SOUNDS OF FILM with Tom Needham

Tom Needham
  • 5.0 (2)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

The SOUNDS Podcast with Tom Needham features in-depth conversations with leading filmmakers, composers, authors, politicians, artists, scientists, actors and philosophers. The SOUNDS Podcast also brings listeners classic interviews from the deep archives of America's longest running film, music and ideas themed radio show, THE SOUNDS OF FILM. For more information, visit: https://soundsoffilm.com

  1. 12/21/2025

    Muppet Christmas Carol & Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas: Paul Williams on a CLASSIC SOUNDS OF FILM

    This week on a Classic SOUNDS OF FILM, Tom Needham welcomes legendary singer-songwriter, actor, and recovery advocate Paul Williams for an in-depth conversation about his extraordinary career and his work with Jim Henson’s Muppets. Williams, whose iconic songs include “We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Rainy Days and Mondays,” “Evergreen,” “An Old Fashioned Love Song,” and “The Rainbow Connection,” shares stories from his decades in music, film, and television. The conversation highlights Williams’ timeless contributions to the Muppets universe, with a special focus on The Muppet Christmas Carol and the beloved holiday classic Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. Originally broadcast on HBO in 1977 and nominated for four Emmy Awards, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas features Williams’ music performed by an all-puppet cast of woodland creatures. He also discusses his CD collection of music from the special and reflects on composing for other Henson projects, including The Muppet Movie and A Muppet’s Christmas: Letters to Santa. For over 30 years, The Sounds of Film has been the nation’s longest-running film, music, and ideas-themed program, delivering a unique mix of interviews and music to listeners across Long Island, parts of Connecticut, and worldwide via online streaming. Past guests have included Alec Baldwin, Billy Joel, Noah Baumbach, Matthew Broderick, Ralph Macchio, Marco Beltrami, and Alexander Payne, bringing unforgettable insights into film, music, and pop culture. Listen to this special episode and the entire Sounds of Film podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.

    37 min

  2. 12/19/2025

    THE LAST 600 METERS: Michael Pack’s Gripping Documentary About the Iraq War

    On this episode of Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with acclaimed documentary filmmaker Michael Pack, director and producer of The Last 600 Meters, a compelling look at two of the deadliest battles of the Iraq War told through the firsthand testimony of the Marines and soldiers who fought them. The conversation explores Pack’s approach to documentary storytelling, the challenges of capturing the realities of modern combat, and the enduring relevance of this film in today’s world. The Sounds of Film podcast grew out of Tom Needham’s long-running radio show of the same name, dedicated to in-depth conversations about cinema, music, culture, and ideas. Over the years, the program has featured a remarkable range of guests from the worlds of film, television, music, literature, and activism, including Alexander Payne, D.A. Pennebaker, and Barbara Kopple, composer Howard Shore, Alec Baldwin, Pam Grier, Nile Rodgers, Chuck D, and Michael Moore, among many others. Sounds of Film is available as a weekly podcast on major platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and Audible, as well as through the Sounds of Film website. The show continues the tradition of thoughtful interviews and diverse voices that has made Sounds of Film one of the nation’s longest-running film and music themed programs.

    25 min

  3. 12/15/2025

    Director Johnny Ma on the SOUNDS OF FILM

    In this episode of The Sounds of Film, host Tom Needham speaks with filmmaker Johnny Ma, writer and director of The Mother and the Bear. The film tells the story of a Korean mother who travels to Winnipeg after her daughter’s accident and unexpectedly finds herself on a path of personal transformation. Johnny Ma explains how the project began years earlier during a stay at a small hostel in Seoul. A conversation with the woman running the hostel planted the initial seed for the film’s emotional core. The discussion explores how the movie balances humor with deeply human themes, its cross-cultural lens, and the creative challenges of shooting in the stark Winnipeg winter. Ma also reflects on the film’s intimate performances and the story’s focus on identity, family expectations, and the process of rediscovering oneself. The Sounds of Film is a long-running weekly program featuring conversations with filmmakers, composers, authors, and notable figures in arts and culture. Past guests have included Laurie Anderson, DA Pennebaker, Billy Joel, Alexander Payne, Marco Beltrami, Jordan Peele, and many others who have shaped contemporary cinema and music. Listeners can follow The Sounds of Film on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and all major podcast platforms.

    29 min

  4. 12/09/2025

    Oscar Nominee Scandar Copti Talks HAPPY HOLIDAYS on SOUNDS OF FILM

    In this episode of The Sounds of Film, Tom Needham speaks with acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker and visual artist Scandar Copti, the writer and director of the powerful new film Happy Holidays. The multi-layered drama follows four interconnected characters—Rami, Hanan, Miri, and Fifi—as they navigate the pressures of patriarchal values, cultural expectations, and the social systems that shape their realities. Known for his Oscar-nominated debut Ajami, Copti once again challenges viewers to confront the mechanisms of perception and oppression that define everyday life for Palestinian and Israeli communities. Through his innovative use of non-actors, shifting perspectives, and emotionally intimate storytelling, Copti offers a bold exploration of identity, generational conflict, and the human cost of systems that regulate truth and behavior. The Sounds of Film is the nation’s longest-running film-themed radio show, featuring in-depth interviews with directors, actors, writers, and composers from around the world. Past guests include Laurie Anderson, Chuck D, Carter Burwell, Mike Leigh, Kenneth Lonergan, and many others who are shaping the landscape of contemporary cinema and music. You can follow The Sounds of Film on Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Podcasts.

    25 min

  5. 12/02/2025

    Jota Mun Talks BETWEEN GOODBYES, POV & Hamptons Doc Fest on SOUNDS OF FILM

    The Sounds of Film welcomes director Jota Mun, whose feature documentary Between Goodbyes offers an intimate and emotionally layered view of international adoption and family reunion. The film follows Mieke Murkes, a queer Korean adoptee raised in the Netherlands, as she travels to Seoul to reconnect with her original mother, Okgyun Kang. Their time together reveals decades of unspoken regret, cultural distance, humor, and deep affection, creating a portrait of two women trying to understand one another after a lifetime apart. Drawing from years of observational footage and archival material, Mun brings the often-sidelined experiences of original mothers to the forefront, reframing how audiences understand adoption and kinship. Before its national broadcast debut on POV on Monday, December 8, 2025 at 10pm on PBS, Between Goodbyes will be featured at the Hamptons Doc Fest, where the festival is honoring American Documentary (AmDoc) with its 2025 Impact Award. As part of the celebration, the film will screen on Friday, December 5 at 7:30pm at the Sag Harbor Cinema, followed by a live Q&A with director Jota Mun and AmDoc Executive Director Erika Dilday, and a cocktail reception for attendees. The festival’s Impact Award recognizes AmDoc’s longstanding commitment to elevating independent documentary filmmakers and fostering nonfiction storytelling that sparks civic dialogue and social change. The Sounds of Film is the nation’s longest-running film and music radio show, featuring in-depth conversations with leading filmmakers, musicians, and cultural figures. Past guests include D.A. Pennebaker, John Turturro, William H. Macy, Laurie Anderson, Michael Moore, Barbara Kopple, Chuck D, and many more. The podcast version of The Sounds of Film is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.

    25 min

  6. 11/24/2025

    Director Maria Friedman Talks MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG Starring Daniel Radcliffe & Jonathan Groff

    The Sounds of Film welcomes acclaimed director Maria Friedman, whose filmed production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along was recently featured at the Hamptons International Film Festival. Friedman joins Tom Needham to discuss the remarkable evolution of the musical—from its troubled 1981 Broadway debut to the acclaimed revival she directed and filmed. In the film, adapted from Friedman’s Broadway staging, the story of Merrily We Roll Along unfolds in reverse chronological order, tracing the lives of three friends as they move backward through decades of personal and professional change. The narrative follows composer-turned-Hollywood-producer Franklin Shepard, played by Jonathan Groff; his former songwriting partner Charley Kringas, portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe; and their close friend Mary Flynn, played by Lindsay Mendez. The production features these mature actors moving through the characters’ earlier and later years, highlighting key moments in their friendship, artistic collaboration, and eventual breakup. Friedman’s direction for both stage and film incorporates structural revisions made after the musical’s original 1981 run and presents the story using a cast of adult performers who portray the characters across the full span of the timeline. The filmed version was recorded at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre over multiple performances and preserves the production’s staging, musical numbers, and chronological design as seen in the 2023 Broadway run. The Sounds of Film, hosted by Tom Needham, is the nation’s longest-running film and music radio show, broadcasting for over 35 years on WUSB Stony Brook. The program has featured a remarkable roster of guests, including Laurie Anderson, Nile Rodgers, Carter Burwell, Alexander Payne, Chuck D, Peter Fonda, Wallace Shawn, Cliff Martinez, and more. The show offers in-depth interviews with directors, composers, actors, and cultural commentators, exploring the intersection of cinema, music, and the arts.

    21 min

  7. 11/24/2025

    Celebrating 30 Years of Everybody Loves Raymond with Executive Producer Rory Rosegarten

    The Sounds of Film presents a special podcast episode hosted by Tom Needham and featuring Emmy-winning producer and talent manager Rory Rosegarten, an Executive Producer of Everybody Loves Raymond and Ray Romano’s manager. Rosegarten has represented many performers including Robert Klein and Tom Green, produced the Broadway musical Late Night Comic at age 25, co-executive produced the TNT drama Men of a Certain Age, and won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series for Everybody Loves Raymond. He is also an executive producer of the upcoming Netflix biopic I Slept With Joey Ramone. This episode also highlights LIMEHOF’s new exhibition, Everybody Loves Raymond: Celebrating 30 Years, opening November 28th in Stony Brook. The immersive exhibit features the original 70-foot-wide set created for the show’s 30th anniversary CBS special—on public display for the first time—along with elements from the Paley Museum’s earlier Raymond exhibition. Designed by Kevin O’Callaghan, the experience brings visitors inside the Barone family home with recreated rooms, iconic props such as the fork and spoon and the Christmas toaster, and multimedia clips including rare behind-the-scenes material. The exhibit reflects Rory Rosegarten’s efforts to bring the sitcom’s history to Long Island, where the fictional Barone family lived and where Ray Romano has deep New York roots.

    47 min

  8. 11/17/2025

    KING OF QUEENS’ Michael J. Weithorn Talks THE BEST YOU CAN Starring Kevin Bacon & Kyra Sedgwick

    The Sounds of Film welcomes writer-director Michael J. Weithorn for a conversation about THE BEST YOU CAN, a new relationship dramedy that world-premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival and will be available off the record on VOD platforms beginning November 25. Reuniting Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon on screen for the first time in twenty years, the film offers a smart, sharp, and emotionally resonant look at connection, change, and the unexpected pathways that bring people together. In THE BEST YOU CAN, Sedgwick plays Cynthia Rand, a tightly wound New York City urologist whose life is thrown off balance when her husband—portrayed by Judd Hirsch, a brilliant former Watergate prosecutor—begins showing signs of dementia. Bacon co-stars as Stan, a bright but underachieving security guard trying to reconnect with his adult daughter, played by Brittany O’Grady. An unexpected robbery brings Cynthia and Stan together, sparking an unlikely bond that grows into something deeper and more meaningful. THE BEST YOU CAN is written, directed, and produced by Michael J. Weithorn, best known as the co-creator and executive producer of the long-running CBS hit The King of Queens. Before that, he spent four acclaimed seasons on Family Ties, earning multiple Emmy nominations, and wrote for celebrated series including Cheers (WGA Award), The Wonder Years (Emmy nomination), and The Tracey Ullman Show. His additional work includes creating Ned & Stacey, South Central, and True Colors; co-creating the Sundance-screened animated series The Adventures of Baxter and McGuire; writing and directing the feature A Little Help; consulting on The Goldbergs; and creating the Fox comedy Weird Loners. The Sounds of Film, hosted by Tom Needham, is the nation’s longest-running film and music interview show. Over its decades on the air, it has featured conversations with an extraordinary roster of guests, including Ric Burns, John Debney, Carter Burwell, Billy Joel, Ralph Macchio, and Wallace Shawn, as well as countless independent filmmakers, composers, documentarians, and cultural icons.

    28 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

The SOUNDS Podcast with Tom Needham features in-depth conversations with leading filmmakers, composers, authors, politicians, artists, scientists, actors and philosophers. The SOUNDS Podcast also brings listeners classic interviews from the deep archives of America's longest running film, music and ideas themed radio show, THE SOUNDS OF FILM. For more information, visit: https://soundsoffilm.com

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