Nile Rodgers - Apple Podcasts

The Daily

The Daily

The New York Times
Deep Hidden Meaning Radio with Nile Rodgers

Deep Hidden Meaning Radio with Nile Rodgers

Apple Music

4D AGO

The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters

Roughly a year ago, a team at The New York Times Magazine set about tackling a nearly impossible task: creating a list of the greatest living American songwriters. But how to take the tens of thousands of songwriters working in this country and narrow them down to a digestible list? The answer involved thousands of voting ballots, hundreds of music industry insiders and a series of closed-door meetings among a small group of music experts. The result, The Times’s list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters, was published this week. Today, Michael Barbaro talks with Sasha Weiss, a deputy editor of The Times Magazine, who oversaw the project, as well as Joe Coscarelli and Jody Rosen, two members of the cadre of critics assigned with compiling the final list. They discuss the list-making process, what defines a great songwriter and why Billy Joel didn’t make the final cut. We also hear from some of the songwriters featured on the list, including Taylor Swift, Nile Rodgers and the songwriting team of Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne. On Today's Episode: Sasha Weiss is a deputy editor of The New York Times Magazine. Joe Coscarelli is a culture reporter for The Times. He is a co-host of “Popcast,” a producer of the “Song of the Week” video series and the author of “Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story.” Jody Rosen is a contributing writer for the magazine and the author of “Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle.” Background Reading: The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters Cast Your Vote for the Greatest Living American Songwriters Photo credit: Stefan Ruiz for The New York Times Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

43 min
11/08/2025 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Gloria Estefan

The Latin pop superstar celebrates 50 years in music.

1 hr
05/24/2025 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Billy Idol

The two friends on how they survived the 80s.

58 min
08/16/2025 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Johnny Marr

The Smiths’ guitarist on his songwriting secrets.

1 hr
10/11/2025 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

FINNEAS

The artist on on bands, Billie, and Bond.

57 min
11/02/2024 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Jackson Browne

The singer-songwriter on his biggest hits.

57 min
02/26/2022 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Graham Nash

The Crosby, Stills & Nash star tells the stories of his songs.

58 min
10/11/2025 · BONUS

FINNEAS

Ten-time Grammy-winning songwriter, producer, and artist FINNEAS joins Nile Rodgers to discuss his new band The Favors, his solo work, and his collaborations with his sister Billie Eilish. FINNEAS reveals the “cloak-and-dagger” behind-the-scenes story of the James Bond theme No Time To Die, the “gift” of Billie’s bury a friend being used as the theme for HBO’s True Detective, and how much he loves humor in music. He also talks about writing with Ashe for The Favors’ album The Dream, the compromises he makes in his music, and how his sister always gets the final say on their songs: “You’re the one that’s going to sing this song 200 times this year.” All full episodes of Deep Hidden Meaning are available to Apple Music subscribers on Apple Podcasts.

9 min
07/19/2025 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Savan Kotecha

The hit songwriter on writing global smashes

58 min
01/09/2021 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Paul McCartney

The legend reveals his songwriting secrets to Nile Rodgers.

1 hr
11/02/2024 · BONUS

Jackson Browne

Legendary singer-songwriter Jackson Browne sits down with Nile Rodgers to discuss the songs that have made him one of music's all-time greats. 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of Browne's third album, Late for the Sky, which Bruce Springsteen hailed as his "masterpiece." During their conversation, Jackson Browne reminisces about creating that iconic record and shares stories behind other timeless hits like "Doctor My Eyes," "The Pretender," and "Running on Empty." He also reflects on his early days with Nico's band in 1960s New York, his role in writing "Take It Easy" for the Eagles, and how he has blended music with social causes throughout his long career. All episodes of Deep Hidden Meaning are available to Apple Music subscribers on Apple Podcasts.

12 min
05/08/2021 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Lindsey Buckingham

The artist talks about songwriting with Nile.

59 min
11/14/2020 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Dave Stewart, Julia Michaels

Julia Michaels, RZA, and Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart talk with Nile about songwriting.

1 hr
02/25/2023 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Debbie Harry and Chris Stein

The stories behind Blondie’s biggest hits.

59 min
04/30/2022 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Rod Stewart

The legendary singer talks songwriting with Nile Rodgers.

58 min
04/12/2025 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Maggie Rogers

The secrets behind her biggest songs.

1h 1m
03/26/2022 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Ryan Tedder

The OneRepublic star reveals how he writes huge hit songs.

1 hr
02/06/2021 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

The Edge, Fraser T Smith

The Edge, Teddy Geiger, and Fraser T. Smith join Nile Rodgers.

1 hr
08/10/2024 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

will.i.am

The artist shares the secrets behind his creativity

1h 1m
10/14/2018

Nile Rodgers

Nile Rodgers is a Grammy-winning composer, musician, and producer. With his own band, Chic, he's been enticing people on to the dance floor since the mid-1970s with hits like Le Freak and Good Times. With over 200 production credits to his name, he has worked on many highly successful albums from Sister Sledge’s We Are Family to David Bowie’s Let’s Dance and Madonna’s Like a Virgin. Born in New York City in 1952 to a teenage mother, he spent his early life immersed in his parents’ bohemian, beatnik, and drug-dominated lifestyle. Drugs played a part in Nile's life too from an early age, and he took his first acid trip with Timothy Leary at the age of 15. After learning to play the guitar, he got his musical break touring with the Sesame Street stage show and playing in the house band of Harlem’s Apollo Theatre, where he met bassist Bernard Edwards with whom he developed a productive musical partnership and went on to found Chic. Following the Disco Sucks movement of the late 1970s, Nile and Bernard turned to production, and sprinkled their magic dust on Sister Sledge and Diana Ross. When Nile and Bernard went their separate ways in the early 1980s, Nile forged ahead on his own, working with, among others, Madonna, Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Duran Duran. Nile went into rehab in 1994 and has been clean and sober for the past 24 years and has received successful treatment for cancer twice. He won three Grammys for his 2013 collaboration with the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, and has recently released the first Chic album in 26 years. Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Cathy Drysdale

59 min

Nile Rodgers on Apple