Podsongs

About Podsongs

Musicians interview inspirational people as inspiration for a new song.

Publisher

Jack Stafford

Category

music

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

21 Nov 2020

Latest episode

23 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

194 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   23 Sept 2026

   Meggan Watterson on Mary Magdalene, the Missing Gospel Pages & Finding Your People | Corey Kilgannon

   "It's not finding the one. It's finding the many." — Meggan Watterson Florida folk singer-songwriter Corey Kilgannon returns to Podsongs (his first visit gave us "Lost Connections") to interview Harvard-trained feminist theologian Meggan Watterson, author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Mary Magdalene Revealed and The Girl Who Baptized Herself. Corey arrives with an honest question about anger and what his role is in the feminist reckoning inside Christianity. Meggan answers with a different idea of power: one nobody can ever take from you. From the pages torn out of the Gospel of Mary, to the supper clubs that kept the early Christ movement alive under empire, to why the answer to our times isn't finding the one but finding the many. Singer-songwriter Jake Wesley Rogers drops in to sing. Meggan's call for "a new song, a new story" became Corey's new single, down to the Greek word she unpacks for him: nous, the spiritual eye of the heart. New single "Herstory" by Corey Kilgannon — out 2 October. Stream/pre-save: https://ffm.to/herstory CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome to Podsongs 00:23 Corey Gets the Assignment 01:11 Gushing Over Mary Magdalene Revealed 03:04 Righteous Rage and New Power 09:22 One Eye Inward One Outward 10:27 Cleveland Florida and Spiritual Practice 15:35 Finding the Many Community 20:05 Early Church Supper Clubs 23:39 Contemplative Christianity and Inner Authority 30:53 Artists as Mystics 32:41 Missing Pages of the Gospel of Mary 35:41 Mind Between Soul Matter 37:11 Nous Spiritual Heart Eye 38:48 Mary Secret Teachings 39:46 Missing Pages Inner Work 42:48 Unworthiness False Hierarchies 45:34 Mercy Anchors Love 48:09 Mary Magdalene Film Review 53:45 Debrief Books And Practice 56:37 Yoga Christianity Links 01:02:17 Recording Anxiety Craft 01:05:08 Closing Song New Story GUEST & MUSICIAN Meggan Watterson: https://www.megganwatterson.com Corey Kilgannon: https://www.instagram.com/corey_kilgannon // SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL // Newsletter, donations and download the song for €/$1 @ https://podsongs.com // LINKS // Website: https://podsongs.com Podcast episodes: https://podsongs.com/podcast-episodes Songs: https://podsongs.com/music Spotify artist: https://open.spotify.com/artist/32FYyRx1y1ex3jHHAgLMC7 Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6sN1viy82HPiNTVX2YBxpq // SOCIAL // Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsongs Instagram: https://instagram.com/podsongs Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsongs #Podsongs #MegganWatterson #CoreyKilgannon #MaryMagdalene #GospelOfMary #DivineFeminine #Herstory

2. 

   19 Aug 2026

   Juliet Marillier on nature magic, druidry and the doubt that never leaves w/Sophie Janna

   "You have to hold on to hope." — Juliet Marillier Dutch folk singer Sophie Janna was 14 when she read Daughter of the Forest. Twenty-four years later she finally gets to ask its author the questions she's been carrying since. Juliet Marillier — the New Zealand-born, Western Australia-based novelist behind the Sevenwaters saga and the Blackthorn & Grim novels, and winner of the 2025 World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award — talks about the marriage that ended, the office job, and the first novel she wrote over three years purely to put her feelings on the page. She talks about being a musician long before she was a writer, about belonging to a druid order, about the trees in an Irish wood she was warned away from, and about the morning she lifted a magpie off a picket fence — a moment that became the opening scene of her new novel, The Amber Owl. Sophie takes the conversation into the song, and writes it back into the book that started her: the silent sister, the needle, and the word that must not be spoken. New single "Hold On" by Sophie Janna — out 28 August. Stream/pre-save: https://ffm.to/holdon-sophiejanna CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome to Podsongs 00:40 Meet Sophie Janner 01:09 Falling for Daughter 02:43 Songs from the Books 04:13 Juliet’s Late Start 05:27 What Her Stories Are 07:27 Juliet Joins the Call 09:24 From Music to Writing 11:15 Writing Through Crisis 17:36 Music in Her Fiction 20:43 Roots in Scotland 25:07 Researching Wolfskin 30:47 Forests and Climate 35:39 Art as Activism 38:19 Self Doubt Reflections 40:35 Writing Battles Hard 43:18 Creating Despite Doubts 44:56 Rethinking Soulmates 49:27 Libraries And Access 52:46 Comfort Reads And Moomins 54:43 Finland Research Trip 58:29 Believing In Nature Magic 01:04:11 Magpie Rescue Inspiration 01:08:34 Signing Off And Aftertalk SONG CREDITS "Hold On" performed by Sophie Janna Massimino Voza: drums, piano Luigi Falcione: bass Maurizio Sarnicola: electric guitar, mellotron Mixed and mastered at Goldmine Records, Italy GUEST & MUSICIAN Juliet Marillier: https://julietmarillier.com Sophie Janna: https://sophiejanna.nl // SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL // Newsletter, donations and download the song for €/$1 @ https://podsongs.com // LINKS // Website: https://podsongs.com Podcast episodes: https://podsongs.com/podcast-episodes Songs: https://podsongs.com/music Spotify artist: https://open.spotify.com/artist/32FYyRx1y1ex3jHHAgLMC7 Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6sN1viy82HPiNTVX2YBxpq // SOCIAL // Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsongs Instagram: https://instagram.com/podsongs Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsongs #Podsongs #JulietMarillier #SophieJanna #folk #TheAmberOwl #druid #folklore

3. 

   14 Jul 2026

   Joel McHale's Untold Dave Grohl Story, Secret 5AM Ritual & More | Lowland Hum | Podsongs #173)

   Joel McHale reveals his secret 5am pre-flight ritual, the secret to his marriage, and a Dave Grohl story he's never told — plus, hidden in this hour, the confession that becomes Lowland Hum's new song "Tarantula" on Friday. | Podsongs #173 "I'm Irish, so I could drink turpentine and it would be fine." — Joel McHale Husband-and-wife folk duo Lowland Hum (Daniel and Lauren Goans) guest-host Podsongs from a friend's studio near their Virginia log cabin and interview comedian and actor Joel McHale (Community, The Soup, Animal Control, Crime Scene Kitchen, Scream 7). Inside this hour: the thing he drinks at 5am before every single flight, the reason he refuses to check a bag, the backstage Dave Grohl story he's never told anywhere, the one thing his wife never does that keeps the marriage working, what cobra actually tastes like, packing procrastination as an existential crisis, an animal that "in two months could kill us all" — and somewhere in all of it, the moment that became Lowland Hum's new single "Tarantula". Even Joel doesn't know which one. See if you can spot it before the song drops. New single "Tarantula" by Lowland Hum — out Friday 24 July 2026. Pre-save it and hear the answer the moment it lands: https://ffm.to/tarantula CHAPTERS 00:00 Warm welcome and delays 00:25 Log cabin heat wave chaos 01:17 Woods talk and how memory fragments 02:26 Joel's inside-outside portal office 04:10 Seattle roots and Northwest life 07:00 Meet the host, Jack 08:06 Travel, airports and kid logistics 10:39 Joel's 5am airport ritual and travel kit 13:33 Packing anxiety and style trends 19:02 The perfect pants rabbit hole 23:54 Do acting roles follow you home? 32:48 Flow state across standup, hosting and Scream 7 35:51 Lowland Hum's origin story and gratitude 39:15 Therapy, the inner critic and motivation 43:31 The emotional dial and tour energy 46:32 Tour van naps 46:53 Saying yes to everything: the hustle 48:29 Pro mode onstage 51:40 Collaboration chemistry and 20-year friendships 54:48 The blindfolded audience experiment 01:00:03 Music nerd tangents and the untold Dave Grohl story 01:06:24 Tarantulas and cougars 01:12:27 Food memories and Rome 01:15:32 Goodbyes and the blindfold show 01:19:00 Aftershow: finding the song's entry point 01:24:46 Patreon and community 01:28:08 Closing song tease GUEST & MUSICIAN Joel McHale: https://joelmchale.com Lowland Hum: https://www.lowlandhum.com // SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL // Newsletter, donations and download the song for €/episode: @ https://podsongs.com // LINKS // Website: https://podsongs.com Podcast episodes: https://podsongs.com/podcast-episodes Songs: https://podsongs.com/music Spotify artist: https://open.spotify.com/artist/32FYyRx1y1ex3jHHAgLMC7 Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6sN1viy82HPiNTVX2YBxpq // SOCIAL // Twitter: https://twitter.com/podsongs Instagram: https://instagram.com/podsongs Facebook: https://facebook.com/podsongs #Podsongs #JoelMcHale #LowlandHum #Tarantula #indiefolk #Community

Who has been a guest on Podsongs

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Ceschi Ramos
• Ocean Vuong
• Anne Michaels
• Svavar Knútur
• Neil

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

425,274

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.5 / 5

13 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

6 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 81 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

95

Social presence

0

YouTube

86

Engagement

82

Contact Podsongs

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Podsongs