A few weekends ago, I listened to 'Diet Pepsi' by Addison Rae for four hours straight. Before any haters come at me, I am unashamed. It’s like candy for my brain — a delicious sugar rush that’s perfect for a solo dance party. …But then comes the inevitable crash.
After a hundred listens (send your sympathies to my partner), I had wrung that song out like a wet rag and it started to sound flat. I love the thrill of a flash-in-the-pan earworm, but I always end up craving heartier music that has a deep kind of resonance and staying power.
The problem is that finding good music — that isn’t a top 40 hit — feels so labor intensive. Sometimes all I can muster is checking out my Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify. But the algorithms just give me more of what I already listen to. How’s a girl supposed to branch out? How am I supposed to develop my taste and thus become the Most Interesting Person In The World?
Luckily All Songs Considered never lets me down. The recent episode focusing on the most anticipated fall albums featured a lineup of artists I had never, ever, heard of. But I trust the All Songs team to: 1. have impeccable taste and, 2. be staggeringly hip (a label they might resist, but we know the truth).
And honestly, I came for the music but stayed for the debriefs. The three hosts talk about songs with a poetry that makes me hear them differently. Sheldon Pearce hears Skull Crusher’s ‘And Your Song Is Like a Circle’ as "an old manor house haunted by a young ghost," while Hazel Cillis catches a "bratty cheerleader kind of style of punk" in Snooper’s ‘Worldwide’.
I was looking for music that would nourish me, and this episode was a full meal. All week I’ve been swaying to Silvana Estrada and feeling much cooler than I really am. Thanks, All Songs.
Cheers y’all!
🥤 Julia C.
The week’s best episodes
…according to legendary NPR host Mary Louise Kelly.
I’m Mary Louise, jumping in to share a few podcast recommendations of my own. I host All Things Consideredand Sources and Methods wearing hearing aids because I am deaf, or pretty close to it. Listening to podcasts is doable, but if I make the effort, it’s because the podcast is REALLY GOOD. Here are my picks:
🌞 I recommend Up First far and wide. It’s like having your smartest friends tell you just enough that you feel ready to attack the day.
🎶 The Walter Isaacson episode of Life in Seven Songs. The biographer and journalist tells the story of his life through the music of New Orleans, where he grew up. It’s riveting.
🌏 I’m excited to launch a podcast that puts the focus squarely on… reporting. On Sources & Methods, my colleagues in Washington and around the world pull back the curtain to share the lengths they go through to get their stories.
➕ For subscribers: Words are like birds
If you caught my newsletter about You’re Saying it Wrong, you’ll understand why this TED Radio Hour+ episode is like Julia Carney catnip. Linguist Anne Curzan takes us on a journey — from morning swims and peanut M&Ms to her thoughts on slang (it’s “the people’s poetry”). To get sponsor-free listening, sign up forNPR+.
One to Watch
Paul Giammati and Wait Wait’s Emma Choi crack each other up with impressions of U.S. presidents.
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