Explore every episode of the podcast Setting The Standard: Stories From The Great American Songbook

“Over the Rainbow”, “Get Happy”, “Come Rain or Come Shine”. These are the songs you have been singing your whole life, and now is your chance to learn about who wrote them! In this week’s episode, travel somewhere over the rainbow into the singular mind of renowned composer Harold Arlen, a key contributor to the American Songbook whose hundreds of pop tunes became runaway hits during the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. Arlen collaborated with the greatest of the Tin Pan Alley lyricists, including E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, Johnny Mercer, Ted Koehler, Ira Gershwin, Dorothy Fields, and Truman Capote. While any number of Arlen’s compositions assured his prominent place in musical history, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) deemed “Over the Rainbow” to be the 20th century’s greatest song.

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“I Got Rhythm”, “Summertime”, “The Man I Love”. These are the songs you have been singing your whole life, and now is your chance to learn about who wrote them! In this week’s episode, the men you love are at the forefront: George and Ira Gershwin, brothers who sometimes seemed to write their hits with four hands and one brain. George’s gift for melody and Ira’s ability to seamlessly blend lyrical sophistication with the American vernacular made for a plethora of immortal songs that both reflected and shaped the dynamic forces of American modernism during the Jazz Age. Hear directly from Michael Feinstein, Norm Lewis, and more, as they guide you through the astounding lives of these two geniuses, cut from the same cloth.

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“You’re the Top”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “Love for Sale”. These are the songs you have been singing your whole life, and now is your chance to learn about who wrote them! In this week’s episode, you’ll fall freely in love with Cole Porter, the master of melody and lyrics who changed the soundscape and language of American music - and America itself. Writing songs for over 30 stage and film musicals, his best work set standards of sophistication and wit seldom matched in the popular musical theater. And, as explained by pioneering songwriter Justin Tranter, Porter blazed the trail for generations of queer writers to come, pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo of the American musical form. Featuring key interviews from acclaimed writer Adam Gopnik and musical icon Elvis Costello, this episode illuminates the magic of Cole Porter.

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“Wouldn’t It Be Loverly”, “Get Me to the Church on Time”, “If Ever I Would Leave You”. These are the songs you have been singing your whole life, and now is your chance to learn about who wrote them! This week’s episode is guaranteed to be “loverly”, as we dive headfirst into the life and times of Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe, one of the greatest songwriting teams in history responsible for the most stylish, sophisticated theater music of the 20th century. The Lerner-Loewe formula was to combine Loewe's lush, melodic music, redolent of Viennese waltz, with Lerner's witty, literate lyrics; this they did in some of the most popular and best-remembered musicals of the mid-20th Century, including My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, and Camelot. As told by scholars such as Laurence Maslon as well as Liza Lerner, Alan Lerner’s daughter, the origin story of Lerner & Loewe illuminates how their disparate paths converged to form a dynamic duo that would define the future of American musical theater.

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“Paper Moon”, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”, “Over the Rainbow”. These are the songs you have been singing your whole life, and now is your chance to learn about who wrote them! In this week’s episode, feast your ears on a wealth of knowledge as we pull back the curtain on Yip Harburg, “Broadway’s social conscience” who was unique among his peers for always integrating his worldviews into his shows and songs. From articulating the struggles of the Great Depression to daring listeners to dream, Yip Harburg seamlessly weaved politics and prose together, and in doing so, crafted a musical fabric now embedded into the zeitgeist of American musical culture. Immerse yourself in the story of Harburg and his lasting legacy, as told by cultural icon Rufus Wainwright, Yip Harburg’s son Ernie, and more!

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“Moon River”, “Days of Wine and Roses”, “Hooray for Hollywood”. These are the songs you have been singing your whole life, and now is your chance to learn about who wrote them! In this week’s episode, we say hooray and honor of the life of Johnny Mercer, preeminent songwriter whose poetic lyrics vividly captured the complexities of human experience. A four-time Oscar winner, Mercer was an incredibly versatile writer, with a catalog of songs stretching from tear-jerking ballads to comedic, character-driven numbers. Featuring stories recounted by Paul Scahill and Margaret Whiting, descendants of long-time Mercer collaborators Sadie Vimmerstedt and Robert Whiting respectively, this episode offers a lens through which to see the man whose words defined American popular culture of the mid-20th Century.

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“People”, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”, “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”. These are the songs you have been singing your whole life, and now is your chance to learn about who wrote them! In this week’s episode, everything’s coming up Jule Styne, one of the undisputed architects of American musical theater. Fast-talking and a relentless hustler, he was a highly adaptable, brilliant musician, composing the scores for Broadway hits such as Gypsy and Funny Girl. Listen here for an in-depth journey into this musical icon’s storied past, as told by renowned author James Kaplan and musical legend Alan Bergman.

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“At Last”, “Lullaby of Broadway”, “That’s Amore”. These are the songs you have been singing your whole life, and now is your chance to learn about who wrote them! In this week’s episode, come along and listen as we take a deep dive into the life and times of Harry Warren, one of the most prolific composers and lyricists in American musical history. While others found fame and glory on Broadway, Warren worked primarily in motion pictures, writing over 300 songs for the silver screen and turning out hit after hit. Featuring exclusive interviews with Billy Corgan, Michael Feinstein, and Warren’s granddaughter, Julia Riva, this episode will shine a new light on both Harry Warren’s illustrious body of work and the personal history that shaped it.

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A new podcast from Warner Chappell Music, BANG and Audiation, Setting the Standard: Stories from the Great American Songbook, cordially invites you to listen along as we answer the question: “Who wrote these classic songs”? From Johnny Mercer to Cole Porter to the Gershwins, join us as we dive headfirst into the lives of America’s musical greats and learn how their musicianship and storytelling would shape American culture for decades to come. Replete with key interviews from a bevy of cultural icons such as Billy Corgan, Michael Feinstein, and Alan Bergman, this podcast will grant you unparalleled access into the world of this formative era in American musical history.

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