Broken Record with Malcolm Gladwell, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam Pushkin Industries

I’m enjoying the podcast. Some harsh critics of Linda Perry. She came on strong, but I think that is 100% why she is successful. She reminds me of big wave surfer Keala Kennelly who competes in a male-dominated sport and has had to fight her way through every obstacle - she’s tough as nails and toots her own horn. I love Perry’s ego. She wanted something and she went after it. I like her rough edges. Never change, girl.

I just finished the Linda Perry episode and I feel like it was less of an interview and more of a cross-examination. She’s the best at what she does and she knows it and shows it. I think this rubbed Bruce Headlam the wrong way. As Linda continued to talk about her experience Bruce’s questions continued to become more abrasive. At one point he is asking if she was afraid to learn how to work the studio equipment. She responds that nothing is impossible. Bruce comes back over the top and says that he didn’t ask if it was impossible he asked if she was afraid.

I don’t think this was a good interview for Bruce but I think the problem is that Bruce is interviewing these people. What makes the Malcolm and Rick episodes great is that they aren’t interviewing. Malcolm and Rick and building a relationship; they are learning and maybe giving back to the relationship with their own insight. The episodes where a friendship is being built are terrific. The episodes that sound like lines are being drawn are not great.

Ezra is the finale episode? This episode should be called ‘How Vampire Weekend sold out.’ What a joke. The first song is very overproduced. It sounds like Graceland, but worse. It is not relevant within the scope of current and will have no staying power in music history.
This show was great and has rapidly spluttered to boring and forced.
Season 1 was 5-star. Season 2 was 4-star. Season 3 is 2 stars at best.