Billions creator Brian Koppelman is one of our most loved returning champions and he joins me once again today to bring things full circle by discussing the album that was the subject of his first ever appearance on the podcast - Jason Isbell's 'Southeastern' - to celebrate it's ten year anniversary. The album that turned Isbell from a cult hero to one of the most acclaimed songwriters of his generation, that set the path and the standard for all his future work and locked in multiple entries in the classic songbook of the 21st century. Brian and I revisit the album's immediate impact on first listen and set it in the context of Isbell's career to date and subsequent acclaimed albums, the discipline and rigour behind his songwriting, his gift for melody, the lack of vanity in his lyrics and much much more.

Today, author, music journalist and podcaster James Campion joins me to delve into one of the most iconic and enduring songs in the history of popular music as he gives a taste of his book Take A Sad Song: The Emotional Currency of Hey Jude. We talk about how McCartney took a song inspired by John Lennon's son Julian's feelings about his parents divorce and refined it into one of the most universal songs ever written, how John Lennon was the first of many people to think it was about himself, the difficulty of writing in second person, the songs unusual take on male friendship and how it acts as a sequel to She Loves You, how the recording saw the Beatles take another leap forward in the studio and the revolutionary elements of the track that now seem classic and inevitable.

A fun change of pace this week on the show. Earlier this year, I co-produced a tribute album to Americana icon Jim Lauderdale, featuring an eclectic group of incredible Australian artists reinterpreting Jim's incredible songbook.

Today, Michael Carpenter, who co-produced the record and played the bulk of the music you hear on the album, as well as mixing and mastering the project, joins me to break it down track by track. We get into how each song and artist were chosen, the arrangement process and how each track evolved over the months of production.

1. Blake O'Connor and Sinead Burgess - Hole in My Head
2. Adam Harvey - Where the Sidewalk Ends
3. Imogen Clark - Tough All Over
4. Katie Brianna - You Don't Seem To Miss Me
5. Georgia Mooney - The Brighter Side of Lonely
6. Ella Hooper and Davey Lane - Halfway Down
7. Charlie Collins - You'll Know When It's Right
8. Holiday Sidewinder - Planet of Love
9. Clayton Doley and Jade MacRae - It's A Trap
10. Georgia State Line - Run Like You
11. Shane Nicholson - El Dorado
12. Melody Pool - When Carolina Comes Home Again
13. Emma Swift - The King of Broken Hearts
14. Kevin Bennett - Headed for the Hills

Today ARIA-winning singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer of this podcast Georgia Mooney joins me for a delightful delve into Martha Wainwright's self-titled debut album. We dig into the Wainwright clan and how they explore their relationships through each other's music, seeing Martha play outside a prison and falling in love with her, Martha and Georgia's shared method of songwriting slowly, Martha's spiky directness in her lyrics, her vocal influence on Georgia, the song Bloody Mother-Fucking Asshole and much more. Plus Georgia talks about her beautiful new single 'War Romance'.

Today legendary singer-songwriter and founder of iconic band The Go-Betweens, Robert Forster, joins me to pay tribute to the legendary Texan troubadour Guy Clark and his debut album Old No. 1. We revisit the fateful night in Santa Monica on the promo tour for 16 Lovers Lane where Robert saw Guy play live and had a damascene conversion to his music, how it impacted the the second act of his career as a solo artist, why Clark never achieved the broad fame of contemporaries like John Prine and Townes Van Zandt, Clark's economy of language and melody and why this is "the Astral Weeks of country music". Plus we delve into Robert's brilliant new album 'The Candle and the Flame', knowing when to stop writing, growing into a better singer as he gets older and how his approach to recording has changed over the years.

Today legendary Australian actor and comedy renaissance man Francis Greenslade joins me to talk about Paul Kelly's classic album Comedy. We talk about how Francis discovered the record when he was performing with Paul in an Adelaide theatre show, how Paul leaves space in his lyrics for audience interpretation, how his vocals serve the lyrics and he never over sings, From Little Things Big Things Grow, Paul's off stage introversion and the agelessness of Paul's music.

Returning champion Eves Karydas (aka Hannah Karydas) joins me for round three as we finally talk about Carole King's iconic album Tapestry. We talk about the Laurel Canyon scene of the early 70s and the involvement of James Taylor and Joni Mitchell, Carole's history as a hit successful songwriter in her teens and early 20s, the lost idea of musical communities, the comforting quality of the record, Tapesty as soul music and Hannah's spellbinding cover of Natural Woman she recorded for Triple J's Like A Version.

Filmmaker Charles Hood and film journalist and author Drew Taylor return for their fifth appearance on the show to once again count down our three warring lists of the best films of the year just gone. It's been another brilliant year at the movies, and we hope this spoiler-free conversation inspires you to check out some of our choices that you might not yet have seen.

Happy New Year everyone!

Reposting this episode in memory of Peter Cooper, who we sadly lost today.

Journalist and singer-songwriter Peter Cooper of the Country Music Hall of Fame joins me to talk about Jim Lauderdale's classic 'Pretty Close to the Truth' album and how the changes in country music in the 90s created the need for the Americana music genre, the migration of people like Jim and his friend and collaborator Buddy Miller from California to Nashville, and how Jim helped Peter propose to his wife.

Reposting this episode in memory of Peter Cooper, who we sadly lost today.

After crouching to fit under the doorway, singer/songwriter/journalist and gentle giant Peter Cooper steps into the portable pod booth to chat with host Jeremy Dylan about a classic from one of the classiest songwriters in country music - Tom T Hall's 1971 album "In Search of a Song".

Along the way, they break down tracks including "The Year Clayton Delany Died", "Trip to Hyden" and "A Million Miles to the City" and talk about Hall's songwriting research trips, how he broke his own songwriting rules, the difference between poetry and song lyrics and why you shouldn't waste time complaining about music you hate.