{"podcast":{"title":"Connections Podcast","slug":"connections-podcast-736335","podcast_index_feed_id":736335,"rss_url":"https://publicfeeds.net/f/11479/feed-rss.xml","website_url":"https://www.wxxinews.org","image_url":"https://f.prxu.org/11479/images/ed645589-1b7e-41ff-97e9-72e5ad996f84/CONNECTIONS_1400x1400.jpeg","author":"Evan Dawson (vvolk@wxxi.org)","episode_count":50,"summary":"Evan Dawson talks about what matters to you on Connections. Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections. For transcripts, please email our Move to Include team with a link to the episode.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-22T04:21:41.243021+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/connections-podcast-736335"},"episode":{"title":"Who are the greatest living American songwriters?","slug":"who-are-the-greatest-living-american-songwriters","published_at":"2026-06-26T17:28:06+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/connections-podcast-736335/who-are-the-greatest-living-american-songwriters","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/connections-podcast-736335","url":"https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_11479_3e7bbd2a-9cc3-4754-a913-060ed5220910&uf=https%3A%2F%2Fpublicfeeds.net%2Ff%2F11479%2Ffeed-rss.xml","audio_url":"https://dovetail.prxu.org/11479/3e7bbd2a-9cc3-4754-a913-060ed5220910/Connections-Friday-Hr1-6.26.26.mp3","summary":"Recently, the New York Times and its music critics caused a bit of a dustup with its \"30 Greatest Living American Songwriters\" list. Tough assignment — and no list like that is going to make everyone happy. But the real drama happened in the responses: how the critics responded to criticism, and arguments for who should have been on that list. Musicians and writers — including Rick Beato, Ted Gioa, and Brad Mehldau — jumped into the fray with their thoughts not just on the choices, but on how those choices are made (Did Billy Joel belong on the list? Or at least deserve a little more respect from the critics?). This hour, guest host Mona Seghatoleslami and local music experts talk about the art and the craft of songwriting. In studio: Dave Chisholm, comic artist, writer and musician Anna Reguero, Ph.D., arts journalist, music scholar, and founding editor of Rochester Overture Rissa the Righter, musician and songwriter --- Connections is supported by listeners like you. Head to our donation page to become a WXXI member today, support the show, and help us close the gap created by the rescission of federal funding. --- Connections airs every weekday from noon-2 p.m. Join the conversation with questions or comments by phone at 1-844-295-TALK (8255) or 585-263-9994, email , Facebook or Twitter . Connections is also livestreamed on the WXXI News YouTube channel each day. You can watch live or access previous episodes here . --- Do you have a story that needs to be shared? Pitch your story to Connections .","meta_description":"Recently, the New York Times and its music critics caused a bit of a dustup with its \"30 Greatest Living American Songwriters\" list. Tough assignment — an…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3040,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/connections-podcast-736335/episodes/who-are-the-greatest-living-american-songwriters/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/connections-podcast-736335/who-are-the-greatest-living-american-songwriters.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}