Set Lusting Bruce: The Bruce Springsteen Fan Podcast

In this Week 5 episode of Set Lusting Football, Jesse is joined by panelists Jean Marie, Wendy, and Rich to debate whether modern NFL coaching is overly driven by analytics, information overload, and job pressure, using recent late-game decisions involving the Commanders, Giants, Cowboys, and Eagles as examples. They discuss situational football, clock management, and special teams choices, then r...

Host Jesse Jackson welcomes actor-writer-producer Nikki J. Borger for a B-side “Set Listing Bruce” detour focused on theater, dance, and creativity. Nikki, originally from a small town in southwest Germany, describes early music training, her love of dance (from ballroom to salsa and musical theater), and the difficult, criticism-heavy culture of German musical theater school, including injuries a...

Jesse Jackson hosts a new episode of Set Lusting Football with a full panel of music fans repping the Cowboys, Bills, Commanders, Giants, Packers, and Eagles. They recap early-season highs and frustrations, including Buffalo’s sloppy loss to the Patriots, the “Josh Allen experience,” concerns about defensive changes and injuries, and a brief discussion of the Bills-themed Hallmark movie. Jane Mari...

Host Jesse Jackson welcomes listeners to a B-side episode of Set Listing Bruce featuring returning Springsteen fans Carrie and Nancy to talk about Brandi Carlile. Jesse shares his “Road to Damascus” moment after seeing Carlile in Fort Worth, and Carrie and Nancy recount how they discovered her music, including Carrie’s entry point through The Highwomen and Nancy’s first show in Nashville during a...

Host Jesse Jackson welcomes Russell Van Brocklen, a New York State–funded dyslexia researcher, to discuss how Bruce Springsteen’s music—especially “Born in the U.S.A.” and “Born to Run”—sparked his love of music and mirrors the “spark” dyslexic learners need. Russell shares his own path from severe reading and writing struggles and damaging academic setbacks to developing a writing-first, typing-b...

The gang is back to discuss week 3 of the NFL Season. We have Rich, Jean Marie, Joe Kay, Holly Mac and me discussing the ins and outs of their teams. We discuss injuries, records, heartbreaks and happiness. Let us know your thoughts on your team by sending us an email to setlustingbruce@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jesse Jackson welcomes Matt Donnelly for his third appearance on a B-side “Set Listing Bruce” episode that detours from Springsteen into Matt’s life in comedy and magic. Matt recounts how a dare from Penn Jillette led him to learn magic with mentor Johnny Thompson, tour with Piff the Magic Dragon, and build routines through problem-solving, tension, and performance. He discusses nerves onstage, th...

Host Jesse Jackson welcomes returning guest Arlen Schumer, who discusses his Twilight Zone book and debates standout episodes including “Eye of the Beholder,” “To Serve Man,” and “Walking Distance,” while previewing a September webinar deconstructing “Shadow Play.” Schumer then shares his opening-day visit to the newly renamed Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, praising its first-class a...

Jesse Jackson and his friend Ken Schaeferdiscuss Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay after Ken watches it, comparing its supernatural-small-town premise to Haven. Then they pivot to loving Galavant and memorable musical TV episodes (Buffy’s “Once More, with Feeling” and Strange New Worlds). They briefly touch on accents, songwriting for TV, and plan to discuss Supergirl next month. Learn more about your ad cho...

🎙️ Dive into the heart of NFL week 2 and Bruce Springsteen's legacy with us on Set Lusting Bruce! Jean Marie, Holly Mac, Rich and Jesse share their thoughts on week two in the NFL. Catch our episode now! #SetLustingBruce #NFL #Springsteen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Jesse Jackson welcomes Sam Sodomsky, senior editor at Pitchfork and musician behind The Bird Calls, to discuss how a childhood encounter with a “Dancing in the Dark” parody sparked a lifelong Springsteen obsession that led him to guitar, songwriting, and writing about music. Sam shares growing up in Reading, Pennsylvania, collecting bootlegs and books, and even creating a mock Springsteen bio...

It's week one of the NFL season and Jean Marie's Giants are feeling good, Jesse's hand is hovering over the panic button and Wendy is enjoing the Music of David Bryne from The Talking Heads but still had time to share her thoughts. IF you want to get into the action where you know you will have a winning ticket, send in your thoughts at 972-591-1460 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...

Jesse and his Perfectly Good Podcast cohost Sylvan Groth sit down to talk with her friend and neighbor, Vermont songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Bow Thayer. Bow shares his journey from growing up in Massachusetts to finding a home making over 30 albums in the small town of Vermont. He shares stories of connecting with Levon Helm, touring, having a family and his latest venture of a campground...

Host Jesse Jackson welcomes Texas songwriter Bob Blumenfeld to discuss his recording projects Welcome to the 21st and The Disappearing Act, both featuring longtime collaborator alim Nourallah and John Dufilhoo. Bob shares growing up in El Paso, discovering Springsteen’s Born to Run, and seeing Bruce live in the Bay Area, plus early influences from his brothers and his mother’s music. He explains h...

Jesse Jackson launches “Set Lusting Football,” a seasonal spin on his Bruce Springsteen podcast where music fans representing different NFL teams gather for weekly football talk, friendly rivalries, and laughs. Guests share their fandom origin stories: Wendy Hembrock (Bills), Jean Marie Anderson (Giants), Holly Mac (Packers), and Joe K (Commanders/Packers), while Jesse recounts becoming a Cowboys...

William John Titus Bishop performed orchestral works and other musical genres before learning to play the guitar and perform at smaller venues on the London circuit. He has gone on to play international festivals and tour widely. In a breakaway from his stifling classical background, he went on to writing his own songs.
He then recorded three full-length studio albums and amassed a following of ov...

Set Lusting Bruce celebrates its 1,500th episode with congratulatory messages from fellow podcasters, friends, and listeners, praising Jesse Jackson’s consistency, kindness, interviewing skill, and the community he’s built. Jesse is joined by Chris Jackson for a milestone conversation covering Jesse’s regrets about guests he hasn’t booked, how his signature opening question helps people share thei...

Jesse welcomes JB and Rob back to Set Lusting Bruce to discuss their return to podcasting and the relaunch of Bruce Springsteen Sings the Alphabet. JB shares updates on life in North Georgia, while Rob explains his transition from pastor to banker during COVID, personal struggles, and how reconnecting with JB revived their creative spark. They outline the show’s new format: covering Springsteen al...

Host Jesse Jackson welcomes returning guests Brian K. Pagels and Stephen Russ of Brian K and the Parkway to discuss their musical partnership, their preferences for live performance versus studio work, and the creation of their second album, “Roses and Kerosene,” out September 4. They recount how the project evolved from demos into a full band after a 2021 trip to Asbury Park, then detail recordin...

Host Jesse Jackson welcomes back music journalist and author Steve Rosen to discuss his new Jeff Beck book, rewritten and expanded from a Japan-only 1978 biography originally commissioned by Player magazine. Rosen recounts growing up in Culver City listening to early rock, discovering Jeff Beck through the Yardbirds and seeing the Jeff Beck Group in 1969, and how learning guitar fueled a deep-dive...

Sylvan opens an August 20 intro to a special John Hiatt birthday episode, sharing news that the November Nashville Concert for Cumberland Heights will be a John Hiatt tribute and inviting listeners to join via perfectlygoodpodcast@gmail.com. A clip follows with Kyle Williams explaining how Cumberland Heights’ scholarship funds, music therapy, and a pro music professionals program support people in...

In this episode of Set Lusting Bruce, host Jesse Jackson and guest Joe K step off the Springsteen track to honor Dolly Parton following news of her death on August 25, 2026, reflecting on her six-decade career as the “Queen of Country,” her landmark songs, acting roles, business success with Dollywood, and rare talent for reimagining other artists’ work. They share personal first memories of Dolly...

Host Jesse Jackson welcomes Boston-based consultant and lifelong Springsteen fan Andy Freed to discuss Freed’s book, "Lead Like The Boss: The Bruce Springsteen Framework to Elevating Your Leadership." Freed shares how discovering "Born to Run" at age eight sparked a fandom that’s led to nearly 100 shows, and explains how the arc of a Springsteen concert maps to practical leadership and communicati...

In this B-side episode of Set Lusting Bruce, host Jesse Jackson talks with Joey Register, who records as itsrihhomie, about his path from growing up in Rochester, New York to making melodic rap as an emotional outlet and running his own studio to help others create. Joey describes his freestyle, bar-by-bar recording process, early influences from friends and artists like Juice WRLD and Lil Wayne,...

In this B-side episode of Set List and Bruce, Jesse welcomes back Dale Hansen for a wide-ranging conversation that begins with Hansen reflecting on long-winded interviews and leads into his love of Rod Stewart, first seeing him live at the Cowboys’ 1996 Super Bowl in Phoenix, and why Stewart’s persona, gravelly voice, and story-driven songs resonate with him—so much so that he’s planned Rod Stewar...