Recently, we had visionary music producer Robert Margouleff on the show and today we're sharing an excerpt from his new audiobook, Shaping Sounds: Stevie Wonder, DEVO, the Synth Revolution and My Life Behind the Music. In legendary studios like Electric Lady and the Record Plant, Margouleff became a pioneering producer and engineer for artists like Billy Preston, Jeff Beck, DEVO, The Isley Brothers, and David Sanborn. A true sonic innovator, he was an early adopter of immersive audio and surroun...
May 21, 2026•12 min
Robert Margouleff is one of the most quietly consequential figures in modern music — a sonic architect who helped build some of the most innovative and enduring sounds of the last half century. Together with his partner Malcolm Cecil, Robert created TONTO, the world's largest analog synthesizer, and used it to co-produce a string of era-defining Stevie Wonder classics including Music Of My Mind , Talking Book , Innervisions , and Fulfillingness' First Finale . He went on to work with Jeff Beck, ...
May 19, 2026•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 209
Maya Hawke first became known to wide audiences as an actress — especially through her work in Stranger Things — but she's been quietly building a parallel life as a songwriter of genuine depth. Since her debut album Blush in 2020, she's released four records. Her latest, Maitreya Corso , arrives at a pivotal moment: the album follows her marriage to longtime musical collaborator Christian Lee Hutson, and centers on a fictional persona through who Hawke explores ego, ambition, and the strange la...
May 12, 2026•41 min•Season 6Ep. 208
In the latest season of Revisionist History , Malcolm Gladwell is looking at the origins and consequences of mistakes—why we make them, the context in which we make them, and what happens after we make them. Years ago a music producer named Irv Gotti—a hitmaker for Jay-Z, Ja Rule, and Ashanti—was tapped by Sony Music to make a record with Jennifer Lopez. They wanted a big hit. And Irv delivered. But then he made the biggest mistake of his career. Find more episodes of Revisionist History whereve...
May 07, 2026•32 min
The magic of Bruce Hornsby isn't just that he's one of American music's great piano stylists — or that he wrote one of the most unlikely pop hits of the 1980s, a song about racism with two improvised solos that nobody at his label thought should be the single. It's how relentlessly he's kept moving, long after he had any commercial reason to. Hornsby grew up in Williamsburg, Virginia, and got discovered playing a steak and ale joint across from the Hampton Coliseum by Mike McDonald. He scored hi...
May 05, 2026•56 min•Season 6Ep. 207
The magic of Dave Grohl isn't just that he's one of rock music's great raconteurs, or one of its greatest drummers and frontmen of the last thirty-plus years. It's the sheer number of lives he's gotten to live within rock and roll. Dave started out drumming for Scream , one of DC's great, underrated hardcore bands, running in the same circles as Ian MacKaye and the Dischord crowd. Then he joined Nirvana and more than made his mark in one of the most consequential bands since the Beatles, and an ...
Apr 28, 2026•1 hr•Season 6Ep. 206
Wyclef Jean may just be the most wide-ranging rapper, producer, performer, and composer of his time. As the lead producer and MC of The Fugees, he helped craft their 1996 landmark album The Score , one of the best-selling hip-hop albums of all time. The following year he released his debut solo album, The Carnival , which included hits like "Guantanamera" featuring Celia Cruz, and the platinum-certified single "Gone Till November." As a writer and producer for other artists, Wyclef is behind Whi...
Apr 21, 2026•46 min•Season 6Ep. 205
Jessie Ware has always moved between worlds. She's a British soul singer who spent the early part of her career making intimate, understated records. Then, in 2020, she released What's Your Pleasure? and morphed into a full-blown disco goddess. The record received widespread critical acclaim, earned Jessie her first top-three album on the UK charts, and was nominated for British Album of the Year at the BRITs. Today Jessie traces that sonic evolution back to an especially ripe creative period in...
Apr 14, 2026•46 min•Season 6Ep. 204
Patrick Watson first came to international attention in 2007 when his album Close to Paradise won the Polaris Music Prize, Canada's most prestigious award for a Canadian album. Over the course of his career, the Montreal-based singer and composer built a devoted following through his orchestral pop arrangements, his remarkable voice, and live performances that blend intimacy with a theatric sensibility. Watson's music has found a second life far beyond his core fanbase. His song “Je te laisserai...
Apr 07, 2026•57 min•Season 6Ep. 203
Charlie Puth is a meticulous songwriter whose knowledge of pop music runs deeper than your average chart topper. Charlie, who studied music production and engineering at Berklee College of Music, first gained widespread attention in 2015 with "See You Again," his collaboration with Wiz Khalifa for the Furious 7 soundtrack. The song earned him his first three Grammy nominations. Since then, he's released hits like "Attention," "We Don't Talk Anymore," and "One Call Away," while also writing and p...
Mar 24, 2026•56 min•Season 6Ep. 202
The Black Crowes are one of the great rock bands of the last 30 years, and now they're finally getting their flowers: a 2026 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination, alongside Lauryn Hill, Phil Collins, Wu-Tang Clan, and Oasis. To mark the occasion, we're re-running Justin Richmond's 2024 conversation with lead singer Chris Robinson, recorded around the release of their album Happiness Bastards . In the interview, Justin and Chris get into what it was like growing up in Georgia with his brother Ri...
Mar 17, 2026•43 min•Season 6Ep. 201
Tommy Emmanuel is an Australian guitarist who has spent over six decades mastering the art of fingerstyle acoustic guitar. He's now widely regarded as one of the best acoustic players in the world. Born in 1955, he received his first guitar at age four and he recalls that not long after he knew he wanted to dedicate his life to playing music. He left home to pursue his dream as a teenager and eventually became known for his remarkable ability to make a single guitar sound like an entire band—sim...
Mar 10, 2026•1 hr 16 min•Season 6Ep. 200
Rodney Crowell has been a fixture in Nashville's songwriting community for over 50 years. Born in Houston in 1950, he was influenced early on by songwriters Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. In 1975, he joined Emmylou Harris' Hot Band as a guitarist and harmony singer, playing with her for three years. Rodney became known for his own work with his 1988 album Diamonds & Dirt, an album that made history by producing five consecutive number-one singles. Over his career, he's written songs for Joh...
Mar 03, 2026•1 hr 8 min•Season 6Ep. 199
FKA twigs has spent over a decade redefining the boundaries of pop music through her innovative blend of electronic production, experimental R&B, and striking visual art. Her albums LP1 and Magdalene earned widespread critical acclaim, establishing her as one of the most forward-thinking voices in contemporary music. Last November, she released EUSEXUA Afterglow , a companion to her Grammy-winning, dance-forward album EUSEXUA . Twigs' new album addresses identity, bodily autonomy, and resist...
Feb 24, 2026•51 min•Season 6Ep. 198
Ben Bridwell has led Band of Horses for over two decades. He describes the band's sound as "y'all-ternative," a genre that tips its hat to Southern rock's deep myriad of musical influences. Next month, Band of Horses is celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Everything All the Time , with an expanded reissue featuring previously unreleased demos and live recordings. The album, recorded in 2005 with producer Phil Ek, who's known for producing albums by Built to Spill, Modest Mouse...
Feb 17, 2026•1 hr 7 min•Season 6Ep. 197
Grant-Lee Phillips first made his name in the ‘90s as the frontman of Grant Lee Buffalo, a critically acclaimed band that released four albums and toured with Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins, and R.E.M. Rolling Stone named Grant-Lee "Best Male Vocalist" in 1994, and his band became known for their folk-infused rock sound and their reflections on American history. After Grant Lee Buffalo disbanded in 1999, Phillips launched a solo career, eventually becoming familiar to a wider audience through ...
Feb 10, 2026•43 min•Season 6Ep. 196
Peaches has spent more than two decades pushing boundaries in electronic music and performance art, inspiring the look and sound of edgy pop artists like Lady Gaga and Grimes. But long before she was known for her outrageous stage shows, Peaches got her start as part of a folk trio in Toronto. In the mid-'90s, after discovering she could become a one-woman band with her Roland drum machine, Peaches began developing a provocative new persona. In 2000, she moved to Berlin and released The Teaches ...
Feb 03, 2026•45 min•Season 6Ep. 195
Jacob Collier has built a remarkable career as a multi-instrumentalist and arranger known for his complex harmonic approach and collaborative spirit. He first gained attention as a teenager posting multi-track videos from his childhood bedroom in North London. In 2013, his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" caught the eye of Quincy Jones, who began mentoring him and helped launch his career. Over the past seven years, Jacob’s released four albums in his Djesse series—ambiti...
Jan 27, 2026•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 194
Don Was has had a remarkable career moving between different corners of the music world. In the 1980s, he fronted the eclectic band Was (Not Was), mixing funk, rock, and pop in unexpected ways. As a producer, he's helped shape landmark albums for artists like the B-52's and Bonnie Raitt, and worked with Bob Dylan and become a regular producer for the Rolling Stones. For the past decade, Don has led Blue Note Records as its president, bringing new energy to the storied jazz label. Now, Don has re...
Jan 20, 2026•1 hr 21 min•Season 6Ep. 193
When Patty Griffin released Crown of Roses earlier this year, she delivered something both timeless and urgent. It’s an album that draws on gospel, folk, and soul to explore themes of faith, doubt, and resilience. It's a return to the stripped-down intimacy of her earliest work, but with the wisdom and craft of an artist who's spent nearly three decades refining her voice. That voice first emerged in 1996 with Living with Ghosts, recorded on a simple four-track in her Boston apartment. The album...
Dec 30, 2025•45 min•Season 6Ep. 192
Joe Henry and Mike Reid brought two distinct but complementary legacies to Life & Times, their new collaborative album. Joe is a celebrated producer and songwriter known for his atmospheric, deeply literary approach to Americana. Over the decades, he's produced albums for artists like Solomon Burke, Bonnie Raitt, and Elvis Costello, while crafting his own work that blurs the line between folk, jazz, and rock. Mike Reid, a former NFL defensive lineman turned Grammy-winning country songwriter,...
Dec 23, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Season 6Ep. 191
Since getting his start in the late ‘60s, Labi Siffre has had an unflinching commitment to writing exactly what he feels. The result was a debut album that announced a singular talent: a British singer-songwriter who could move seamlessly from jazz-inflected soul to tender love songs, all while addressing themes of love, identity, and justice that most pop artists wouldn't touch. Over the next decade, Siffre built a catalog that defied category. Still, his 1972 song "Crying Laughing Loving Lying...
Dec 16, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 190
When Chicago released their debut album in 1969, they blended brass, jazz sophistication, and rock power into something completely their own. By 1975, when Chicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits arrived, the band had already amassed an extraordinary catalog of songs that captured both the experimental spirit of the late '60s and the pop sensibility of the '70s. That compilation became one of the best-selling albums of the decade, introducing new listeners to the band's range while cementing their l...
Dec 09, 2025•56 min•Season 6Ep. 189
Justin joined You'll Hear It's Adam Maness and Peter Martin to talk Still Crazy After All These Years. Paul Simon's Grammy-winning album was born out of divorce, and produced some of his greatest songs of all time, like "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover," "My Little Town," and "I Do It For Your Love." They dive into the story behind this remarkable album, including Steve Gadd's famous drum beat and how Stevie Wonder's Innervisions may have been the catalyst for Paul Simon's divorce?! And, we ask: Is ...
Dec 04, 2025•1 hr 39 min
In July, Malcolm Gladwell taped a live episode of Broken Record at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City. It was a wonderful night of conversation and music. Drew Holcomb—a Memphis native who has spent the past 20 years performing with his band, The Neighbors—joined Malcolm onstage for the taping. On today’s episode, you’ll hear how growing up with strict Christian parents shaped Drew's artistic sensibilities through the handful of secular artists he was allowed to listen to, and how the cris...
Nov 25, 2025•1 hr 19 min•Season 6Ep. 188
When S.G. Goodman released her debut album, Old Time Feeling, in 2020, critics hailed it as a stunning introduction to a bold new voice in Americana. Co-produced with Jim James of My Morning Jacket, the album showcased Goodman's ability to balance classic Southern sounds with progressive ideas, earning widespread acclaim and landing on numerous year-end best-of lists. S.G. was raised in Hickman, Kentucky, in a family of row crop farmers and storytellers. That upbringing shaped her worldview and ...
Nov 18, 2025•48 min•Season 6Ep. 187
We’re excited to share an episode from one of our favorite podcasts, Heavyweight, a new addition to the Pushkin slate of shows. Heavyweight, hosted by Jonathan Goldstein, creates space for difficult conversations and resolving long-standing regrets and unanswered questions. Balancing humor and empathy, host Jonathan Goldstein helps his subjects pinpoint the moment things went wrong and joins them on a quest to make them right. This episode features Michael, who, as a high school senior got his l...
Nov 11, 2025•38 min
Joe Boyd has spent more than six decades as a producer, label executive, and writer whose influence extends far beyond the studio. From producing Nick Drake's luminous folk albums to working with Fairport Convention, Pink Floyd, and R.E.M., Boyd has shaped some of the most enduring recordings in modern music history. But Joe Boyd isn't just a behind-the-scenes architect of sound—he's also a chronicler of the music he loves. In his 2007 memoir, White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s, he offere...
Nov 04, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 6Ep. 186
Jensen McRae writes songs that cut straight to the bone—intimate, unflinching examinations of identity, relationships, and the complexities of coming of age in today's world. Since releasing her debut EP, Who Hurt You?, in 2021, she's garnered attention for her literary approach to songwriting and her ability to balance vulnerability with sharp observation. Her music often grapples with difficult subjects: navigating mixed-race identity, processing heartbreak, and confronting the uncomfortable t...
Oct 28, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Season 6Ep. 185
David Gilmour is one of the most influential guitarists in rock history. Since joining Pink Floyd in 1967, his songwriting, vocals, and distinctive guitar tone have helped shape classic albums like The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. In 1978, he began releasing solo material, and over the past four decades has recorded five solo albums. His most recent, Luck and Strange (2024), became his third solo record to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart—following On an Island (2006) and Rattle Th...
Oct 23, 2025•44 min•Season 6Ep. 184
