Ben Dolnick is the author of four novels including The Ghost Notebooks, You Know Who You Are, and At the Bottom of Everything. He wrote this 2011 Bright Eyes essay in The Awl: https://www.theawl.com/2011/01/taste-has-never-met-shame-i-love-you-conor-oberst/

This episode features an excellent audio essay from Dominic Ronzani about why The People's Key is his favorite Bright Eyes record. It's a great supplement to the Pitchfork 5.0 Pitchfork review.

We talk about Ben's Garden State moment with “Something Vague,” fear of outgrowing Bright Eyes, the idea of taste, the idea of shame, liking what you like, Ben’s piano teacher digs Bright Eyes, Elliott Smith as a Tesla and Bright Eyes as a taped-together golf cart, Ben’s excellent fader-knob theory about Sincerity/Professionalism, science fiction, Rastafarianism, Hitler, Ben blows my mind w/ the first lines of “Shell Games,” the post-Napster-pre-Spotify window of 2011, reptilians, pomegranates, Denny Brewer as a Joe Rogan guest, the non-rhyme fake-out on “Triple Spiral,” “Ladder Song” is a goosebumps tune, and 13-year-old Oberst’s song about Space Invaders. 

Ben Dolnick

Justin Cox