SongWriter – Details, episodes & analysis

Freddy Mutanguha, who is the CEO of the Aegis Trust – the organization that built the Kigali Genocide Memorial – describes surviving the genocide, and visiting the childhood friend who murdered his mother in prison. Woven into Freddy’s story are poems that Rwandan art activist and author Hope Azeda wrote about speaking to children about the genocide. Dr. Pamela Wadende describes the scientific mechanics behind forgiveness, and her experience of Rwanda. And Rwandan songwriter Peace Jolis shares a brand-new song called “BAHO.”

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For the live performance, Ben wrote a new song called "Kigali (ft. Peace Jolis)," which is streaming now on Apple Music, Spotify, and elsewhere. 

Season six is made possible by a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation

During a performance at KQED Live, comedian and filmmaker W. Kamau Bell tells a story about his father’s 80th birthday party, and an extraordinary moment of collective effervescence. Scientist Dr. Shira Gabriel explains the mechanics behind collective effervescence, and one of Kamau’s favorite bands, Las Cafeteras, shares a brand-new song called “Home.”

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For the live performance, Ben wrote a song in response to Kamau's story as well, which is streaming on Apple Music, Spotify, and elsewhere.

Season six is made possible by a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation

This is part one of a two-part episode featuring "Sea Oak" by George Saunders. Part one contains a song written by Ben Arthur, Vienna Teng, and George Saunders; Part two contains the song written by Craig Finn.

Bestselling author and MacArthur genius George Saunders reads a comic-but-serious zombie story called “Sea Oak” – which was made into an Amazon TV show starring Glenn Close – and shares wisdom on writing dark things. 

Craig Finn of The Hold Steady talks about heartbreak, advice from Bruce Springsteen, and shares his song “Swan’s Glen.”

You can hear the song by Ben, Vienna, and George, "Love Don't (Fall Apart)" on Apple Music, Spotify, etc.

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Bestselling author, screenwriter, and founder of McSweeney’s, Dave Eggers reads an excerpt from his short story, “The Museum of Rain,” and talks about the way music informs his creative process. Dave says the song Vienna wrote for the episode, “hit him like a truck,” and expresses his delight that Vienna decided to make the song a fundraiser for the non-profit 826 Valencia.

Songwriter Vienna Teng makes a second appearance on SongWriter, describing how this song, and the one she wrote for an episode with Kurt Andersen, make up two-thirds of her written output over the last decade! Vienna talks about reading Dave’s story out loud to her young family during the pandemic, and explores self-doubt and creativity before sharing her song, “The Riversitter (The Museum of Rain).” The song is for sale exclusively on Bandcamp, and all proceeds benefit 826 Valencia

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Andrew Sean Greer won the Pulitzer Prize for his comic novel, Less. For this episode he reads an excerpt from the follow up book, Less is Lost, and describes how he thinks of the book as more serious than many readers.  For the songwriter in this episode, Andrew requested Torquil Campbell of the  band Stars, and Torq secretly invited Andrew’s close friend Daniel Handler (aka the wildly popular children’s author Lemony Snicket) to collaborate on it. Unbeknownst to many of his fans, Daniel is a seriously experienced songwriter and session musician, who has collaborated with Death Cab for Cutie, The Decembrists, and Magnetic Fields, and he and Torq trade anecdotes, make fun of each other relentlessly, and talk about the truly sweet surprise they cooked up together for Andrew, a song called "Not the Best."

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Sally Rooney’s bestselling novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You? is a follow-up to her wildly successful novel Normal People, which was made into a popular series on Hulu. The newest novel is about falling in love in the digital age – her exquisitely-drawn characters struggle to connect with each other, and slowly expose their vulnerabilities to each other over time. 

Songwriter Sam Himself describes how he fell in love REMOTELY during the pandemic, and had the bizarre, terrifying, and ultimately beautiful experience of meeting the woman he already knew so intimately from their written conversations and phone calls – and was already deeply in love with – in person for the first time.

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Kevin Allison is a storyteller, the host of the wildly popular RISK! podcast, and a former member of MTV’s The State. He tells a story about meeting his future husband in the days after 9/11, and talks about how late he came to dating and self-acceptance, and wrestles with a recently broken heart. Carolyn Kendrick is herself a star in the podcast world, as she produces the popular podcasts “You’re Wrong About” and “You Are Good.” She talks about her own reactions to 9/11, and shares her brand new song, “What If.”

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Author and illustrator Dolan Morgan reads an excerpt from his story, “The Quartering Act,” which combines fantasy and emotional realism to explore self-loathing and trauma. 

Melissa Faliveno and John Walsh from the band Self Help talk about their reactions to the story, and share their new song, “3A.”

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Charlie Gilmour reads an excerpt from his bestselling memoir, Featherhood, which connects the story of raising an abandoned magpie with explorations around his father, noted actor and poet Heathcoate Williams, and his stepfather, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. British musician and podcaster Matshidiso shares the story of coming to grips with her own father, and shares a live recording of her song, “Who Can Tell a Bird” 

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Bestselling author Jean Hanff Korelitz reads an excerpt from her recent novel, The Latecomer, and talks about the connections and disconnections she feels between her job and the movies and tv shows that are made from her work (Hugh Grant, Nicole Kidman, Tina Fey). Jean reads from The Latecomers – a rambling multi-generational picture of a family dealing with secrets and trauma – and talks about how it was inspired by the work of John Irving. 

Jean’s friend Warren Zanes, who was in his brother’s band, the Del Fuegos, talks about his long collaborative friendship with Tom Petty, his jobs as an author and a professor, and plays his song, “The Aftermath of the Accident.” He also discloses some complicated history with his brother, and connects it to the book.

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