Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Each episode is produced and edited by host and creator Hrishikesh Hirway in Los Angeles. Using the isolated, individual tracks from a recording, Hrishikesh asks artists to delve into the specific decisions that went into creating their work. Hrishikesh edits the interviews, removing his side of the conversation and condensing the story to be tightly focused on how the artists brought their songs to life. Guests include Fleetwood Mac, Billie Eilish, U2, Metallica, Solange, Lorde, Yo-Yo Ma, The Roots, Bon Iver, and more. Here’s the full list of episodes.

Song Exploder is an independent podcast, and a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Learn more at radiotopia.fm.

The show has been featured at the Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Noise Pop Festival, and Moogfest. In 2016, the Sydney Opera House hosted a Song Exploder residency. Hrishikesh has spoken about Song Exploder at the Google Design Conference, the AIGA Design Conference, and given talks at Pinterest, Intel, Etsy, and IDEO.