What you discover when you really listen | Hrishikesh Hirway (re-release and interview)
4/25/202650 min
“Every conversation has the potential to open up and reveal all the layers and layers within it, all those rooms within rooms," says musician and host of the beloved podcast Song Exploder, Hrishikesh Hirway. In this profoundly moving talk from 2022, he offers a guide to deep conversations and explores what you learn when you take that same kind of close listening we often give to music, and turn it toward people.
A lot has changed for Hrishikesh since this popular talk was released, and after more than a decade helping other artists tell their stories and helping us think about listening in new ways, he's got a new solo album that just came out, called In the Last Hour of Light, which he describes as a memoir of sorts. Elise Hu, host of TED Talks Daily, caught up with him earlier this month to talk about his new album, how his ideas about listening have evolved since his talk, and what his own creative process looks like today. They also do a mini Song Exploder of sorts to take a peak into Hrishikesh's own songwriting process, breaking down one of the new songs on this album, "Things Change, Even Now," (co-written with Vagabond), which is shared in full at the end of the episode.
This episode originally aired in 2022. The interview was recorded in April 2026.
Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsElise Hu· Host0:00
[intro music] You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. When was the last time you really listened to someone? Not while checking your phone, not while waiting for your turn to talk, but actually let their words land. It's harder than it sounds, and it might be the most important thing we've stopped doing.
Hrishikesh Hirway· Soundbite0:25
It's easy to get distracted, and we tend to listen to other people that way too. But you can't really get immersed if that's the case. Imagine trying to listen to a song while singing a different song in your head. You can't do it, or you can't do it well, and you can't fully appreciate what someone else is saying if you're thinking about something else.
Elise Hu· Host0:42
That's Hrishikesh Hirway, creator and host of Song Exploder, the beloved podcast and Netflix show where musicians break down how a song was made layer by layer. In twenty twenty-one, he gave a TED Talk about what happens when you take that same kind of listening and turn it toward people.
Hrishikesh Hirway· Soundbite0:58
I started to wonder, could I try listening to people the way that I was trying to listen to music? Because when someone tells you something, just like with a song, there can be all these layers within it. There can be all this context that you're missing.
Elise Hu· Host1:13
It's a talk that stays with you, partly because of what he teaches and partly because of what he shares, including a beautiful song about his mom called Between Here and There, featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma. After more than a decade helping other artists tell their stories