Phoebe Bridgers on Bright Eyes 'I'm Wide Awake It's Morning' (2005)

Revisiting our most downloaded episodes of 2018 to close out the year

LA singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers joins me to celebrate a classic album of the mid-naughties, Bright Eyes 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning'.

We talk about why Phoebe resisted listening to the album before falling in love with it, how it changed the way she writes songs, where Bright Eyes fits in the 'emo' pantheon, why she can't listen to the songs on shuffle and whether the current political nightmare is influencing her writing the same way the Bush administration influenced Bright Eyes in 2005.

Plus we talk about her friendship with Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst - what it's like to play Bright Eyes songs with him on tour, how Emmylou Harris inspired Phoebe to duet with Conor on her own album, how knowing Conor changes the way she listens to Bright Eyes and more.