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I interviewed Rosanne Cash, a 4-time Grammy winner who's been writing songs for over 40 years. She's mastered something most writers struggle with: turning raw emotion into beautiful, lasting songs. She writes songs like a painter, starting with visual images, and brings the same rhythmic approach to both music and prose. We talked about how to turn pain into art, why anger and grief are powerful creative forces, how to deconstruct great songs to learn from masters like Bob Dylan, and how to develop your authentic voice through decades of deliberate practice. If you want to write with more emotional depth and turn life's difficulties into meaningful art, this conversation will show you how. Enjoy!

00:00:00 Why Great Writers Love Language Early

Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible.

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Bret McKenzie now mainly works on movie soundtracks, the Simpsons, Minecraft and the Muppets among them, which brings the pure delight of hearing his songs sung by Lady Gaga, Benedict Cumberbatch, Miss Piggy and Tony Bennett. He talks here about his early life in Wellington (ballet teacher Mum, racehorse trainer Dad), narrative comedy, songwriting heroes and his new album Freak Out City, and unravels New Zealand’s double-edged sense of humour. Along with …

… how Randy Newman pitches songs for soundtracks

… “the test of a good song works is if it works with just one instrument”

… lyrics he loved growing up like 16 Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford – ‘Some people say a man is made out of mud/ A poor man's made out of muscle and blood’

… Morrissey’s wounded reaction to his sausage-firing Quilloughby on the Simpsons ‘Panic On The Streets Of Springfield’

... solving the “fun puzzles” of a song brief and writing for “donkeys who have a dream”

… the ingenious humour of John Prine, Harry Nilsson and Leonard Cohen

… the moment in his live shows where he asks the audience for a story and creates a song around it – “one woman suggested ‘falling out of love’ with her husband standing right beside her”

... playing the local girls schools aged 15 as the drummer in a James Brown funk band

… reworking rejected songs – “which was hard with one from Paddington with its multiple rhymes for marmalade and Peru”

… Flight Of The Conchords lampooning the acts they loved (Bowie, Pet Shop Boys) and playing the O2 – “pretending to be a stadium band and the audience pretending to be a stadium audience”

… live on-stage application of the John Lennon “pomegranate” lyric-solving technique

… “Play like a used car salesman! I need a Steely Dan solo here!” Recording with LA session legends like Leland Sklar.

Order Bret’s ‘Freak Out City’ album here: https://music.subpop.com/bretmckenzie_freakoutcity

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

Tour dates and tickets …

https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/bret-mckenzie-tickets/artist/5380913

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 A constant piece of advice for producers is "Find a good talker." But what about shy people? Given their reticence, they may not be great talkers but they may have a good story to tell. The question is "How do you help shy people open up?" Erika Lantz and her sister Elin Lantz-Lesser of The Turning podcast have answers. Good ones. 

The Israeli Left, once a dominant political and cultural force, has seen its influence wane dramatically over the past two decades. Leading peace efforts in the 1990s, left-wing parties have struggled to maintain relevance amid a rightward shift in public opinion. 

• GUEST: Zvika Klein, Editor in Chief, Jerusalem Post.
• PRODUCER: Ali Benton

Veteran Irish journalist Fintan O'Toole looks back on the first 7 months of Donald Trump's presidency and examines whether the US Constitution is holding up under the Make America Great again agenda. Plus what is Benjamin Netanyahu's end game on Gaza?

• GUEST: Fintan O'Toole, regular contributor to the Irish Times and advising editor to the New York Review of Books.
• PRODUCER: Ali Benton

We discuss lecture notes from Kant's 1785 ethics course, which provide more examples and an emphasis on the practical than his more famous works.

For instance, we get more information on ethical motivation: How can the rational recognition of ethical principles lead to moral feelings?

Get more at partiallyexaminedlife.com. Visit partiallyexaminedlife.com/support to get ad-free episodes and tons of bonus discussion.

Sponsor: Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data you need to take action for your health.

Learn about Mark's online political philosophy class at partiallyexaminedlife.com/class.

The extraordinary story of two Olympics-prize-winners Japanese pole vaulters is a testament to the power of friendship—and also a great reminder that if we don't like the decisions being made around us, we may, with our own ingenuity and initiative, be able to find a different outcome.

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Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

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In the early 20th century Argentina was one of the world’s richest countries. For most of the past 50 years, it has been an economic disaster. But after nine debt defaults, 23 IMF programmes and two years of triple-digit annual inflation, the country’s radical libertarian president, Javier Milei, has steadied the ship. How has Milei revitalised the economy? Can he persuade investors to trust Argentina again? And, most crucially, can his transformation last? The FT’s Latin America editor, Michael Stott, discusses with Alejandro Werner, former head of the IMF’s western hemisphere department, founding director of the Georgetown Americas Institute, and fellow of the Peterson Institute for International Economics

Clips: Sky Australia, Javier Milei via Storyful/ELPELUCAMILEI, Global News, Poder360

Want more? Free links:

Javier Milei’s risky bet on a potent peso

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch says she is Britain’s Javier Milei

Javier Milei lowers Argentina’s monthly inflation below 2% for first time since 2020

Michael Stott is the FT’s Latin America editor. You can find his articles here: https://www.ft.com/michael-stott 

Subscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen. 

Presented by Michael Stott. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Manuela Saragosa is the FT’s acting co-head of audio. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Robert Macfarlane, whose latest book is “Is a River Alive,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky.

The best-selling nature writer, and author of “Underland” and “The Old Ways” discusses the relationship of the human race to nature in the context of the rights of natural phenomena, specifically rivers. What rights does the earth have in terms of man’s hegemony? Where do we fit in nature?

In this interview, recorded recorded June 11, 2025, he talks about his journey to three rivers: a cloud forest in South America, a dying river in India, and a river that runs through eastern Canada, along with a look at the spring near his home in England, and puts them all in context of environmentalism and politics.

He is the author of several books, including “”Mountains of the Mind” and “Ghostways,” Robert Macfarlane teaches at Cambridge University.

The post Robert Macfarlane: “Is A River Alive?” appeared first on KPFA.

Anne Enright reads her story “The Bridge Stood Fast,” from the August 4, 2025, issue of the magazine. Enright has published eleven books of fiction, including the story collection “Yesterday’s Weather,” and the novels “The Gathering,” which won the Man Booker Prize, “Actress,” and “The Wren, The Wren.”