Song Exploder

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Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Each episode features an artist discussing a song of theirs, breaking down the sounds and ideas that went into the writing and recording. Hosted and produced by Hrishikesh Hirway.

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Key Change: Jia Tolentino on "I Love You Always Forever"

My guest today is Jia Tolentino. Jia is the author of the essay collection Trick Mirror, which was named one of the best books of 2019 by The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Paris Review, and more. She won a National Magazine Award for her work at the New Yorker, where she’s been a staff writer since 2016. Her writing covers so many different topics, from Roe V. Wade to the internet to pop culture and music. And today, we’re going to talk about the 1996 pop hit “I Love You Always Forever” by Donna Lewis. For more, visit songexploder.net/jia-tolentino.

17 min
20 AOÛT

Jay Som - Tenderness

Melina Duterte goes by the name Jay Som. She’s a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She’s released three albums as Jay Som, and has produced, engineered, and mixed each one. Her third album, Anak Ko, came out in August 2019. And in this episode, Melina breaks down a song from it called “Tenderness.” To learn more, visit songexploder.net/jay-som.

18 min
6 AOÛT

Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin Down

Fall Out Boy is a band from Chicago that formed in 2001. Their first album, Take This To Your Grave, was a hit, especially in the punk rock world. When they put out their second album, though, in 2005, that was on a whole other scale. That album is called From Under the Cork Tree, and it went double platinum, and they were nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist. For this episode, I talked to the band’s singer, Patrick Stump, about how they made their breakout hit from that album, the song “Sugar, We’re Goin Down.” For more info, visit songexploder.net/fall-out-boy.

31 min
23 JUIL.

Gigi Perez - Sailor Song

Gigi Perez is a singer and songwriter from Florida, and at 25 years old, she’s already had so many ups and downs in her music career. She started sharing her songs on TikTok, where they got enough attention that she got signed to a major label deal, but that ultimately didn’t pan out. Soon after that, as an independent artist again, she had her biggest breakout hit, with “Sailor Song.” She released it in July 2024, and it went viral on TikTok. Now, it has over a billion streams on Spotify alone, and it’s a part of her new album, which came out in April 2025. In this episode, you’ll hear how the song evolved, from her first voice memo to the final version, which she recorded in her childhood bedroom. I talked to Gigi about how “Sailor Song” came about, and about all the different parts of herself that she put into it—her faith, grief, desire, and more. For more info, visit songexploder.net/gigi-perez.

25 min
16 JUIL.

Key Change: Jason Schwartzman on the ‘Rushmore’ soundtrack

Jason Schwartzman, actor, songwriter, and musician, talks about how the soundtrack to 'Rushmore'—his first film—changed his life. I met Jason briefly in 2017, as he was leaving the room where I was supposed to interview the band Phoenix. I was shocked when he stopped on his way out to tell me he loved Song Exploder. Eight years later, I reached out to him to see if he’d want to be a guest on Key Change, and we ended up talking for almost two hours, just on the phone. By the time he came over to record, I felt like I’d met a kindred spirit who’d also been cataloguing his whole life through the songs he’d encountered along the way. The fact that we got to talk about one of my favorite movies, 'Rushmore,' made the experience even more meaningful and thrilling for me. For more, visit songexploder.net/jason-schwartzman.

23 min
9 JUIL.

Goo Goo Dolls - Iris

Goo Goo Dolls formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, and by the time 1998 rolled around, they’d already had a pretty successful career. They’d released five albums, and one of their songs, “Name,” from 1995, had become a Top 10 hit. But things really changed for them when they made the song “Iris.” It originally came out on the soundtrack for the movie City of Angels, which came out in 1998 and starred Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan. “Iris” spent a record-breaking 18 weeks at number one on the radio, and became one of the best selling songs of all time, with over 14 million copies sold, and over 4.5 billion streams. So for this episode, John Rzeznik of Goo Goo Dolls came over to my place, and he told me about how he wrote the song. He told me how the Grammy-winning producer Rob Cavallo helped them expand their vision, and how the version of the song in the movie isn’t actually the version that everybody knows. For more info, visit songexploder.net/goo-goo-dolls.

27 min
25 JUIN

Little Simz - Free

Little Simz is a rapper from England who put out her first album in 2015. She’s won the Mercury Prize, a Brit Award, and three MOBO awards. She also starred in the Netflix series Top Boy. Her most recent album is called Lotus. It came out in June 2025, and it followed a pretty tumultuous time in her career. For this episode, I got to talk to Little Simz about one of the songs from that album, called "Free," along with Miles Clinton James, who produced the track. Thanks to Sonos for their support of the podcast. Check out sonos.com. For more, visit songexploder.net/little-simz.

27 min
18 JUIN

Key Change: Shirley Manson on Siouxsie and the Banshees

My guest today is Shirley Manson. Since 1994, she’s been the lead singer of the band Garbage, and she is a bona fide rock icon. The two of us worked together on a different podcast called The Jump, which Shirley hosted and I helped produce. It was a dream of mine to get Shirley as the host of that podcast, partly because, as you’re about to hear, she has one of the greatest voices, and I could listen to her talk about anything. And so I’m especially excited to listen to her today tell me about a song that changed her life. Thanks to Sonos for their support of the podcast. Check out sonos.com. For more, visit songexploder.net/keychange. And check out the Song Exploder episode with Garbage from 2014, featuring Shirley and her bandmate Butch Vig talking about how they made their song “Felt.”

24 min

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Normal Gossip delivers juicy, strange, funny, and utterly banal gossip about people you’ll never know and never meet. Host Rachelle Hampton discusses reader-submitted comedic gossip with guests, diving into the lives and decisions of complete strangers. The second-hand truth really is stranger than fiction. Produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks and Jae Towle Vieira. Created by Kelsey McKinney and Alex Sujong Laughlin. Show art by Tara Jacoby. https://normalgossip.komi.io/

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HUMOUR
The Stoop podcast digs into stories that are not always shared out in the open. Hosts Leila Day and Hana Baba start conversations and provide professionally-reported stories about what it means to be Black and how we talk about blackness. Come hang out on The Stoop as we dialog about the diaspora.

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JOURNAUX PERSONNELS
Since 2014 this longstanding podcast favourite has been creating hard-hitting cinematic stories about love, bodies and all of the things between humans that we don’t know how to name. Creator Kaitlin Prest works with her friends, idols and all kinds of loved ones to bring you into an expansive sonic universe that challenges what we think we know about relationships.

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RELATIONS
The Mortified Podcast is a storytelling series where adults share the embarrassing things they created as kids—diaries, letters, lyrics & beyond—in front of total strangers. PS: It totally likes you. The Mortified Podcast is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Learn more at radiotopia.fm. ------------------- // CREDITS: Podcast produced and hosted by Neil Katcher and David Nadelberg. Stage show created by David Nadelberg. Learn more: GetMortified.com. // TV: Watch our concert film, Mortified Nation, and our 6-part mini series, The Mortified Guide, now on Tubi and other platforms. // BOOKS: We've also got a guided journal, My Mortified Life, that prompts you to compare your life to your childhood self. We've also got 2 Mortified anthologies. // GAME: Check out our confessional card game, I Can't Believe I Did That. // KIDS SHOWS: We also made an awesome podcast for kids 9-13 called Ooh You're in Trouble. It's kind of like we made Mortified Jr. Each episode features a true story about a moment when someone broke a rule growing up, and what happened when they did. It's an educational and comedic series that delivers exciting stories while helping kid's define their sense of ethics.

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JOURNAUX PERSONNELS
Hi, we’re Deb Perelman (Smitten Kitchen) and J. Kenji López-Alt (Serious Eats, The Food Lab, The Wok). We’re professional home cooks, which means we can - and will - make the same meal 57 times in a row on the quest for the perfect recipe. Is it crazy? For us, no, because we do this for a living. But for you? Yes, probably. Which is why you should listen to The Recipe with Kenji and Deb. You'll hear us talk about what goes into writing our recipes — the techniques we test, the ingredients we taste — so that you can be on your way to creating your own perfect recipe. Whether you're cooking meatloaf, pancakes, or chicken soup in all its forms, we got you, and you've got this. The Recipe with Kenji and Deb is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a network of independent and listener-supported podcasts. Discover audio with vision at radiotopia.fm.

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GASTRONOMIE
From Samin Nosrat (chef and author of the cookbook Salt Fat Acid Heat) and Hrishikesh Hirway (creator and host of the podcast Song Exploder), Home Cooking is a mini-series to help you figure out what to cook—and keep you company—during the quarantine. If you need help or just want some creative inspiration for your kitchen, we’ve got you covered. Do you have a quarantine cooking question, story, or anxiety you want to share with us? Send a voice memo to us at alittlehomecooking@gmail.com, or call us at 201-241-COOK.

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GASTRONOMIE

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Hrishikesh Hirway

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Gigi Perez

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Jason Schwartzman

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Goo Goo Dolls

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Hanif Abdurraqib

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Sasami

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Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Each episode features an artist discussing a song of theirs, breaking down the sounds and ideas that went into the writing and recording. Hosted and produced by Hrishikesh Hirway.