Best Dylan French Podcasts (2024)

1
Sarah Lee 53:06

11M ago53:06

53:06

Guardian/Observer staff photographer Sarah Lee first watched Dont Look Back whilst perched on a crowded bed in a Camden flat with a struggling rock combo called Coldplay. As she’s now a BAFTA photographer, Sarah checks plenty of other names in this episode, including Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston, Austin Butler and Cate Blanchett. On celebrity photogr…

1
Rebecca Slaman 50:53

1y ago50:53

50:53

Rebecca Slaman, writer and social media guru, is a fan of Bob Dylan’s “perfect random meme humour.” Twitter? “Girls lust after him! But I’ve seen some pretty egregious stuff. Old people don’t understand the platform.” Dylan’s 1987 film Hearts of Fire? “He cannot act. How can he not act? He’s been acting his whole life. So bad - but so entertaining!…

1
Bettye LaVette 50:23

1y ago50:23

50:23

In the 61st year of her singing career, five-time Grammy nominee Bettye LaVette warns us that our chat will be “straight, no chaser”. And she lives up to that promise. Bettye describes her surprise backstage meeting with Bob Dylan: “He kissed me on the mouth. It was no big deal. I’ve kissed Otis Redding and David Ruffin”. Working with Keith Richard…

1
Simon Munnery 46:26

1y ago46:26

46:26

Like his main man Bob Dylan, comedian Simon Munnery knows a few things about heckles: aside from being arrested in Edinburgh for heckling Arthur Smith, he met his future wife when she heckled him in Australia. When not on the road, Simon joins his local Morris Men in Bedfordshire pubs, serenading fellow drinkers with his version of Blind Willie McT…

1
Helen Barrett 53:48

1y ago53:48

53:48

Journalist Helen Barrett was lullabied to sleep as her mother sang Mr. Tambourine Man; she had it played at her mother’s funeral (“the Dylan version, not the Byrds cover”). To top it off, Baby, Stop Crying was the soundtrack to her Dylan-loving parents’ divorce. Helen analyses Dylan’s clothes (“John Lennon wasn’t given to copying people, but he cop…

1
Michael Bonner 44:49

1+ y ago44:49

44:49

Michael Bonner, editor of music magazine Uncut, takes on Dylan’s 2022 UK concerts, as well as The Philosophy of Modern Song (“Dylan mimicking the critical noise around Dylan”). Other topics include an in-depth dissection of Key West (“ambient, amniotic and immersive”), Dylan’s “thing that he has about dual guitarists” and a couple of unfortunate Do…

1
Stewart Lee 58:38

1+ y ago58:38

58:38

Comedian and columnist Stewart Lee remains “grateful to the people who brainwashed me into listening to Bob Dylan during a period of emotional and physical weakness.” He remembers seeing Dylan live at Hyde Park with his kids (“one of the greatest nights of my life”) as well as the time he alienated the audience at a Teenage Cancer Trust Benefit. “I…

1
Matt Rowland Hill 51:32

1+ y ago51:32

51:32

Writer Matt Rowland Hill is well placed to comment on Dylan’s ‘Property of Jesus’ years: “the kind of fire-and-brimstone Christianity that I grew up with was exactly the kind that Dylan converted into. He was ripe to be captured”. At the age of 17, Matt wangled his way past security in London, hoping to accost his hero, only to told by members of D…

1
Jeff Hanna 41:32

1+ y ago41:32

41:32

Jeff Hanna, founder member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, is a team player. He has played with Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Jackson Browne, John Prine, Levon Helm, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Rosanne Cash, Linda Ronstadt and Matraca Berg. Oh, and Roger McGuinn, Jason Isbell, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Larry Campbell an…

1
Emma Swift 45:38

1+ y ago45:38

45:38

Australian singer/songwriter Emma Swift's highly acclaimed Blonde On The Tracks album, with guitar backing by life partner (and former podcast guest) Robyn Hitchcock, was her breakthrough recording. Emma swears that "singing Dylan's songs is like wearing a magical cape. Suddenly you have special powers. My job is to give each song a different emoti…

1
Caroline Bird 49:33

1+ y ago49:33

49:33

Prize-winning poet and playwright Caroline Bird reminds us that “we’re all poets when we’re asleep. Writing is trying to find a way to dream while we’re awake”. On Bob Dylan: “You always hear him choosing the dark side of the road”; “What I love is that his songs are full of denial. Whenever the emotion gets too real, he runs away” and “He’s so naï…

1
Lenny Kaye 51:53

2y ago51:53

51:53

Patti Smith Group guitarist and author Lenny Kaye reminds us that “Bob Dylan is still experimenting, seeing who he might be, putting on the weirdest shows ever, upending barriers”. Almost in one breath, Lenny gives forth on working with or listening to Suzanne Vega, John Coltrane, Gayle, The Stooges, Brian Eno, The Byrds, Bing Crosby and Janis Jopl…

1
Justin Trefgarne 54:48

2y ago54:48

54:48

Film director/screenwriter Justin Trefgarne talks about Dylan, but also about fathers, sons, archetypes and coincidence. “Bob has been the guardian angel and surrogate father for my entire adult existence,” he tells us. From his first encounter with Like A Rolling Stone (which he played for five hours straight), “everything was up for grabs”. Hear …

1
John Doe 48:55

2y ago48:55

48:55

Singer/Songwriter/Actor John Doe tells terrific tales: hanging with Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder in Memphis, gigging with Nick Lowe in London and hearing his voice come out of Christian Bale’s mouth in Todd Haynes’s Dylan biopic I’m Not There. Did John’s appearance with LA punk band X on the Letterman Show in 1983 inspire Dylan’s wild 1984 set wit…

1
Steven Cockcroft 56:41

2y ago56:41

56:41

Belfast’s Steven Cockcroft (co-host of leading Beatles podcast Nothing Is Real) offers unexpected takes on The Boys and Bob: “Roll On John isn’t about an individual, it’s about the sanctification of Lennon” and “The Travelling Wilburys was a calculated move by George”. Also on the menu: Dylan’s questionable harmonies on an obscure Ringo album track…

1
Eric Asimov 54:06

2y ago54:06

54:06

Our special culinary episode with critic Eric Asimov includes the story of long-time Dylan bass player Tony Garnier’s delicious Christmas gumbo and Dylan’s wine-making venture, Planet Waves (“the wine has aged better than the album”). A fan since hearing “I Want You” the age of eight, Eric is “drawn to the atmosphere Bob creates. It’s misty. It’s a…

1
Journey to the Heart - A New Musical Preview 3:28

2y ago3:28

3:28

Support Journey to the Heart Here: bit.ly/supportjourneytotheheart In a world where everyone shares a tattoo with their soulmate, you'd think falling in love would be easy. Journey to the Heart follows three best friends as they go on an adventure of a lifetime. Albina, Babette, and Charlie are displeased with their soulmate tattoo, or lack of one,…

1
Curtis Stigers 56:52

2y ago56:52

56:52

Singer, songwriter and saxophonist Curtis Stigers tells us true stories with a cast of characters including Van Morrison, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan. A fan from way back (“Bob is the perfect creation. He’s an art form in himself”), his jazzy cover versions include Things Have Changed (“people go nuts for that song. Their heads explode”). A committe…

1
Thom Tuck 38:04

2y ago38:04

38:04

Comic actor Thom Tuck discovered Bob Dylan when, growing up in Bangladesh, he caught the promo for Subterranean Homesick Blues on MTV Rewind. His family eventually returned to Leeds, where his outsider status was made even worse/better by his obsession with all things Bob. At university, he didn’t improve his lot by writing a play called “One More …

1
Laura Tenschert 53:23

2+ y ago53:23

53:23

Fellow podcaster Laura Tenschert’s Definitely Dylan contains multitudes of theories and insights which she shares in this eye-opening episode. German-born Laura learned English by listening to Bob, which gave her sharper ears than most. Dozens of songs are given forensic treatment, ranging from classics like Lord Protect My Child and Buckets of Rai…

1
Richard Strange 45:43

2+ y ago45:43

45:43

Writer and musician Richard Strange insists “If you don’t want to be Bob Dylan, you shouldn’t be writing songs”. He takes us on a journey that starts in his Brixton comprehensive (“I was always bunking off, going to art galleries and the haunted, dingy Soho flesh-pot folk clubs”). He discovers “the boy band of Beat literature: Burroughs, Kerouac an…

1
Andy Miller 58:08

2+ y ago58:08

58:08

Author, editor and podcaster Andy Miller is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore: “Bob Dylan is not a safe option!” “The heritage industry around the Beatles and Dylan is neutering the anarchy of the music. The world sees me as just another bloke buying a Dad Rock box set at Christmas. But it’s not a hygienic vision of what rock ‘n’ ro…

1
Kate French-Morris 49:45

2+ y ago49:45

49:45

Music journalist Kate French-Morris found her calling in a University of California class taught by Greil Marcus (“he gets closer to Bob’s mind than anyone can, with his sideways thinking and his cattiness”). Kate shares a birthday with Dylan, but her main man might be Bruce Springsteen, who figures strongly in this, our first studio recording for …

1
Michael Scott Moore 47:57

2+ y ago47:57

47:57

While held captive for 32 months by Somali pirates, writer and Dylan fan Michael Scott Moore had plenty of opportunity to contemplate lyrics, especially All Along The Watchtower. He was given a Bible during his captivity and discovered, in Isaiah, “the ramparts, the princes, the two horsemen and the wildcat. The whole song clicked! It’s about the f…

1
Daniel Radosh 52:13

2+ y ago52:13

52:13

Comedy writer Daniel Radosh initiated the Twitter hashtag #BD969, celebrating every officially released Dylan song, as well as posting four playlists for The 80th Birthday: Bob Dylan For Beginners. We discuss these gems and open up the contentious topic of Dylan’s album cover art, from best to worst and everything in between. Other albums covered i…

1
Jonathan Taplin 47:44

3y ago47:44

47:44

Jonathan Taplin, former road manager for The Band, has done it all. He set up the equipment for Dylan’s electric set at Newport in ‘65 (“the soundcheck lasted ten minutes”) and was production manager for Dylan and The Band at the Guthrie Tribute in ’68. He organised the groundbreaking Concert For Bangladesh and produced the concert and film of The …

1
Episode 8 - Finale 30:25

3y ago30:25

30:25

Previously on the Flame: Rachel (Chilina Kennedy) wants Jamie back and she'll stop at nothing to get what she wants. Harold (Jesse Nowack) brings Sam (Jasmin Savoy Brown) to dinner to negotiate the contract and make sure she sees Jamie (Ellie Brigida) on a "date" with Rachel. Sounds like a disaster in the making! And Mel (Valerie Rose Lohman) and J…

1
Episode 7 - Always That Girl 27:37

3y ago27:37

27:37

Previously on the Flame: Sam (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Jamie (Ellie Brigida) go on the world's cutest ice cream date and Jamie gets some digits! But things get tense when Harold (Jesse Nowack) shows up to check on "his" property and he won't let a little sapphic romance get in the way of his steal of the century. And Rachel (Chilina Kennedy), shows …

1
Ann Powers 47:27

3y ago47:27

47:27

Ann Powers, writer and lead music critic for America’s National Public Radio, joins us from her East Nashville home to discuss gender, sexuality and “the body” in Bob Dylan’s work. Sparked off by an emotional encounter involving Joni Mitchell, Ann compares Mitchell’s work with Dylan’s and discusses other groundbreaking female artists like Roberta F…

1
Episode 6 - You've Got Trouble 27:16

3y ago27:16

27:16

Previously on the Flame: Jamie (Ellie Brigida) and Sam (Jasmin Savoy Brown) got all cute on us in the jail cell and finally kissed! Jo (Jenn Collela), Mel (Valerie Rose Lohman) and Heather (Leigh Holmes Foster) bond over a "Car Ride From Hell" on the way to pick up Sam and Jamie. This week on the Flame, Sam (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Jamie (Ellie Bri…

1
Episode 5 - Maybe Today 25:33

3y ago25:33

25:33

Previously on the Flame: Jamie (Ellie Brigida) and Sam (Jasmin Savoy Brown) confront each other, get arrested and put in the same jail cell. This week on the Flame, Sam (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Jamie (Ellie Brigida) spend some quality time together discussing astrology, daddy issues and getting cozy. And talk about a tight fit! Jo (Jenn Collela), M…

1
Episode 4 - The Protest 19:34

3y ago19:34

19:34

Previously on the Flame: Jo (Jenn Colella) and the patrons of the Flame are ready to fight! This week on the Flame, Sam (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Mel (Valerie Rose Lohman) are heading to the bar to offer to sell the bar to Jamie so that the Patrons of the Flame don't have to leave their space, but she's greeted by Jamie (Ellie Brigida), Jo (Jenn Col…

1
Episode 3 - Keep It Lit 20:41

3y ago20:41

20:41

Previously on the Flame: Mel and Jo reconnect and Sam starts to deal with some Daddy Issues This week on the Flame, Jamie (Ellie Brigida) is having one of her famous dumpster cries and double fisting Slurpees, Heather (Leigh Holmes Foster) cheers her up with a song "You've Got Me" and Jo (Jenn Collela) is rallying the patrons of the Flame to fight!…

1
Richard Williams 48:58

3y ago48:58

48:58

Journalist Richard Williams joins us to talk Dylan and to surf “the waves of his career”, from Freewheelin’ (“one revelation after another”) to Murder Most Foul (“I was astonished by it. The level of detail. It’s like a John Coltrane quartet.”). Richard reminds us of “one of the great things I learned from Dylan: if you don’t understand something, …

1
Episode 2 - Just Breathe 20:29

3y ago20:29

20:29

Previously on the Flame: Jamie and the Patrons of the Flame are getting evicted! This week, everyone is freaking out! Jamie (Ellie Brigida) is having a full on melt down in the back office and that Goop is not looking too good the second time around, Heather (Leigh Holmes Foster) is doing everything she can to take care of her best friend and Sam (…

1
Episode 1 - Welcome to The Flame 24:15

3y ago24:15

24:15

Jamie (Ellie Brigida), the owner of the Flame, everyone's favorite LGBTQ bar, is having a rough day. It's the anniversary of when her proposal was rejected by her ex-girlfriend Rachel (Chilina Kennedy) and all she wants to do is marathon Buffy Season Six. But her best friend Heather (Leigh Holmes Foster) and the patrons of the Flame are always ther…

1
John Harris 58:25

3y ago58:25

58:25

Music and political journalist John Harris joins us just before Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday to celebrate the man with “the wink and the nod and the little impish skip” as well as the man who gives us “the solace of emptiness”. Mr Harris is not afraid to go against the grain: “”Love And Theft” is as good as Highway 61 or Blood On The Tracks”. As for J…

1
Charlie McCoy 51:48

3y ago51:48

51:48

Nashville musician Charlie McCoy’s Dylan-related achievements include those distinctive guitar licks on Desolation Row, that blues harmonica on Obviously Five Believers (a rare example of another person playing harp on a Dylan session) and the inventive bass lines on John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline and Self Portrait. His motto: “Say yes - an…

1
Michael Simmons 42:19

3y ago42:19

42:19

Musician and writer Michael Simmons has written dozens of Dylan cover pieces for MOJO magazine, as well as incisive liner notes for Another Self Portrait and Bob Dylan 1970. “I remember where I was when Kennedy was assassinated and I remember the exact moment I heard Like A Rolling Stone. It sounded like freedom.” He praises Bob as both “a revoluti…

1
Tom Jackson 50:53

3y ago50:53

50:53

To mark our 50th episode, writer and podcaster Tom Jackson gives us his clear-eyed take on Dylan’s “Born Again” albums: Slow Train Coming, Saved, Shot Of Love and Trouble No More. “Slow Train Coming is not a smooth record, not a pleasant record, but I enjoy the tension.” And the accompanying live performances? “They were church services, really. Bu…

1
John Niven 52:57

3+ y ago52:57

52:57

Novelist John Niven loves up Dylan's Neighbourhood Bully: “I have a soft spot for Heritage Rock acts trying to do Punk in the late 70’s and early 80’s” before summing up the Dont Look Back days: “When you’re in your 20’s, you’re all about the cruelty”. His response to attending a New York screening of Eat The Document? “An absolute pile of heroin-a…

1
The Flame Trailer 3:59

3+ y ago3:59

3:59

Welcome to The Flame, premiering in June 2021! We wanted to give you all a sneak peek of what's coming your way here at the Flame. Here's a preview of Maybe Today, sung by Jamie (Ellie Brigida), our hopelessly romantic protagonist. With the support of over 300 Pinkstart backers, we were able to pay for the entire production of this song including l…

1
Edward Docx 59:11

3+ y ago59:11

59:11

Edward Docx (novelist/screenwriter/journalist) is a hyper-articulate defence witness for some of Bob’s least understood albums: Street-Legal, Infidels, Empire Burlesque and Together Through Life. “There is no uninteresting Dylan album. He opens his veins and says "This is what it’s like for me now."” How passionate is Ed Docx about Bob Dylan? After…

1
Pamela Thurschwell 47:36

3+ y ago47:36

47:36

Academic and author Pamela Thurschwell gives us her conflicted feminist take on Dylan, including his queer lyrical metaphors and what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a Dylan mansplaining session. Her namechecks range from Amy Rigby, Emma Swift and Joan Baez to Joyce Carol Oates, Annie Hall and Jane Eyre. Pam describes Dylan as “the dangerou…

1
Daragh Carville 47:19

3+ y ago47:19

47:19

Screenwriter Daragh Carville (ITV’s The Bay) praises Dylan’s “extraordinary ear for spoken language” while reminding us that he “draws on cinema, is fascinated by storytelling but his own films don’t work at all”. All the great story-songs are explored, including Highlands (“I phoned people up, I was so excited!”), Dignity (“it never resolves but a…

1
Loudon Wainwright III 39:11

3+ y ago39:11

39:11

Sitting on the porch of his Long Island lockdown hideaway, serenaded by a local bird, Loudon Wainwright III reminds us that he was proclaimed “the first of the new Bob Dylans”. It helped me get a record deal but then it got to be a pain in the ass”. He still has a “reservoir of respect, admiration and awe” for the man and his work. “I dream about D…

1
Dan Bern 42:05

3+ y ago42:05

42:05

Singer/songwriter/podcaster/painter Dan Bern admits: “It was not lost on me, being an isolated Jewish kid in Iowa, that Bob had come from just up the road in Minnesota.” When he first heard Dylan at age 15 (“everything he was saying had a bit of a sneer to it. It was a portal for me”), he traded in his cello for a guitar and started writing songs. …

1
Rufus Jones 43:31

4y ago43:31

43:31

Actor Rufus Jones (writer and co-star of Channel 4’s Home) has hardly answered the BobPhone before he confesses that, despite his Cambridge English degree, “Dylan still scares the hell out of me”. But he’s relieved that “Bob’s entering a 'jolly grandpa' phase. He seems less concerned with preserving the myth”. Rufus references Beyoncé, the Eagles (…

1
Rob Stoner 53:07

4y ago53:07

53:07

Rolling Thunder Revue bass player and bandleader Rob Stoner on Jacques Levy, Emmylou Harris, Sam Shepard and how he “made out with Joan Baez on a motel room balcony” for Renaldo & Clara. Rob also sets the record straight on the Scorsese Netflix film: “I got a beef with that Van Dorp character!” and alerts us to his uncredited harmony vocal on Aband…

1
Danny Horn 45:13

4y ago45:13

45:13

Actor/musician Danny Horn, 31, played The Kinks’ frontman Ray Davies in the West End; but it was listening to Dylan at age 14 that changed his life. Do Dylan and Davies have anything in common? Danny tells us that - in 1967/68 - “they both made love letters to versions of their own countries that never existed. And they share a mercurial way of thi…

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Dylan French Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

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