Pop Comforts

An iconic TV theme song, Andrew Gold’s ode to friendship was first a 1970s pop hit. Meet one man who inspired it, and another who was inspired by it.

• Read about “Emigré,” an oratorio featuring lyrics by Brock Walsh, at https://www.nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/explore/emigre
• Hear Brock Walsh’s version of “Thank You for Being a Friend” at https://soundcloud.com/brock-walsh-1/thank-you-for-being-a-friend-ukulele-and-voice-mix-11
• Music by Chris Zabriskie, Blue Dot Sessions, ALBIS, and Ernie Francestine
• Visit Pop Comforts on Medium at https://popcomfortspodcast.medium.com
• Contact the show at [email protected]

Derived from a plant’s roots, the traditional beverage is spreading far beyond the tropics.

• Visit ‘Anau Mesui-Henry’s Four Shells Kava Lounge at https://www.fourshellskava.co.nz
• Watch the Kavasseur on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbpC0phmXszlfSJ4diSgzNQ
• Music by Chris Zabriskie, Blue Dot Sessions, and Ernie Francestine
• Visit Pop Comforts on Medium at https://popcomfortspodcast.medium.com
• Contact the show at [email protected]

How a grieving son uses AI to hear his late father speak.

• Visit Andy O’Donnell’s Amazon page at https://www.amazon.com/stores/J.-Andrew-ODonnell/author/B08D91NG1J
• Read the poem “Epitaph” by Merrit Malloy at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/85635.Merrit_Malloy
• Music by Chris Zabriskie, Chad Crouch, and Alexis & the Samurai
• Visit Pop Comforts on Medium at https://popcomfortspodcast.medium.com
• Contact the show at [email protected]



Andy’s voice-cloning tutorial:

1. Go to https://elevenlabs.io and register for a “starter” account (the minimum level required to create a cloned voice). 
2. Go to the “Voice Lab” section of the site.
3. Click the “+” button to “Add Generative or Cloned Voice” and choose the “Instant Voice Cloning” option.
4. Name your voice and fill out the rest of the details.
5. Upload video clips (containing audio) or other file types (MP3 files) containing audio samples of your loved one’s voice. For best results, you should try to make sure the clip contains audio of only their voice; edit out other people’s voices if possible. 
6. Submit the samples, and wait a few minutes for the service to build the voice clone.
7. Once the voice is created, tap the “Use” button on the Voice Lab page or tap “Speech Synthesis” from the top-right menu and select the voice you just created.
8. Type or copy/paste what you want the voice to say and tap “Generate,” and wait until the text-to-speech conversion process is done.
9. Press the play button to hear the cloned voice say what you typed, and tap download and if you want to save it.
10. If you want to adjust anything to try and make it sound better, tap the “Voice Settings” drop down menu and adjust the sliders. I raised the “Style Exaggeration” up to middle level and that seemed to really improve the believability of the voice for me.

Originating in Tokyo, jazz “kissa” coffee shops and bars offer music appreciation with minimal chatter — and have inspired similar spots beyond Japan.

• Visit Tokyo Jazz Joints online at https://www.tokyojazzjoints.com
• Buy the “Tokyo Jazz Joints” book (by Philip Arneill with James Catchpole) at https://www.kehrerverlag.com/en/philip-arneill-tokyo-jazz-joints-978-3-96900-120-2
• Visit Bar Shiru in Oakland, California, at https://www.barshiru.com
• Music by Chris Zabriskie, Stan Tracey, and Ernie Francestine
• Visit Pop Comforts on Medium at https://popcomfortspodcast.medium.com
• Contact the show at [email protected]

Guitarist Will Ackerman founded a music label — and inadvertently kickstarted the New Age music movement. 

• Visit Will Ackerman online at https://www.williamackerman.com
• Visit John Dark’s tribute to Windham Hill Records at https://www.windhamhillrecords.com
• Music by Chris Zabriskie, Lou Cunningham, and Ernie Francestine
• Visit Pop Comforts on Medium at https://popcomfortspodcast.medium.com
• Contact the show at [email protected]

George Ford’s fireplace videos warm hearts — and often top the Netflix charts during the holidays. 

• Visit Fireplace for Your Home at https://www.fireplaceforyourhome.com
• Visit The Yule Log, the fan site for the original WPIX Yule Log, at http://www.theyulelog.com
• Music by Chris Zabriskie, Blue Dot Sessions, and Ernie Francestine
• Visit Pop Comforts on Medium at https://popcomfortspodcast.medium.com
• Contact the show at [email protected]

A grieving man in Japan installed a phone booth in his garden, and a pop-culture trend was born.

• Visit Amy Dawson's directory of wind phones at https://www.mywindphone.com
• Read Doug Brown's essay on his wind phone experience at https://medium.com/the-wind-phone/i-visited-a-wind-phone-near-me-today-38a71c65ceb9
• Music by Chris Zabriskie, Oliver Qiu, and Ernie Francestine
• Visit Pop Comforts on Medium at https://popcomfortspodcast.medium.com
• Contact the show at [email protected]

A podcaster follows his curiosity and dives deep into the unexpected corners of popular culture that bring us comfort. The series launches in May 2024.