The Third Story with Leo Sidran
THE THIRD STORY features long-form interviews with creative people of all types, hosted by musician Leo Sidran. Their stories of discovery, loss, ambition, identity, risk, and reward are deeply moving and compelling for all of us as we embark on our own creative journeys.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 8
- Latest publication
- Sep 27, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 3, 2026
Latest episodes
331: Nicole Zuraitis (opens the original)
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Nicole Zuraitis has spent much of her career being asked (and asking herself) variations of the same question: where do you fit? Is the music jazz? Is it pop? Is it cabaret? Her new album, The Devil I Knew , doesn't exactly settle the question. Instead, it makes the question seem increasingly beside the point. It's a sprawling, 20-song project produced by Larry Klein, with string arrangements by Vince Mendoza, horn charts by Jerry Hey, and musicians including Larry Goldings, John Cowherd, Gilad
Duncan Sheik (from 2020) (opens the original)
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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
330: Sullivan Fortner (opens the original)
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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 cont
329: Sofia Rei (opens the original)
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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/t
328: Ashley Kahn (opens the original)
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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 Miracl
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