What happens when everything gets more convenient—but somehow less human?

Kate and Richie start with broken smart homes, forty-year-old refrigerators, Broadway auditions that now require a home studio, Regenerative Economics, and whether everything needs to be optimized, upgraded, automated and monetized forever.

Then they remember this is a music podcast.

Richie takes us through his guitar history—from learning The Cars in a Colorado bedroom and improvising to “House of the Rising Sun,” through punk, Tool, Eric Johnson, The Living End, Joe Satriani, John Mayer, Yngwie Malmsteen, and an unreasonable double dose of DragonForce. Along the way: learning badly before learning well, boredom as a gateway to improvisation, and why beatboxing felt more physical than guitar.

Kate’s playlist goes elsewhere: a slow Texas summer with Baden Powell, Erasmo Carlos, Ponto BR, Arooj Aftab’s “Mohabbat,” Sabor a Mí, José González, Congolese rumba, New Orleans funk, jazz fusion, and Sam Cooke singing “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Also: a black kite outside a Mumbai bedroom window and a defense of pigeons.

They talk about how cultures influence one another, what happens when style becomes uniform, and why a great recommendation algorithm can’t replace another person saying, “You have to hear this.”

Maybe breaking out of the algorithm is less about defeating it than staying curious: listening to the radio, asking friends what they’re playing, hearing songs you might not like, and bringing back the listening party.

Also discussed: Hot Topic goths, Paganini and the devil, Monty Python, Trombone Shorty, and Old Rich and Gold Rush Jane.

Make sure to review our episode and share it with music fans who are tired of the algorithms!

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Produced and Edited by Kate Bass and Richard Steighner

🟢 Full Playlist on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3fp04ecwgpiVup7EMblqOB?si=9802077ae8dd4d29&pt_success=1&nd=1&dlsi=c83ecb51363f470f

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https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/entry-points-9/pl.u-11zBXNYi7kKME9

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