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It started with a text message. Jim signed up for a 24-hour songwriting contest, stalled out, and then said something that stuck: it shouldn’t be a problem. That offhand comment turned into a season finale conversation about why talented people feel obligated to perform their hobbies at full throttle, and what happens when that obligation quietly becomes the whole point. Glen and Jim dig into the guilt spiral of the instrument in the corner, the sketchbook you haven’t touched, the thing you love that you’re somehow failing. Spoiler: you’re not. Season Four ends the way it probably should—talking about why we do any of this in the first place. If that guilt spiral sounds familiar, we’d love to hear about it. Find us at show.backstage.link or drop us a line at [email protected] — and if you’ve been with us this season, a rating wherever you listen goes a long way. Season Five is coming. We’re just not obligated to say exactly when.

A name got stuck in Glen’s head. He was pretty sure he hadn’t made it up. What he found when he looked it up was one of the most ambitious mythologies in pop music history—heroes, villains, a creation story, a spaceship, and more—built across a series of funk albums by George Clinton in the late 1970s and largely sitting untouched ever since. This solo minisode is your introduction to the P-Funk universe. The Mothership is waiting. Thanks as always for listening, and don’t forget you can send us a message at [email protected] and see everything The Backstage Group is up to at https://backstage.link.

In this episode, Glen and Jim wade back into the world of AI, attempting to see how far its creative work has come in the last year or so. We gloss over the ethical issues and dive right back in where we left off in episode 32, last season. But now, instead of pitting Jim against AI, we give AI more info on Jim’s music and see if it can replicate his sound. Got comments, questions, or want to share your own take on AI music? Email us at [email protected] or visit show.backstage.link to connect.

From Highway Hi-Fi to the Walkman, the iPod, and beyond, Jim and Glen talk through the history of taking your music with you in another Retro Tech Bites Minisode. If you’re enjoying these strolls through historic nostalgia, be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any episodes!

They wormed their way into your brain and never left. This week, Glen and Jim dig into the surprisingly rich history of the commercial jingle—from a barbershop quartet selling Wheaties in 1926 to the earworm arms race of the ’80s and ’90s. What made them stick? Why did they almost disappear? And can you still recite the Big Mac ingredient list on demand? You already know the answer.Remember to visit us at backstage.link or email us at [email protected], and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out when we fall off our release schedule a bit. Not that that would ever happen.