Life in Seven Songs
What songs tell your life story? Host Sophie Bearman asks this question of some of the world’s most fascinating people. Through seven songs, guests reveal the milestones—and the music—that have shaped their lives. New episodes every Tuesday.
Episodes
January 6, 2026 • 36 mins
Long before he founded the dating app Hinge, Justin McLeod was a little boy in Louisville, Kentucky, belting out Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” from the backseat of his mom’s car. Looking back, that song feels almost prophetic, after Justin met – and briefly lost – the love of his life, only to win her back with a big, movie-worthy gesture.
In this episode, Justin charts the story of building one of t...
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December 30, 2025 • 29 mins
Belinda Carlisle says she’s been hit by lightning three times in her career: first with the success of the Go-Go’s, then with her solo hit “Mad About You,” and most of all with the global sensation “Heaven is a Place on Earth.” But behind that meteoric success, Belinda struggled for decades with a debilitating addiction to drugs, alcohol, and the chaos that came with them.
In this episode, Belinda traces her journey from a turbule...
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December 23, 2025 • 33 mins
Today on the show, we're re-running a listener favorite: our interview with longtime journalist and media entrepreneur Kara Swisher, who's been covering Silicon Valley and the Internet since the days of dial-up. She’s taken nearly all of technology's titans to task with a fearless, no-nonsense style. But in this episode, she shows another side of herself: the “San Francisco liberal lesbian who loves country music and wanted to be i...
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December 16, 2025 • 29 mins
Mayim Bialik has seemingly done it all: she became a beloved teen star on Blossom, earned a PhD in neuroscience, then returned to TV to play a neuroscientist on The Big Bang Theory. She’s written books, hosts a popular podcast, and is a mother of two. But after a lifetime of slipping in and out of different roles since the time she was 11, Mayim is taking a step back and asking herself a fundamental question: When you strip away al...
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December 9, 2025 • 34 mins
John Grant’s music is known for its brutal honesty – songs about desire, rage, and shame. But the story behind that voice is even more extraordinary.
Raised in a religious household where being gay meant losing your family and being rejected by society, John grew up believing he deserved the violence and hostility he faced.And yet, what stands out most when John tells his story is not the pain but the persistence – his ability to...
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December 2, 2025 • 31 mins
From the outside, Nico Rosberg lived every young racer’s dream: born to a Formula One world champion, raised with a go-kart track in his backyard, and the Monaco Grand Prix roaring outside his bedroom window. But behind the glamour was a different story: one of a sensitive young man dealing with crushing pressure and a bitter friendship-turned-rivalry with Lewis Hamilton that pushed him to his limits.
In this episode, Nico talks...
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November 25, 2025 • 27 mins
Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi didn’t set out to become a dessert icon. She just knew that if there was one thing she’d like to do every day for the rest of her life, it was baking cookies. That instinct led her from the world of New York City fine dining to the early days of Momofuku, where David Chang pushed Christina to pursue her passion for baking.
Since then, Milk Bar has become synonymous with cereal milk ice cream and com...
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November 18, 2025 • 36 mins
Michael Schur is the creative force behind some of the most beloved comedies of the past two decades: The Good Place, Parks and Rec, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and most recently, A Man On The Inside, starring Ted Danson.
If Mike’s face looks familiar, it might be from his scene-stealing performance as Mose Schrute on The Office, on which Mike was also a writer. Mike’s shows have a distinctive signature: they don’t just make you laugh – t...
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November 17, 2025 • 4 mins
Pacific Standard Time is smart, surprising weekly podcast about California’s future—and why what happens here matters everywhere and to everyone. Hosted by SF Standard culture editor Emily Dreyfuss and enterprise reporter Jesse Alejandro Cottrell. New episodes Wednesday mornings, beginning Nov. 19.
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November 11, 2025 • 33 mins
When Andrew Ahn’s family rented “The Wedding Banquet” in the early 1990s, they didn’t realize it was a queer film. They also had no idea that 30 years later, Andrew would write and direct his own version of the film.
For many years, Andrew felt his queer and Korean American identities were in conflict. But reconciling those parts of himself has helped Andrew become one of the freshest filmmakers working today – directing the Emm...
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November 4, 2025 • 35 mins
Long before he became the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara was a first-generation Indian immigrant, listening to Bollywood music in his childhood home outside of Asbury Park, New Jersey. It’s no surprise that Bruce Springsteen became one of Preet’s heroes – though it was a surprise when ‘The Boss’ gave Preet a personal shoutout at a 2012 concert.
In this episode, Preet talks about his work fight...
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October 28, 2025 • 30 mins
Pepi Sonuga always knew she would become a performer. Even as a little girl in Lagos, Nigeria, watching “Barney” tapes that her flight attendant mother brought home, Pepi felt certain that someday, she’d be the one onscreen. That childhood conviction helped Pepi survive the culture shock of moving to Los Angeles at age 10, teen bullying, and years of grinding in an industry that tried to tell her, over and over, that she was replac...
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October 21, 2025 • 31 mins
Miss Peppermint wears a lot of hats (and wigs): drag queen, first openly trans woman on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Broadway actress, Traitors contestant – and through it all, vocal trans rights activist.
She’s also hilarious, fabulous, and unapologetically herself.
In this episode, Peppermint dishes on her early queer icons (think Prince and Amadeus), the danger and drama of the ’90s NYC nightclub scene – and why she’s always wanted t...
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October 14, 2025 • 37 mins
As the host and creator of numerous hit culture podcasts, Sam Sanders is known for having a finger on the pulse of pop culture. But growing up strictly Pentecostal in Texas, non-religious music was forbidden – so Sam got resourceful, smuggling CDs into the house in his underwear and watching MTV in secret.
At 18 years old, just as he was getting ready to leave for Stanford, Sam’s life was turned upside down. Both of his parents su...
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October 7, 2025 • 33 mins
Sonia Manzano knows you think of her as Maria on Sesame Street – and that’s exactly the point. Growing up in the South Bronx in a household “ruled by domestic violence,” TV was Sonia’s refuge as a child – but she never saw anyone who looked like her.
Years later, when she landed the role of Maria on Sesame Street, Sonia made a choice. She wouldn’t play a character; she would be herself – on purpose. For 44 years, she served as an ...
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September 30, 2025 • 33 mins
After 25 years with American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland is taking her final bow this October. Just ahead of her last performance, the groundbreaking ballerina – who made history as ABT’s first Black female principal dancer – joins Sophie to reflect on her journey.
From a shy girl nicknamed “Mouse” who grew up without a home for much of her childhood in Southern California, to a stunning career on the stages of Lincoln Center a...
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September 23, 2025 • 38 mins
Jamie Brisick was living the California dream – a pro surfer sponsored by Quicksilver, traveling the world and competing on the ASP World Tour. But beneath the “Malibu Barbie” facade, tragedy was brewing: his brother was descending into a drug addiction that would soon claim his life. Jamie left the world of surfing and reinvented himself as a writer, with his words appearing in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Guardian....
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September 16, 2025 • 26 mins
To celebrate one year of Life in Seven Songs, Sophie answers some burning questions about the show, shares a few songs off her list, and turns the mic to you — our listeners — to hear about the songs tied to your life stories. Here are your songs:
Ronan Keating - When You Say Nothing At All
Glass Animals - Heat Waves
Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue
The B-52's - Roam
Radiohead - Paranoid Android
Carole King - B...
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September 9, 2025 • 35 mins
This week, we Willkommen actor and musician Josh Radnor! Josh is best known for playing Ted Mosby on the hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother for nearly a decade. But that success came at an unexpected cost: an identity crisis that left him feeling trapped in a character he didn’t create.
In this episode, Josh talks about his formative role as the MC in his high school’s production of Cabaret, his first “almost kiss” (soundtracked by ...
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September 2, 2025 • 29 mins
Dr. Orna Guralnik broke barriers by bringing actual therapy sessions to millions of viewers through Showtime’s hit docuseries “Couples Therapy” — but her rebellious streak started much earlier.
In this episode, Dr. Guralnik talks about the songs that transformed her into a "real" teenager, the therapist who changed her life, and how music has sparked both connection and conflict in her family. Plus, she draws a surprising line b...
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