Episode 312: Hurray for the Riff Raff

“Alibi”

Alynda Segarra is a singer songwriter from the Bronx. They formed Hurray for the Riff Raff in 2007, and since then, they’ve released 8 albums. Their most recent is The Past Is Still Alive, which came out in 2024. It was named one of the best albums of the year in the New York Times, the Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, and The Atlantic, and Pitchfork called it one of the best albums of the decade so far. For this episode, I spoke to Alynda about the first track on the album, “Alibi.”

You can buy or stream “Alibi” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

footnotes:
Brad Cook – producer
Yan Westerlund – drums
Phil Cook – guitar
Life on Earth – Hurray for the Riff Raff’s 7th album
Dolly Parton

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Episode 311: Jack Harlow

“Say Hello”

Jack Harlow is from Louisville, Kentucky, and started performing and releasing music in 2015, when he was in high school. In 2020, he released his first album, which went double platinum. He was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Performance. He’s had multiple number one hits across his first three albums. For his fourth album, Monica, which just came out in March 2026, he switched things up dramatically. I was curious how and why-how did someone who had so much success as a rapper approach a new way of making music? So for this episode, I spoke to Jack Harlow about the song “Say Hello,” which is the closing track on Monica.

You can buy or stream “Say Hello” here.

Illustration by Carlos Lerma.

For a transcript of this episode, click here.

footnotes:
Aksel Arvid – producer
Jermaine Paul – bass
Robert Glasper – piano
Stephane Clement – trumpet
Ravyn Lenae – backing vocals
Jackman. – album by Jack Harlow
Slum Village and Outkast

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Key Change: Baz Luhrmann

“Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper

My guest today is Baz Luhrmann, the award-winning director whose films include Moulin Rouge!, Strictly Ballroom, The Great Gatsby, Elvis, and Romeo + Juliet. His newest film is EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, a critically acclaimed documentary about Elvis that’s playing right now in theaters and in IMAX. Before becoming a massively successful film director, Baz began his showbiz career as an actor, and as a ballroom dancer, in Australia. His first film was Strictly Ballroom, which came out in 1992, and became one of the highest-grossing Australian films of all time. It was originally a play, and there’s a song in the film that was part of the story all the way back when it was first performed on stage. And that’s what Baz and I talked about for this episode.

You can buy or stream “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper here.

footnotes:
“One” by John Farnham
National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Cate Blanchett, and Mel Gibson
Ted Albert
Tara Morice and Craig Pearce

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