#30: Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska stands as one of the starkest, most haunting records in American music—a raw home recording that reshaped how we think about artistry, fame, and solitude. In this episode, author and musician Dr. Warren Zanes joins us to unpack how he captured story behind it.

Zanes' book, Deliver Me From Nowhere, chronicles the winter of 1982, when Springsteen retreated to a creaky farmhouse in Colts Neck, New Jersey, armed only with a guitar, harmonica, and four-track recorder. Out of that isolation came a collection of songs that felt more like short stories than rock anthems—narratives of working-class struggle, violence, and grace that still echo today.

Now being adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeremy Allen White, Deliver Me From Nowhere captures a rare moment when an artist turned inward at the height of success to find something more raw, stripped to the bone. 

We talk about his writing process, the power of longevity as an artist, and how to reinvent yourself in life and in art.