The Ezra Klein Show - A Breath of Fresh Air With Brian Eno

Brian Eno’s music opens up worlds I love to step into during trying times. And this conversation with Eno did the same thing.

Eno is a trailblazing musician and producer who’s worked on seminal records by U2, David Bowie, the Talking Heads and Coldplay, among others. But Eno isn’t just a great collaborator with other artists; he’s also a great collaborator with machines. He’s been experimenting with music technology for decades. Long before we started worrying about ChatGPT replacing human creativity, Eno was tinkering with generative systems to pioneer ambient music – a genre that has deeply influenced how we listen to music today. Eno’s use (and playful misuse) of technology has expanded the possibilities of what music and sound can be.

Many of you emailed in asking for a break from the news. Here it is.

This episode contains strong language.

Mentioned:

What Art Does by Brian Eno and Bette Adriaanse

East West Street by Philippe Sands

Silence by John Cage

Book Recommendations:

Printing and the Mind of Man edited by John Carter and Percy H. Muir

A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander

Naples ’44 by Norman Lewis

Music Recommendations:

The Rural Blues

“The Velvet Underground” by the Velvet Underground

The Consolers

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.

You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Mary Marge Locker, Kate Sinclair and Michelle Harris. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Jack McCordick, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Aman Sahota and Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. Transcript editing by Sarah Murphy. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. And special thanks to Geeta Dayal, Jack Hamilton, Victor Szabo and Sophie Abramowitz.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Unexpected Elements - Science inspired by Taylor Swift

The launch of Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, has inspired this week’s episode of Unexpected Elements.

First up, we hear how a Brazilian songbird courts its mate as part of a boyband. We then find out about the microbes that dance to survive in their extreme habitat.

Next up, Professor Troy Magney, a forest ecophysiologist at the University of Montana, tells us about his TSWIFT machine and how it can assess the health of the planet’s forests.

Also in the programme, we find out why migratory birds trick weather data, how fish sing, and how hackers used SWIFT bank payments to nearly pull off a billion-dollar heist.

All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Godfred Boafo Producers: Imaan Moin and Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Robbie Wojciechowski and Lucy Davies

NBN Book of the Day - Vincent Pak, “Queer Correctives: Discursive Neo-homophobia, Sexuality and Christianity in Singapore” (Bloomsbury, 2025)

Queer Correctives: Discursive Neo-homophobia, Sexuality and Christianity in Singapore (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025) explores Christian discourses of sex and sexuality in Singapore to argue that metanoia, the theological concept of spiritual transformation, can be read as a form of neo-homophobia that coaxes change in the queer individual.

In Singapore, Christian discourses of sex and sexuality have materialised in the form of testimonials that detail the pain and suffering of homosexuality, and how Christianity has been a salve for the tribulations experienced by the storytellers. This book freshly engages with Michel Foucault's posthumous and final volume of The History of Sexuality by revitalising his work on biblical metanoia to understand it as a form of neo-homophobia. Drawing on Foucauldian critical theory and approaches in discourse studies, it shows how language is at the centre of this particular iteration of neo-homophobia, one that no longer finds value in overt expressions of hate and disdain for those with non-normative sexualities, but relies extensively on seemingly neutral calls for change and transformation in personal lives.
Queer Correctives takes Singapore as a case study to examine neo-homophobic phenomena, but its themes of change and transformation embedded in discourse will be relevant for scholars interested in contemporary iterations of Foucault's concepts of discipline and technologies of the self. Together with interview data from religious sexual minorities in Singapore, it captures a burgeoning form of homophobic discursive practices that eludes mainstream criticism to harm through change and transformation.

About Vincent Pak:

Vincent Pak is Assistant Lecturer at The University of Hong Kong. His work is located in the fields of sociocultural linguistics and linguistic anthropology, where he’s interested in matters of gender, sexuality, and race. His monograph, Queer Correctives, considers the emergence of neo-homophobia in Singapore.

About Pavan Mano:

Pavan Mano is Lecturer in Global Cultures in the Department of Interdisciplinary Humanities at King's College London. He works at the intersections of critical & literary theory, politics and culture. His first monograph, Straight Nation (Manchester UP, 2025), interrogates postcolonial nationalism and the governance of sexuality in Singapore.

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What A Day - What Happens When We Can’t Rely On Federal Data

Because of the government shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will not release its monthly unemployment and jobs survey today. But that’s probably not a big deal to President Donald Trump, who has apparently decided that the best statistics are the ones that either say what he wants to hear, or are simply never heard at all.  The most expensive extreme weather events, which facilities are creating the most pollution, quarterly reports, incidents of domestic terrorism, the number of people who need food assistance…these are all statistics Americans need to know. And these are all forms of data under attack by the Trump administration. And this started long before the shutdown. America has been a world leader at collecting data on everything from the number of bison living in Plains states to the divorce rate – but our data supremacy might be coming to an end. And that’s really, really bad, for reasons we might not even know yet. So to find out more about the stats we’re losing, and what else we’re losing in the process, we spoke to Denice Ross. She’s a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists and former U.S. Chief Data Scientist for the Biden administration.

And in headlines, President Donald Trump determines the US is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, the Trump administration punishes a slew of blue states by cancelling nearly $8-billion in grants for their clean energy projects, and the lastest update in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case.

Show Notes:


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The NewsWorthy - Shutdown Fallout, New Abortion Pill & ‘Life of a Showgirl’ Frenzy – Friday, October 3, 2025

The news to know for Friday, October 3, 2025!

We’ll tell you where President Trump is promising to make permanent cuts during this government shutdown.

Also, we’re talking about a new notice telling Congress the U.S. is at war with drug cartels.

And the backlash over a new abortion pill that just got the FDA’s approval.

Plus: the latest records broken on Wall Street, the reason many conservatives are quitting Netflix, and the frenzy over Taylor Swift’s newest album that came out overnight.

 

Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes! 

 

Join us every Mon-Fri for more daily news roundups! 

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Pod Save America - Affordable Healthcare is Worth Fighting For

After Republicans refuse to negotiate with Democrats on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, the government shuts down. Dan and Alex Wagner, Pod Save America's newest contributor, discuss what Democrats will need to do to hold the line; Project 2025 architect Russ Vought's attacks on blue states and federal employees; and the Democratic-Republican messaging fight that's devolved into an AI-fueled meme war. Then, the two break down Trump's threats — and Hegseth's grievances — at an unprecedented meeting of the military's top brass, Trump's new political demands for universities, and some much-needed good news about free speech, Fed Chair Lisa Cook, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Get tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.com


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The Best One Yet - 🌮 “Choco Taco 2.0” — Salt & Straw’s Taco Bell collab. Electric Cars’ last call. Interview with Friend AI’s CEO. +AOL RIP

The founder of Friend joins the pod for an interview… And announces he’s making a Friend AI movie.

Taco Bell and Salt & Straw resurrected the Choco Taco… It’s a new playbook for collabs.

Electric cars sales hit a record last Q… but it reminds us of the cannabis industry.

Plus, AOL is getting sold… and your screen name is its most valuable asset.


Check out the full interview with Avi Schiffman on our Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod 


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About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.



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WSJ Tech News Briefing - Using AI to See the Hidden Signs of Breast Cancer

Researchers and companies are designing AI algorithms that can detect signs of breast cancer in mammograms before those signs are visible to the human eye. WSJ reporter Brianna Abbott joins to share how these advanced AI tools compare against current risk-detection methods. Plus, personal tech columnist Nicole Nguyen discusses some features from Google's Gemini and Amazon's Alexa+ that promise to make smart homes even smarter. Peter Champelli hosts.


Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | Who Owns TikTok Now?

TikTok exploded to popularity not by giving users what they asked for—but by figuring out what users really were interested in, and serving that. 


What happens to this algorithm if Bytedance cedes control of it to the U.S.? 


Guest: Emily Baker White, senior writer at Forbes and the author of Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok


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NPR's Book of the Day - Two new history books use the past to explain what’s important now

Two new history books make a strong case for why learning about the past is critical to understanding the world today. First, History Matters is a posthumous collection of writings by American historian David McCullough. In today’s episode, co-editor Dorie McCullough Lawson and historian Jon Meacham tell NPR’s Scott Simon about McCullough’s endless curiosity. Then, in Midnight on the Potomac, Scott Ellsworth explores little-known corners of Civil War history. In today’s episode, he speaks with Here & Now’s Sarah McCammon about long-held myths about the period.

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