David Byrne

Shows

Episodes

  1. David Byrne on Talking Heads and ‘Here Lies Love’

    08/04/2023

    David Byrne on Talking Heads and ‘Here Lies Love’

    This week, musician David Byrne joins Lilah in the FT’s New York newsroom to talk about how he makes creative choices. Byrne has been an enduring cultural figure for more than four decades, known for always doing something new. His current project is Here Lies Love, a disco musical on Broadway about Imelda Marcos, a former politician and first lady in the Philippines. He’s also revisiting his days with Talking Heads, as a remastered version of their seminal concert documentary Stop Making Sense will be rereleased this month by the indie studio A24. Byrne rewatched it recently, about 40 years after its release. “I’m looking at my younger self … and he seems like a stranger,” he tells Lilah. “And I go, ‘Who is this strange guy?’”  – Read Lilah’s profile of Byrne at https://on.ft.com/44SpQLK ------- We love hearing from you! You can email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. ------- Our FTWeekend Festival is back on Saturday, September 2 at Kenwood House in London! It’ll be a day of debates, tastings, Q&As and more. For £20 off your festival pass, use promo code FTWeekendPod here: http://ft.com/festival Special FT subscription offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast. -------------- Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco Clip of Burning Down The House is from Stop Making Sense (1984) Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. Brent Taylor's D**k Pics, Trump's Ass Obsession & Alaska's Dueling Dan Sullivans | David Byrne

    Oct 29

    Brent Taylor's D**k Pics, Trump's Ass Obsession & Alaska's Dueling Dan Sullivans | David Byrne

    With less than a week until the 2026 midterms, Republicans are running out of ways to expose their own weaknesses, so Tennessee congressional candidate Brent Taylor chose the most literal way: with a d**k pic scandal. Jordan Klepper breaks down Taylor's "youthful indiscretion" from when he was 53, Trump's ongoing ass tour, and the president's DOJ moving to block certification of Alaska's Senate race over confusion around two candidates named Dan Sullivan, but only if the Republican Dan loses. In this installment of In My Opinion, Charlamagne Tha God looks at how politicians and pundits are turning the 2026 midterms into a masculinity contest. From Fox News trashing Troy Jackson's manhood over a cup of boba tea to Democrats going hard at the gym in campaign ads, Charlamagne takes on the cartoonish machismo in America's political discourse with a reminder that, in the end, "being a man" comes down to character. Legendary musician, artist, and author David Byrne chats with Jordan about his new book “Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up.” The two discuss Kafka, Melville, and other historical luminaries whose greatest works often went overlooked until their rediscovery later on, how modern hubris repeatedly ignores wisdom of the past, as well as Byrne’s research process for unearthing these forgotten stories. Plus, Byrne shares his writing process behind the song “Let Me Sell You A Dream,” which he wrote and performed for the documentary, “Musk.” -- The Daily Show airs weeknights at 11/10c on Comedy Central. Stream full episodes on Paramount+ Follow TDS: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  3. The Interviews | Matthew Cole, Morgana Robinson, David Byrne, Tracy Letts

    Nov 1

    The Interviews | Matthew Cole, Morgana Robinson, David Byrne, Tracy Letts

    Catch all of the past week's great guests in one place. Investigative journalist Matthew Cole sits down with Jon Stewart to talk about his new book, “Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East.” Cole’s book chronicles a five-year investigation into Jared Kushner’s alleged “secret financial agreements and arrangements” made between Trump’s son-in-law and the rulers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Cole points out that Kushner’s lawyer unequivocally and emphatically denies everything in his book, but Cole remains “very confident that I have the story right.” BAFTA-winning comedian and actor Morgana Robinson chats with Jordan Klepper about her new film, “Ali G: Who Iz I.” The two discuss what it was like to stay in character through long shooting days, how they pulled off the raunchy hijinks in the film, and what the audition process was like for such a unique project. Plus, Klepper learns some new NSFW British slang. Legendary musician, artist, and author David Byrne chats with Jordan about his new book “Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up.” The two discuss Kafka, Melville, and other historical luminaries whose greatest works often went overlooked until their rediscovery later on, how modern hubris repeatedly ignores wisdom of the past, as well as Byrne’s research process for unearthing these forgotten stories. Plus, Byrne shares his writing process behind the song “Let Me Sell You A Dream,” which he wrote and performed for the documentary, “Musk.” Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and actor Tracy Letts joins Jordan to talk about his new film, “I Play Rocky,” which chronicles the making of the 1976 film, “Rocky.” Letts shares why he doesn’t buy the legend that Sylvester Stallone wrote the entire “Rocky” screenplay in three days and what it’s like to film in the same Philadelphia neighborhoods where the original was shot. Plus, Letts explains the wonders of his digital movie collection of over 12,000 titles and what he learned performing improv in Chicago. -- The Daily Show airs weeknights at 11/10c on Comedy Central. Stream full episodes on Paramount+ Follow TDS: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  4. David Byrne

    Mar 18

    David Byrne

    David Byrne is a musician and visual artist. He was born in Dumbarton, Scotland, moving to Canada aged 2, and later Maryland, where he was raised in Baltimore. Byrne studied photography, performance, and video at RISD and the Maryland Institute College of Art, before moving to New York in the early 1970s.  In 1975, Byrne co-founded the group Talking Heads, who released eight studio albums before splitting up in the early 1990s. The band made the concert film Stop Making Sense in 1984, directed by Jonathan Demme, which in 2024 was remastered and re-released by A24.  Byrne established the record labels Luaka Bop and Todo Mundo, which have released music by artists including William Onyeabor, Cornershop, and Floating Points. As a solo musician, David Byrne has released over 10 solo albums, the most recent Who Is The Sky? released in 2025, and collaborated with artists including Brian Eno, St Vincent, and Olivia Rodrigo. He has written soundtracks for films including Bernando Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor, for which Byrne won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. Byrne has written several books including Bicycle Diaries and How Music Works, and in 1986 wrote, directed, and starred in True Stories, a musical collage of discordant Americana released in 1986. His theatrical work includes his 2019 American Utopia tour which was transferred to Broadway and a film version directed by Spike Lee, and his immersive theater production Theater of the Mind from 2022, which will be shown in Chicago in March 2026. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and David Byrne discuss The Big Suit, the joy of Vampire movies, and being useless at dinner party conversations. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices