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Spotlight OnPutting a needle on the cultural wax. Author: Lawrence Peryer
The people and ideas moving culture forward. With host Lawrence Peryer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Language: en Genres: Arts, Books, Music, Music Commentary Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Ora Cogan: Hard Hearted Is How You Survive
Episode 310
Sunday, 21 June, 2026
Today, we’re putting The Tonearm’s needle on singer and songwriter Ora Cogan.Ora Cogan’s music pulls from folk, country, psychedelia, and gothic rock. She holds all of it without flinching, as heard on the fantastic album Hard Hearted Woman, her latest release on Sacred Bones.Ora has worked as a photojournalist and human rights advocate, and those experiences feed directly into how she thinks about art, resistance, and what the music is actually for. We get into all of that, including her creative process, the long arc of folk music as a living tradition, and why staying soft in hard times is a form of defiance in itself.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Ora Cogan’s Hard Hearted Woman)—Dig DeeperArtist and Album:Visit Ora Cogan at her official site and follow on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTubePurchase Ora Cogan’s album Hard Hearted Woman from Sacred Bones, Bandcamp, or Qobuz, and listen on your streaming platform of choiceLabel:Sacred Bones RecordsCollaborators and Band:Lankum — Irish doom-folk group; Cormac MacDiarmada contributed to Hard Hearted WomanBackxwash — Zambian-Canadian rapper and producer; collaboratorY La Bamba — Portland-based indie folk group; collaboratorEmma Ruth Rundle — artist Ora has toured withLori Goldston — legendary cellist (Nirvana's MTV Unplugged); appears on the Bury Me EPMusical References:Fire Draw Near — Ian Lynch's podcast on Irish traditional musicOne Leg One Eye — Ian Lynch's experimental solo projectActivism and Organizations:Trans Lifeline — Grassroots hotline and microgrants organization run by and for trans people; US: (877) 565–8860, Canada: (877) 330–6366Advocates for Trans Equality — Legal and political advocacy for transgender rights in the USHeiltsuk Nation — The First Nations community on British Columbia's Central Coast whose members accompanied Ora on the canoe journey she describes as a turning point in her lifeIndigenous Climate Hub — Resource hub for Indigenous-led climate action in CanadaGLAAD Transgender Resources — Directory of support resources for trans people and allies—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn. • Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
