Ben Kweller

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

Pushkin Industries

Music, Society & Culture

4.5 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 106 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For close to three decades, Ben Kweller’s been crafting deeply personal indie rock that's both intimate and expansive. From his early days fronting the band Radish as a teenager in the '90s to his acclaimed solo career that began in the early 2000s, he's consistently delivered songs that feel raw, honest and almost conversational. But his latest album, Cover the Mirrors, finds Ben in a different place entirely. It's an unflinching examination of grief, healing, and the complicated process of moving forward after unimaginable loss.

In today’s episode we’ll talk with Ben about the death of his teenage son, Dorian. How Ben and his family embraced grief and managed to not retreat from their lives and work. And what it means to return to making and releasing music.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite Ben Kweller songs HERE.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Pushkin.
0:08.9	Hey, this is Justin Richmond from the Broken Record podcast.
0:12.1	Join me this June for a live taping of Broken Record at the Tribeca Festival, where I'll be
0:16.5	in conversation with Infinity Song, a New York-based soft rock band comprised of four siblings,
0:21.8	who will also be doing a couple of songs for us. You'll hear the artists in a career-spanning
0:26.3	conversation about their inspirations and dynamic styles. We'll be at the SVA Theater on June
0:32.0	12 at 8.30 p.m. To find tickets, visit Tribecafilm.com slash broken record, all lowercase. That's
0:39.1	Tribecafilm.com slash broken record. Hope to see you there. You're listening to an IHeart podcast.
0:49.0	Hey, it's Justin. Did you know you can listen to Broken Record on Amazon Music? And you can listen to
0:53.7	your favorite podcasts in the app
0:55.7	so you can do all your listening in one place.
0:58.5	Plus, Amazon Prime members get access to the largest catalog
1:01.5	of ad-free top podcasts.
1:03.9	Start listening.
1:04.9	Download the Amazon Music app, search for Broken Record,
1:07.9	and click follow to keep up with the new episodes.
1:10.8	You can also ask Alexa to play Broken Record and click follow to keep up with the new episodes.
1:14.4	You can also ask Alexa to play Broken Record on Amazon Music.
1:20.1	For close to three decades, Ben Quellar's been crafting deeply personal indie rock that's both intimate and expansive. From his early days, fronting the band Radish as a teenager in the
1:24.9	90s to his acclaimed solo career that began in the early 2000s.
1:29.1	He's consistently delivered songs that feel raw, honest, and almost conversational.
1:34.8	But his latest album, Cover the Mears, finds Ben in a different place entirely.
	...

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