Ethel Cain Interview! On Knowing When to Apologize & When to Stand Firm

Popcast

The New York Times

Music Interviews, Music Commentary, Music

3.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 30 July 2025

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The singer discusses returning to the spotlight following a successful debut, an ambient detour and some recent controversy.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to The New York Times Popcast, your house in Nebraska of weekly cultural review.
0:04.8	I'm John Caramonica, a critic of the New York Times.
0:07.3	I'm Joe Koskarelli. I'm a reporter at The New York Times.
0:10.1	My name is Hayden Onidonia, also known as Ethel Cain, and I am from Florida.
0:14.7	It's just not my year, but I'm all good I'm saying it like a big
0:24.2	I feel outnumbered here
0:26.7	It's true, a lot of Florida energy
0:28.0	There's a lot of Florida
0:29.1	I feel like I have to like inch back a little bit
0:31.2	I forgot you from Florida
0:32.2	I wonder if there's Floridian wisdom
0:34.0	that you think I is just a humble New Yorker
0:36.2	am not accessing I think everything Right? Yeah, like you don? Yeah. I don't know if it's like a wisdom as much as it's like a crassness. Yeah. Florida's just like do whatever you want the musical. Yeah. Every day. Mm-hmm. Yes. Which is kind of a problem when you leave Florida and you're like, oh God, there, there's roles. Or not, maybe.
0:54.7	All right, I'm going to do a little intro for you and then we'll kick it off.
0:58.3	Ethel Cain is the stage name and persona of Hayden and Adonia, a singer and songwriter from Perry, Florida.
1:05.3	Yes.
1:05.7	Shout out to Perry.
1:06.6	Shout out Taylor County.
1:07.8	As Ethel Cain, she has been one of the defining and least likely pop
1:12.4	cult sensations of the last few years. She's capable of writing pop songs like Crush.
1:22.8	Also has a very experimental side. We'll get to that.
1:28.0	Preacher's daughter, Ethel Cain's debut album.
	...

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