Olivia Rodrigo Talks with David Remnick

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2023

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Being called the voice of a generation might seem a little off to someone born after the millennium. But Olivia Rodrigo’s songs clearly hit home for Gen Z. She turned twenty this year, and has already been one of the biggest stars since 2021, when “Drivers License” became the No. 1 song on the planet. She won three Grammy Awards that year, including Best New Artist. One of her first public performances was on “Saturday Night Live.” Rodrigo’s second album, “Guts,” came out this month, and she remains proud to channel the frustrations of young people. “My favorite songs to sing are the really angry ones,” she told David Remnick. “Especially on tour, I’ll look out at the audience and sometimes see these very young girls, seven or eight, screaming these angry songs, so hyped and so enraged . . . . That’s not something you see on the street, but it’s just so cool that people get to express all those emotions through music.” Rodrigo talked with David Remnick about the lineage of singer-songwriters like Carole King, and dealing with social media as a young celebrity. Share your thoughts on The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:09.8	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
0:13.0	Hi.
0:13.8	Oh, there we go.
0:14.6	Wow. This is so high tech. I can hear everyone so well.
0:18.0	Isn't that unbelievable?
0:19.6	This is amazing. We're in the big times now. Wow.
0:26.5	I got my driver's license last week, just like we always talk. Olivia Rodrigo is one of the biggest
0:34.8	stars now in music, and her star rose incredibly quickly. In 2021, when she
0:41.1	was just 17, she released a song called Driver's License that became the number one song
0:46.8	on the planet. On the planet, her debut album Sauer won three Grammys, including Best New
0:53.1	Artist. And her second album, Guts, came out earlier this month.
0:58.1	I caught up with her recently for a conversation about music, writing, social media, and fame.
1:08.6	And so I talked to Gia Tolentino this morning who was great and on our staff.
1:14.5	She's amazing.
1:15.0	And she wrote about you for Vogue.
1:17.1	And she said that you're kind of new to New York.
1:20.8	Yeah, I am.
1:22.5	I just got this apartment a few months ago.
1:25.8	I'm still exploring.
1:30.4	You know, but I love it. It's the greatest city ever.
1:34.8	It does just so much inspiration constantly. So you've left Los Angeles behind forever?
	...

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