nelson’s band when he was just 11 years-old. In 2008, Lukas formed his acclaimed band, Promise of ...
08.17.2021 Extended Cut: Brian Eno and Rick Rubin The Broken Record team has been revisiting some of our favorite episodes and releasing new extended cuts via PushNik, our Apple Podcasts subscription program. Today we’re giving you a taste of what those cuts sound like with the extended, ad-free ...
08.10.2021 Revisionist History vs. The Little Mermaid This week, we're presenting something fun from Malcolm Gladwell, co-founder of Pushkin. In a special series from his podcast, Revisionist History, Malcolm is launching a massive frontal assault on The Little Mermaid. You might wonder, "what's Malcolm doing? It's a ...
08.03.2021 Daryl Hall The Hit Man Daryl Hall and John Oates are the definition of Blue-Eyed Soul. After a string of monster hits that stretched from the 70’s into the mid-80s, the RIAA named Hall and Oates the number-one selling duo in music history. And they ...
07.27.2021 Jeff Goldblum Gets Jazzy Over Jeff Goldblum's 50-year acting career, he’s played dozens of unforgettable roles. Off-camera, Jeff Goldblum is also a surprisingly dedicated Jazz pianist who has been playing in clubs and bars for over 30 years. He’s released two albums with his ...
07.20.2021 Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen Rick Nielsen is best known as Cheap Trick’s lead guitarist and main songwriter. In the late '70s, Cheap Trick helped popularize power pop with their songs “Surrender” and “I Want You To Want Me," which were precursors to the pop ...
07.13.2021 Mark Ronson Finds The Perfect Sound Mark Ronson's big break as a producer came from working with Amy Winehouse to find the perfect sound for her career defining album, Back To Black. Since then, Ronson has gone on to win an Oscar, a Golden Globe and ...
07.06.2021 BROCKHAMPTON's Kevin Abstract BROCKHAMPTON's original members formed after posting on a Kanye West fan message board in 2010, and then started making music in The Woodlands, Texas. Since then, they’ve turned the idea of a boy band on its head. With as many ...
06.29.2021 Archie Shepp: Activist of the Avant-Garde Archie Shepp is a tenor saxophonist and composer who's spent over half a century contributing to the evolution of Black music. Shepp has long fought for Black musicians to get their fair share of credit, recognition and recompense for their ...
06.22.2021 Craig Finn Holds Steady Craig Finn, the lead singer and songwriter of The Hold Steady, is known for his vivid, literary-style songwriting. He often writes about characters going through an existential crisis. The Hold Steady released their eighth album, Open Door Policy, earlier this ...
06.17.2021 Pushkin Honors Juneteenth At Pushkin, we think of Juneteenth as an opportunity to reflect on the past and think about the future: How do we build a more just and equitable society? We strive to make podcasts that help answer that question, and ...
06.15.2021 Moby Reprised Moby may be one of the most highly recognizable dance-music artists of all time, but he’s also a talented multi-hyphenate whose unconventional 30-year career includes massive success as a producer and DJ, and notoriety as an animal rights activist. Moby’s ...
06.08.2021 Brian Eno: The Innovator Brian Eno’s 50-year career is teeming with innovation. He started out playing synths in the early ‘70s as a member of the UK glam-rock band Roxy Music and went on to create an entirely new musical genre—ambient music, and later ...
06.01.2021 Liz Phair's Soberish Liz Phair helped lay the foundation for a generation of fierce, independent artists on her gritty 1993 debut album, Exile In Guyville. Early in her career, she pushed for freedom and creative control, especially for female artists. It's something she’s ...
05.25.2021 Rhiannon Giddens Comes Home Rhiannon Giddens is a brilliant fiddle and banjo player who’s one of the few musicians alive today trained in the centuries-old black string band tradition. Giddens is a North Carolina native but now lives in Ireland, not far from her ...
05.18.2021 Superwolves: Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Matt Sweeney In 2005 singer Bonnie "Prince" Billy a.k.a. Will Oldham and guitarist Matt Sweeney released the Superwolf album, which has developed a cult following that includes Rick Rubin who absolutely fell in love with the project. Now, 16 years later, they’re ...
04.29.2021 Presenting: An Excerpt from The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell The Bomber Mafia is the new audiobook by Revisionist History host (and Pushkin co-founder) Malcolm Gladwell. It examines the rise of air power, which created one of the greatest moral challenges of the Second World War. In The Bomber Mafia, ...
04.27.2021 Peter Frampton Forgets the Words Peter Frampton is a classic rock guitar god who rose to international fame in the late ‘70s with his chart-topping double album, Frampton Comes Alive! Justin Richmond caught up with Frampton recently to talk about his new album of cover ...
04.20.2021 Serj Tankian Talks Toxicity and Activism System of a Down’s classic Rick Rubin-produced album, Toxicity, turns 20 this year. Released in 2001 one week before 9/11, the politically charged and wildly bizarre album provided the perfect soundtrack for a world descending into chaos. Serj Tankian, the ...
04.13.2021 Andrew Bird + Jimbo Mathus Listening to Jimbo Mathus and Andrew Bird’s new album, These 13, is like taking a trip down South … a century ago. It’s new territory for Andrew Bird, a classically trained multi-instrumentalist from the Chicago suburbs who’s been a successful ...
04.06.2021 Barry Gibb's Wild Ride Few bands have experienced such extreme highs and lows as the Bee Gees. Throughout their decades-long career, the band of brothers managed to be both grossly underrated and one of the best-selling acts of all time. Barry Gibb and his ...
03.30.2021 Merry Clayton's Redemption Merry Clayton is a legendary backup singer who has managed to consistently steal the spotlight. Merry’s journey from a renowned backup singer to a solo artist was documented in the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom in 2013. Almost exactly ...
03.23.2021 Marianne Faithfull Fights Back Marianne Faithfull has been many things throughout her half a century in music—a close confidant of the Rolling Stones, a pop star, a homeless drug addict and a critically acclaimed comeback artist. Despite a career filled with personal and professional ...
03.16.2021 Valerie June Shines Bright Valerie June has helped widen the scope of contemporary Americana music. She’s one of few African American women in the category and her unique combination of gospel and Appalachian folk is a shimmering example of what's possible in the roots-music ...
03.09.2021 Ziggy Marley Reminisces About Jamaica and His Father Malcolm Gladwell recently spoke with Ziggy Marley as part of the Live Talks Los Angeles series. Their conversation centers around a book of photographs Ziggy curated called Bob Marley: Portrait of the Legend. Ziggy has gone on to become a ...
03.02.2021 Mike Shinoda on Beats, Rhymes and Linkin Park Since forming in 1996, Linkin Park has sold over 100 million records worldwide. Their enormous success mixing genres like hip-hop, metal and anthemic pop was spearheaded by the band’s ultra-talented founder, Mike Shinoda. In this episode Rick Rubin talks to ...
02.23.2021 Kenny Beats + Rick Rubin, Part 2 Since his first conversation with Rick, Kenny Beats’ star has continued to rise. In the past couple of years he has produced songs with Ed Sheeran, Da Baby and Vince Staples. He’s also taken several trips to the UK, and ...
02.16.2021 Kenny Beats on the Regional Sounds of Hip Hop There’s a reason Kenny Beats is one of the great young producers in Hip Hop. Because he has a vast understanding of the regional sounds and histories of cities to pull from when making beats for an artist. This allows ...
02.09.2021 Joan Baez Rick Rubin speaks with the great Joan Baez fresh off her birthday and the announcement that she'll be among this year's Kennedy Center honorees! Joan was known the world over as the Queen of Folk at the height of her ...
02.02.2021 Rivers Cuomo on Weezer's New Approach and a Wild Nirvana Conspiracy Most people know Rivers Cuomo as Weezer’s brilliant, quirky lead singer. But one thing people may not know, is that several years ago, a bizarre conspiracy theory made its way around the Web that Rivers was actually Kurt Cobain. To ...
01.26.2021 Earth, Wind & Fire's Verdine White with Rick Rubin Rick Rubin connected with Earth, Wind & Fire's Verdine White to talk about the early days of the band and about their producer, Charles Stepney, who Verdine calls their George Martin. Also Rick reads to Verdine a poignant note from ...
01.19.2021 Nas In Conversation with Rick Rubin Nas dropped one of the most universally loved rap albums of all time in 1994 with Illmatic. Few legends in Hip Hop have been able to maintain their relevance over several decades based on their skill alone. Nas has never ...
01.12.2021 Legendary Music Journalist Lisa Robinson Rick Rubin speaks with friend, pioneering rock journalist, Lisa Robinson about her over 40 year career that's seen her interview everyone from John Lennon to Lady Gaga, from Jay Z to Eminem, and even an 11 year old Michael Jackson. ...
01.08.2021 Ben Folds Singer/songwriter, pianist, alt-rocker Ben Folds has been releasing records since the 90s. Sometimes with his band Ben Folds Five, sometimes solo. In this episode of Broken Record, he connects with Bruce Headlam to discuss the origins of his biggest hit, ...

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