As listeners are no doubt aware, next week will be a big one for Prince fans in Minneapolis: Monday through Wednesday is Prince from Minneapolis, the second-ever (and first in the States) academic symposium devoted to papers about Prince; then, from Thursday to Sunday, Paisley Park will open its doors for its second annual posthumous Celebration event. I will be there for both, so I thought now was the perfect opportunity to talk to Stuart Willoughby, whose book Minneapolis Reign: A Guide to Prince's Hometown documented his own trip to last year's Celebration 2017. Stuart and I had a really fun conversation, which will hopefully give everyone else out there planning their own pilgrimages some pointers about where to go and what to do in Prince's hometown. Show notes: https://princesongs.org/2018/04/13/podcast-paisley-park-is-in-your-heart-a-conversation-with-stuart-willoughby-author-of-minneapolis-reign/

dance / music / sex / romance is fast approaching its third year, so to celebrate, we’re going…backwards? That’s right, to mark the 40th anniversary of Prince’s debut album, I thought now was the perfect time to go ahead with an idea I’ve been toying with for a while: our own sub-series of review podcasts looking at each of Prince’s albums in isolation. So, I've asked my friends Harold and KaNisa, both of whose encyclopaedic knowledge of Prince’s career dwarfs my own, to join me. I think you’ll find that our tastes and opinions both intersect and diverge in a lot of interesting ways, which allowed us–and hopefully, will allow you–to take a different perspective on some of these songs and the context in which they were created. Show notes: https://princesongs.org/2018/04/06/podcast-40-years-of-for-you/

For the first d / m / s / r podcast of 2018 (!), it was my pleasure to speak with budding educational historian and Prince scholar Kimberly C. Ransom. Kimberly presented at the University of Salford's interdisciplinary Prince conference last May--those of you who listened to my series of podcasts on that event probably heard her name come up once or twice--and her essay, "A Conceptual Falsetto: Re-Imagining Black Childhood Via One Girl's Exploration of Prince," was published last fall in the Journal of African American Studies’ special Prince issue. If any of my listeners haven't checked out that issue yet, I'm hoping this interview will offer some incentive: Kimberly's essay in particular brilliantly interweaves her lifelong love for Prince with an incisive critique our often-pathologized discourses of Black childhood. She also has a surprisingly lovely singing voice. Show notes: https://princesongs.org/2018/01/26/the-crazy-things-you-do-a-conversation-with-kimberly-ransom/

This is the last d / m / s / r podcast of 2017, and I have to say we're going out on a high note. It was my honor and privilege to speak with Marylou Badeaux: a former Warner Bros. executive who worked closely with Prince for his 17 years with the label, and the author of the newly-released memoir Moments... Remembering Prince. You can probably tell that I was a little nervous at the beginning of the conversation, but we warmed up quickly and had a great chat about Prince and his relationship with the label that, for better or worse, defined his era of peak artistic achievement. Show notes: https://princesongs.org/2017/12/13/podcast-nothing-compares-a-conversation-with-marylou-badeaux-author-of-moments-remembering-prince/

It's been over half a year since the University of Salford's interdisciplinary Prince conference, but I keep connecting with people who presented there and whose topics of research are too interesting not to discuss. This time, I'm talking to actor and playwright Chambers Stevens, who has a fascinating theory about the influence of improv training on Prince's approach to life and performance. But we aren't just retreading Chambers' presentation from the Salford conference; he also has some hilarious stories to share about his own run-ins with Prince (and Chaka Khan), as well as some thoughts about the peculiar nature of Prince fandom. Show notes: https://princesongs.org/2017/12/08/podcast-a-conversation-with-chambers-stevens/

Last week, Duane Tudahl’s long-awaited book Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions: 1983 and 1984 was finally published, and I was lucky enough to speak to him about it. If you haven’t read the book yet, you need to listen to this podcast: Duane is a knowledgeable and passionate Prince fan-turned-scholar, and his enthusiasm for the project is infectious. And if you have read the book, you should still listen, because he has a lot to share not only about his research and writing process, but also about his experiences with the celebrated Uptown fanzine and his ideas for preserving Prince’s legacy moving forward. Show notes: https://princesongs.org/2017/11/22/podcast-24-feelings-all-in-a-row-a-conversation-with-duane-tudahl-author-of-prince-and-the-purple-rain-era-studio-sessions-1983-1984/

After much delay, here is my conversation with Chris Aguilar-Garcia and Natalie Clifford, two presenters from this May's interdisciplinary Prince conference at the University of Salford. Both Chris and Nat identify as queer, and both have interesting things to say about Prince's legacy of "revolutionary queerness" and the space he created for less conventional expressions of gender and sexuality in the mainstream. If you liked the last episode with Snax, chances are you'll like this one. Show notes: https://princesongs.org/2017/10/17/podcast-i-am-something-that-youll-never-understand-chris-aguilar-garcia-and-natalie-clifford-on-the-salford-purple-reign-conference/

This episode, I'm taking a little break from the University of Salford Purple Reign conference to talk to musician Paul Bonomo, a.k.a. Snax. We discuss Prince's professional and personal impact on Paul, of course, but we also speak more broadly to the two-way flow of influence between Prince and gay culture--an area that's been vastly underexplored in the popular discourse around the artist. I'm excited to see the extended conversation that comes out of this frank and at times provocative discussion. Show notes: https://princesongs.org/2017/09/29/podcast-am-i-straight-or-gay-a-conversation-with-paul-bonomo/