The Third Story with Leo Sidran

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Duncan Sheik (from 2020) Sep 19, 2026

Show notes

Duncan Sheik's career did not follow a straight line. After studying semiotics at Brown University, he emerged in the mid 1990s as a pop singer songwriter with his hit "Barely Breathing", and quickly revealed himself to bend toward more literate adult oriented rock. He continued to make records and land himself on the charts but also began exploring composition for film and theater. The success of 2006's Spring Awakening, a hit rock musical that featured Sheik's score (and which won the Tony for Best Original Score as well as a Grammy for Best Musical Show Album) planted him firmly in the world of Broadway. He continued to write for theater, often collaborating with poet and playwright Steven Sater. Over more than three decades he explored electronic music, folk music, and enjoyed covering songs by his favorite writers, many of whom were influential to him as a boy. In this interview, recorded in late 2020, he talked about his career, his songwriting, technology in music, how meditating and chanting have helped him throughout the years, how becoming a father influenced his work, his life in Covid and what it means to release music in strange and trying times, and what exactly Semiotics is anyway. Duncan Sheik died on September 17, 2026. This conversation is a reminder of the breadth of his curiosity and the thoughtfulness with which he approached both music and life. It offers a rare glimpse into the mind of a singular artist whose creative journey was never quite what anyone might have expected.

https://www.third-story.com/listen/duncansheik www.leosidran.substack.com

330: Sullivan Fortner Sep 14, 2026

Show notes

Sullivan Fortner is one of the most admired and influential pianists of his generation, a musician whose curiosity stretches from the traditions of jazz and gospel to synthesizers, studio experimentation and beyond.

Here Sullivan talks about growing up in New Orleans, learning to play organ in church, nearly choosing medicine over music, and the teachers and mentors who shaped his path. He reflects on studying with Barry Harris, playing with Roy Hargrove and Stefon Harris, the importance of continuing to learn no matter how far you get, and his lifelong fascination with sound.

He also talks about his relationship with Cécile McLorin Salvant, as a musical collaborator and partner in life, and how their connection has changed the way he thinks about accompaniment, lyrics, listening and space. Along the way, Sullivan discusses synesthesia, literally tasting music, making Solo Game and Leave That In There, and what it means to remain open to discovery while staying deeply connected to tradition.

A conversation about listening, learning, collaboration, curiosity, and following the music wherever it leads.

www.third-story.com www.leosidran.substack.com www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story

329: Sofia Rei Sep 02, 2026

Show notes

Argentine singer, composer and producer Sofía Rei talks about leaving Buenos Aires and rediscovering the music of home, moving beyond the boundaries of jazz, embracing electronics and production, and learning from collaborators and students. Her new album, Antónima, brings those threads together through what she calls "Folk and Futurism" a meeting place for tradition, technology and a distinctly contemporary musical identity.

www.third-story.com www.leosidran.substack.com www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story

328: Ashley Kahn Aug 21, 2026

Show notes

Forty years ago this month, Paul Simon released Graceland, an album that became one of the defining records of his career, and one of the most celebrated and debated albums of its era.

The record would go on to sell millions of copies and win the Grammy for Album of the Year. It would also generate enormous controversy over Simon's decision to record in apartheid South Africa during a cultural boycott.

Music historian Ashley Kahn tells the whole complicated story in his new book, Days of Miracle and Wonder: Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland.

Here Ashley talks about his career, the making of Graceland, Paul Simon's unusual creative process, and the complicated cultural and political questions that have followed the album for forty years.

www.third-story.com https://www.wbgo.org/podcast/art-of-the-story/2026-08-19/ashley-kahn-on-the-miracles-and-wonder-of-paul-simons-graceland https://leosidran.substack.com/

327: Ben Sidran at 83 Aug 14, 2026

Show notes

For his 83rd birthday, Ben Sidran revisits a 1974 DownBeat profile (done when he was 30) and considers what has changed - and what hasn't - over more than half a century of music and life. In his annual birthday conversation with Leo, he reflects on aging, ambition, practice and the surprising persistence of a worldview formed long ago.

www.third-story.com www.leosidran.substack.com www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story

https://youtu.be/SZY4QRpJCTw

326: Ben Wikler Jul 22, 2026

Show notes

Ben Wikler has spent his career moving between comedy and politics, communication and organizing. Growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, a city shaped by civic engagement, academic inquiry, and the satirical spirit that gave rise to The Onion, he developed a worldview in which humor isn't a distraction from democracy, but one of the ways people learn to trust one another enough to participate in it.

Wikler has become one of the country's most closely watched political organizers. He was the chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin from 2019-2025, and is the author of This Is the Plan: How to End America's Meltdown and Save Democracy.

But this conversation isn't about campaign tactics or election cycles. Instead, it's about the values and experiences that shaped him: the Wisconsin Idea, the role of humor in public life, the changing media landscape, and why curiosity, optimism, and solidarity remain essential ingredients of democratic life. Recorded at the Madison home where Ben grew up, and where he and his wife are now raising their own family, this is a conversation about place, purpose, and what it takes to keep believing in the promise of democracy.

www.third-story.com www.leosidran.substack.com www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story

325: Ben Sidran - Free In America Jul 03, 2026

Show notes

A conversation with Ben Sidran, from Greece on America's 250th birthday, about jazz, democracy, identity, and what remains when the scaffolding begins to shake.

324: Heather Aimee O'Neill Jun 19, 2026

Show notes

Before The Irish Goodbye became one of the most acclaimed debut novels of 2025, Heather Aimee O'Neill spent years quietly writing it while building a career helping other writers tell their stories.

Here, she discusses the vulnerability of ambition, the challenge of living an authentic life, and the strange transition from observer to protagonist when a lifelong dream finally comes true.

www.third-story.com www.leosidran.substack.com www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story

323: Lakecia Benjamin Jun 09, 2026

Show notes

Saxophonist and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin has become one of the most dynamic voices in jazz today. Here she talks about hanging up on Clark Terry, finding her way from Washington Heights to the international stage, and how the mentors, heroes, setbacks and aspirations that shaped her journey continue to inform her new album, We Dream.

www.third-story.com www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story

322: Miles Davis May 26, 2026

Show notes

Miles Davis spent his life searching. He changed the sound of jazz repeatedly, assembling generations of musicians around him and pushing constantly toward something new. Few artists loom so large over the history of the music.

To mark what would have been his 100th birthday today, I'm revisiting a rare 1986 conversation between Miles and my dad, Ben Sidran, recorded on the terrace of Miles' Malibu home.

At a time when Miles was reticent about revisiting his past, in this interview he reflected on Kind of Blue, his early musical development and influences, as well as his ideas about creativity, individuality and what it means to make a meaningful artistic contribution.

To start the episode, Ben and I had our own conversation about the Miles interview, his memory of doing it, how it resonated at the time and how it resonates today. In the 40 years since it was recorded, the interview has become one of the definitive documents of Miles' thinking during that period.

Ben's original interview with Miles Davis was originally made for his NPR program Sidran on Record, and is now part of his Talking Jazz project. The full archive is available at https://talkingjazz.bandcamp.com/album/talking-jazz

Today's episode image is borrowed from "Notes from the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame" produced by Quoted Studios and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

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