Song Exploder

4.8 (5.8K)
MUSIC
UPDATED BIWEEKLY

ENDLESS RADIOTOPIA

How your favorite songs were made, now ad-free!

$4.99/month or $49.99/year

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.

6D AGO

Key Change: James Acaster on OutKast

My guest today is James Acaster, a comedian, author, musician, and interviewer. He's filmed comedy specials for HBO and Netflix, which are hilarious and high concept. His musical project, Temps, has released an album and an EP. He’s written multiple books, including one about how the year 2016 was the greatest year for music. James also co-hosts the food podcast Off Menu, with comedian Ed Gamble. And I've listened to more hours of Off Menu than any other podcast. James and Ed don't know it, but they're my best friends. And I have lured James out of the parasocial relationship that we have in my head and into this conversation with me, to talk about a song that had a profound effect on his life. For more, visit songexploder.net/keychange. You can listen to "Hey Ya!" by OutKast here.

25 min
MAR 19

Lucy Dacus - Thumbs (Re-Issue)

Lucy Dacus has a new album coming out on March 28th, called Forever Is A Feeling. So, in the week before it comes out, I thought it could be nice to revisit her Song Exploder episode from 2021. It’s about the beautiful and brutally heartbreaking song "Thumbs," which I love. And since recording that episode, Lucy's won three Grammy awards as part of her band Boygenius, including Album of the Year. But back in 2021, I had a really nice afternoon talking to Lucy. She was the first guest to come over and record with me at my studio, in person, after COVID hit. So I have a lot of fond memories about this one, and I hope you’ll enjoy listening or re-listening to it with me. Lucy Dacus is a singer and songwriter from Richmond, Virginia. She put out her first album in 2016, and in 2018 she formed the band Boygenius with Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers. In June 2021, she released her third album, Home Video, which includes this song, "Thumbs." The first time I heard it, I knew I wanted to ask Lucy about how and why she made it. After some COVID testing, we spoke in person here in Los Angeles. And she told me the story of how "Thumbs" took months and months to get right. For more, visit songexploder.net/lucy-dacus.

24 min
MAR 5

Theodore Shapiro - Severance (Main Title Theme)

The TV show Severance debuted on Apple TV+ in February 2022. It was created by writer Dan Erickson, and developed into a series by director and executive producer Ben Stiller. He directed the pilot and most of the episodes. After the first season came out, Severance was nominated for 14 Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series, and it won two Emmys: for Main Title Design and for Musical Composition. I love this show, and the main title sequence is incredible. I was so excited to get to talk to the composer, Theodore Shapiro, about how he made the main title theme music. In this episode, you’ll hear how that theme first came into existence in a totally different form, and then, how Teddy re-imagined it to become the final version. For more, visit songexploder.net/severance.

23 min
FEB 26

Key Change: Hanif Abdurraqib on The Clash

My guest today is Hanif Abdurraqib, a poet, cultural critic, and New York Times bestselling author of books like They Can't Kill us Until They Kill Us, Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest, and A Little Devil in America, which won the Andrew Carnegie medal for nonfiction. I've been a guest on Hanif's podcast, Object of Sound, and I just love reading and hearing his thoughts about music. When I first started toying with the idea for this Key Change series, I was specifically excited about the idea that it could give me the chance to have Hanif on as a guest. For more, visit songexploder.net/keychange. You can listen to "Lost in the Supermarket" by The Clash here.

31 min
FEB 19

Sasami - In Love With A Memory (feat. Clairo)

Sasami is a singer, songwriter and producer who grew up in Los Angeles. But now she’s based in Northern California, and as you’ll hear in this episode, that’s significant. Sasami went to school for classical French horn. She was in the band Cherry Glazerr, and she’s had a lot of collaborations with other artists on their projects and her own. Collaboration is at the heart of the song that I talked to her about for this episode. It’s called “In Love With A Memory,” and it features Clairo on vocals, and it was co-produced with Grammy-winning producer Rostam. The song is on Sasami’s third album, Blood on the Silver Screen, which is out March 2025. Coming up, you’ll hear the original voice memos that she recorded for this song back in the fall of 2022. You’ll also hear the demo she made in Garageband after that, and then how she and Rostam turned that demo into the final version, a duet with Clairo. For more info, visit songexploder.net/sasami.

30 min
FEB 5

of Montreal - Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games

Kevin Barnes started of Montreal in 1996 in Athens, Georgia. The Sunlandic Twins came out in 2005; it was their seventh album. And I remember when that album came out, how it felt like they were suddenly everywhere. And the breakout song from that breakout album was “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games.” And so, for this episode, I spoke to Kevin Barnes about how that song came together, and what it meant to them then, and what it means to them now. For more info, visit songexploder.net/of-montreal.

28 min
JAN 29

Key Change: Sophie Thatcher on Elliott Smith

Key Change is a new conversation series within Song Exploder, where I talk to fascinating people about the music that's transformed them. My first guest is Sophie Thatcher, an actor and musician whose credits include starring in the TV show Yellowjackets, the film Heretic, and the new movie Companion. I met Sophie through Companion, because I composed the score to the film, and she contributes vocals to a few of the tracks I wrote. For this episode, we discussed how "Waltz #1" by Elliott Smith shaped Sophie's tastes and work. For more, visit songexploder.net/keychange. You can listen to "Waltz #1" by Elliott Smith here.

22 min
JAN 22

Yola - Symphony

Yola is a singer/songwriter and actress. She released her solo debut album in 2019, which was nominated for 4 Grammys, including Best New Artist and Best Americana Album, and Rolling Stone named it one of the best country albums of the year. But the thing is, Yola’s music career wasn’t new, and her background wasn’t in country music. She’s from Bristol in the UK, and starting back in the early 2000s, she was a vocalist recording tracks for DJs and electronic music producers. In January 2025, Yola put out an EP called My Way. And as you’ll hear her explain in this episode, a lot of her new music is motivated by wanting to assert her identity beyond the Americana and country music boundaries. In addition to her music, she’s also acting – she played Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the 2022 film Elvis, and she starred on Broadway in the musical Hadestown. For this episode, I talked to Yola about her song “Symphony,” along with co-writer and co-producer Sean Douglas. Yola and Sean trace the journey of the song “Symphony,” and, along with it, Yola traces her own journey, too. For more info, visit songexploder.net/yola.

24 min

See All (324)

Normal Gossip delivers juicy, strange, funny, and utterly banal gossip about people you’ll never know and never meet. Host Kelsey McKinney 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 Alex Sujong Laughlin. Show art by Tara Jacoby. https://normalgossip.komi.io/

4.7 (5253)

COMEDY
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.

4.7 (398)

FOOD
A podcast about and for the internet, hosted by Mike Rugnetta

4.7 (95)

SOCIETY & CULTURE
Named one of the Best podcasts of 2023 by the New York Times, Vogue, and Vulture Weight For It is a three time Podcast Academy Award winning narrative podcast that explores the ways we think about our bodies. Through personal storytelling and deep dive interviews, host Ronald Young Jr. unpacks the navigation of the world around him that just doesn't seem to fit.

4.9 (833)

DOCUMENTARY
the memory palace

4.8 (6772)

HISTORY
An episode-by-episode discussion of The West Wing, one of television’s most beloved shows, co-hosted by one of its stars, Joshua Malina, along with Hrishikesh Hirway of Song Exploder.

4.9 (10374)

TV & FILM

View Subscription FAQs

4.8

out of 5

5,777 Ratings

Love key change!

Mar 16

c_p_m

I’ve loved listening to this show for years, with its unique style walking alongside an artist in the creation of one song. But the interview with Hanif Abdurraqib, about his deep listening to one song, was also wonderful! Their conversation invited me into new ways of thinking about the songs I love. Thank you!
Hi!

Feb 24

Battle Duck

One of my favorite podcasts! The Sabrina episode was the hardest time I’ve ever listened to as a musician across any platform. Listen as a way to absorb how not to make music.
Go singer

Feb 5

Cinnamonroll@.com

Go guys are the best
Dislike the new format

Feb 24

Valerie2501

I much prefer the older cuts where the content is all the artist speaking; no hate against Hrishikesh who is a fantastic voice and has a great host but Song Exploder was always exceptional bc it didn’t have the typical q&a podcast style and was always so polished and calm in its flow

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.