280: Ben Sidran | The Election

Just like we did after the 2016 and 2020 elections, I spoke with my dad Ben Sidran this week about the latest presidential election.  

True to form, it is a conversation that appears to be about one thing but is in fact about many things. What begins as a somber acknowledgement of the election results turns quickly to a sprawling discussion of everything from  Will and Ariel Durant’s massive 11-volume work, The Story of Civilization, Seinfeld, The First Council of Nicaea, Irving Berlin, Jack Kerouac, what separates humankind from the rest of the animal kingdom, bottle service, the importance of beauty, and what it means to “chop your wood and carry water.”

With Andrew Bird, October 2024.

Eventually, as it generally does, the conversation turns to the “jazz experience”, revisits Ben’s classic bebop treatise “A Good Travel Agent” which outlines the three most important “constituent parts about jazz in America” and considers “The American Century” before ending with a spontaneous performance of of Bud Powell’s composition “Time Waits” which he plays for me over the phone.