The Pieces of David Byrne
Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Higher Ground
4.8 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 13 March 2022
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week we head to New York City to sit with the legendary David Byrne (Talking Heads). We discuss how he’s processed the pandemic (3:29), finding creativity in unlikely places (4:23), the evolution of his Broadway show ‘American Utopia’ (5:22), the influence of poet William Blake (7:26), his gift for collaboration (10:16), and the power of the song, Glass Concrete & Stone (15:30).
On the back-half, David opens up about his pivot from New Wave to Latin music (18:34), getting comfortable with creating on his own terms (21:25), and why he turned to performance as a response to being neurodivergent (29:48). He also reflects on his relationship to the Talking Heads at age 69 (34:54), the cross generational impact of his art (36:36), the unique interpretations of American Utopia (38:25), and how he “found the world” through making music (41:45).
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Pushkin |
| 0:09.0 | Hey, this is Sam. |
| 0:10.0 | If you enjoy our interviews with writers and artists on Talk Easy, then I'd recommend checking |
| 0:14.8 | out the podcast Missing Pages. Hosted by acclaimed literary critic and author Beth Ann Patrick, |
| 0:21.5 | Missing Pages investigates the biggest hot button topics in the book world today |
| 0:26.4 | with the help of special guests like New York Times Best-Selling author Jody Pekle |
| 0:31.3 | and publisher weeklies Jim Miliet. |
| 0:33.8 | Produced by the people at the Podglamaret, |
| 0:36.1 | Missing Pages explores everything from the insta frame of Colleen Hoover |
| 0:40.3 | to the rise of book bands across America to the lucrative culture of non-fiction ghost writing. |
| 0:46.0 | As both the Washington Post and the Guardian praise, |
| 0:49.0 | missing pages is a must listen. |
| 0:52.0 | So if you'd like to check it out, you can follow missing pages on |
| 0:55.0 | Apple Podcast or wherever you like to listen. This is talk easy. I'm San by artist and musician David Byrne. For the better part of a decade, |
| 1:39.0 | Byrne was the front man for the band Talking Heads, a ragtag collection of former art school students that found |
| 1:46.8 | each other in the New York punk scene of the 1970s. Together, they would become pioneers of the New Wave Movement, producing hit songs like |
| 1:55.9 | Burning Down the House, Road to Nowhere, Once in a Lifetime, Psych-Killer, and |
| 2:02.3 | this must be the place. Now most of these iconic songs appear in |
| 2:07.9 | Byrne's latest project American Utopia a dazzling Broadway musical that features Byrne and a group of 11 gifted musicians. |
| 2:17.7 | In between mounting this remarkable concert, Byrne delivers these really lovely short stories and playful |
| 2:25.8 | ruminations on everything from social anxiety to voting rights. |
| 2:30.5 | The hit show is in its final run at the St James Theater in New York City. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Higher Ground, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Higher Ground and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.