This week, Robert speaks to Liz Pelly about her damning new book Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist, and U.K. singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan whose comeback album Lookaftering was just re-released for its 20th anniversary.

Click here to donate to Sweet Relief's David Johansen Fund.

This week, Robert spends the full episode with James Brandon Lewis, the prolific jazz saxophonist whose new album Apple Cores is out today via Anti- Records. 

On this week's show, Robert Ham is joined by Sarah Belle Reid, the multi-instrumentalist who collaborated with Vinny Golia on the new album Accidental Ornithology, and Damon Locks, a Chicago icon responsible for the daring new record List of Demands.

This week, Robert Ham speaks to Andrew Reich, the Emmy-winning TV writer and producer who is now sitting in the director's chair with Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story, a documentary about one of the best American rock bands of all time, and Jim White, an Americana artist set to release Precious Bane, a dark and beautiful album he made in collaboration with the U.K. artist Trey Blake.

On this week's episode, your host Robert Ham is joined by Tamara Lindeman, the leader of the folk-pop group The Weather Station, to discuss their new album Humanhood, and Ondi Timoner, the director of the great music documentary DIG!, who chats about the creation of DIG! XX, a 20th anniversary version of the film with 40 extra minutes of footage.

To find ways to help musicians affected by the ongoing fires in Los Angeles, check out this spreadsheet of the many artists or folks in the music industry who have started GoFundMe pages in hopes of raising money to relocate and/or replace much-needed instruments and equipment.

Our first episode of 2025! This time around, we're joined by Mark Feldman, co-founder of Bang! The Drum School, to talk about his new book Drumming Decoded, and filmmaker Bess Kargman joins the show to discuss her documentary Diane Warren: Relentless, a portrait of the famed songwriter responsible for such hits as "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" and "If I Could Turn Back Time."

To close out 2024, Robert Ham is joined by critics Annie Zaleski, author of Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind The Songs and the 33 1/3 book on Duran Duran's Rio, and Stephen Thomas Erlewine, a regular contributor at Pitchfork, MOJO, and Rolling Stone, breaking down their lists of their five favorite albums of the year.

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On this week's show, Robert Ham is joined by Cat Henry, executive director of Live Music Society, the nonprofit that has been giving grant to small venues and arts spaces in the U.S. since 2020, and Ethan Swan, the editor of the new book Killed (Of Kids) that cover the history and art of U.K. riot grrrl band Huggy Bear.

On this week's episode, Robert Ham is joined by Stella Rose, the New York singer-songwriter (and daughter of Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan) whose new EP Hollybaby is out today, and Pete Wiggs, founding member of English pop group Saint Etienne, to talk about the band's new album This Night.

On this week's episode, Robert is joined by journalist Andy Cush of Hearing Things to discuss his recent blog post breaking down how much money isn't being made by artists when they play live. And singer Jay Douglas talks about being part of an R&B and reggae scene that ruled Toronto nightlife in the late '60s and early '70s — a community that is the subject of the new documentary Play It Loud! How Toronto Got Soul.