The Third Story is a weekly podcast featuring long-form interviews with creative people of all types, hosted by me, Leo Sidran.
Their stories of discovery, loss, ambition, identity, improvisation, risk, and reward are deeply moving and compelling for all of us as we embark on our own creative journeys.
Most recent episode: John Leventhal
Award winning feature film editor, producer and writer Mary Sweeney on producing, screenwriting, parenting, Paris, Cairo, pie baking, the Catholic Church, “staying tethered to what’s meaningful” and working in an intensely creative partnership with David Lynch for over 20 years.
Jazz writer and critic Nate Chinen on his new book Playing Changes, jazz criticism, displaced backbeats, the importance of live music, and the trouble with trying to define what music should and shouldn’t be. This is a conversation I’ve waited a long time to have and it was absolutely worth the wait.
Sociologist and musician Howard S. Becker on deviance, studying piano with Lennie Tristano, how in his day live music was a function of geography, strong union leadership, and cheap beer. Plus why jazz is like philosophy (the only money is teaching).
5 time Grammy winning musician, producer, songwriter, and recording engineer John Leventhal on why his initial, preanalytical ideas are the good ones, why taking chances are so important, and why there “really is no daddy”.