Courtney Barnett Writer’s Block, Scrapped Songs, and Why Some Tracks Just Won’t Leave You Alone

Stephen Wilson Jr. calls singing Chris Cornell’s part of “Hunger Strike” alongside Eddie Vedder at Ohana Festival one of the greatest moments of his life, and he tells Kyle Meredith how a cover he recorded just for himself led to sharing the stage with one of his heroes. The two also get into his recent run of singles, including how a last-minute writing session with Miranda Lambert turned into “Hardwired,” why interpolating the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” gives both songs an entirely different meaning, and how his music keeps finding connections he never planned. Wilson also opens up about “Cornerman,” which he sees as a sequel to “Father's Son,” and the realization that moving forward after Son of Dad might mean finally letting go of his father, even as he continues to show up in the songs. Plus, the former scientist and boxer talks about turning the Ryman Auditorium into a boxing ring, his dad’s love of Muhammad Ali, and why making music sometimes feels like having a friend and an opponent in the same corner. Listen to Stephen Wilson Jr. chat about all this and more or watch it on YouTube. Please take the time to like, review, and subscribe to KMW wherever you get your podcasts, and keep up to date with all our series by following the Consequence Podcast Network.

Ariel Winter says playing a sarcastic, cynical character like Sabrina Grimm comes pretty naturally, mostly because she recognizes a little of herself in the role. The Modern Family star talks with Kyle Meredith about Season 2 of The Sisters Grimm, why the show’s themes of family and foster children matter just as much as its fairy-tale adventures, and how she found Sabrina’s voice by channeling a younger version of herself. Winter also looks at returning to Sofia the First, discovering that fans are following her from one magical world to another, and the strange experience of voicing animated characters who never have to grow up, even as she does. Listen to Ariel Winter chat about all this and more or watch it on YouTube. Please take the time to like, review, and subscribe to KMW wherever you get your podcasts, and keep up to date with all our series by following the Consequence Podcast Network.

Getting older just means getting louder for Danny Elfman and Filter’s Richard Patrick. Both catch up with Kyle Meredith backstage at Louder Than Life 2026, where Elfman reveals how Tool’s Fear Inoculum got him through hours of tattooing, why he never expected to return to the stage, and how his next album comes with a David Lynch-inspired movie featuring Slash, Thundercat, and Caleb Landry Jones. Meanwhile, Patrick says he’s making the heaviest music of his career with A Place to Kill, talks about Ministry’s massive influence on Filter, and previews the upcoming album The Antidote, which picks up where The Algorithm left off. They also get into their work scoring films, the freedom of jumping between musical worlds, and why neither one seems particularly interested in mellowing out. Listen to Danny Elfman and Richard Patrick chat about all this and more or watch it on YouTube. Please take the time to like, review, and subscribe to KMW wherever you get your podcasts, and keep up to date with all our series by following the Consequence Podcast Network.

V/H/S/MIXTAPE turns music into a weapon, and RZA, David Moreau, Ernest Dickerson, and Renee Zhan each found a very different way to make that nightmare work. The four filmmakers talk with Kyle Meredith about the music-driven V/H/S installment, from RZA sampling the sounds of New York and imagining the “tone in death,” to Moreau weaponizing total silence inside an anechoic chamber, Dickerson recruiting Flying Lotus for an alien musical battle, and Zhan discovering that the puppeteers at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop were more than ready to get bloody. RZA also considers taking his horrifying finished track one step further and actually putting some verses on it. Listen to RZA, Ernest Dickerson, David Moreau & Renee Zhan chat about all this and more or watch it on YouTube. Please take the time to like, review, and subscribe to KMW wherever you get your podcasts, and keep up to date with all our series by following the Consequence Podcast Network.

Mike Flanagan had the same first reaction a lot of people did to another Carrie adaptation: “Why?” and he tells Kyle Meredith that he wouldn’t touch Stephen King’s story until he had a good answer, which meant looking at what cruelty, bullying, empathy, and being a teenager mean right now. The writer/director, along with Summer H. Howell, Samantha Sloyan, Amber Midthunder, Matthew Lillard, Alison Thornton, Josie Totah, Joel Oulette, and Arthur Conti join Kyle to dig into the month of rehearsals, Flanagan’s no-phones and no-sides rules, finding sympathy in characters who do some awful things, and how Totah turned Tina into a role Flanagan initially didn’t even like. And then there’s Conti, who looks great behind the wheel of that muscle car despite failing two driving tests and having somebody in a wig do the actual driving. Listen to Mike Flanagan, Summer H. Howell, Samantha Sloyan, Amber Midthunder, Matthew Lillard, Alison Thornton, Josie Totah, Joel Oulette, and Arthur Conti chat about all this and more or watch it on YouTube. Please take the time to like, review, and subscribe to KMW wherever you get your podcasts, and keep up to date with all our series by following the Consequence Podcast Network.