This past year, I’ve been enjoying not only the music, but also the journalism of Adia Victoria and Lizzie No, who have both begun outstanding runs as podcast hosts. I am always delighted when my two passions — journalism and roots music — cross in interesting ways, and I have been trying to unravel what makes these two women’s interviews stand out from most other folk music media I listen to.

Victoria’s “Call and Response” makes her interviews seem like a conversation between friends without bringing in the chaff that actual conversation has. She opens each episode with a typewritten letter, which she reads aloud, bringing her, her subject, and the listener in close. She will frequently break in during her guests response in the form of a well-placed “yes!” or “mhmm” that encourages them to go on, not stop speaking. It feels familiar and casual while being tightly crafted.

And then there are the questions themselves. Victoria cuts straight to the heart of the matter; in a recent episode with Jason Isbell she leads off by asking about a question about how pop country uses symbols (beer, denim, trucks) as empty symbols without ever engaging the assumptions they represent about southern life. It’s an astute question that kicks off 25 minutes of conversation about white southern masculinity. Only later in the episode does Victoria ease up a bit to talk about upcoming shows.  

I noticed a similar intensity to the questions when listening to Lizzie No, who is now a regular host of “Basic Folk.” The first interview she did was with Amathyst Kiah, and she came out strong — “This theme in Black literature of spirits and ghosts … Do you think about yourself as in conversation with the Black literary cannon in that way, do you about blackness and loneliness as linked, like is there a link there for you, or is it just the songwriter view of ‘I’m alone?’” What a question!

Both Victoria and No land in a sweet spot — neither asking the obvious questions that their subjects have answered numerous times before nor going deep into the technical weeds of industry or artistry, where it would be hard for a lay person to follow. Their personal knowledge of the music and the music industry informs their questions, but they also clearly know their subjects work well, citing past interviews and specific lyrics. And they are willing to ask intense questions — about race, gender, religion, sexuality, identity. Even with artists I have never heard of and may never listen to, the result is intimate, revealing, engaging, and leaves me wanting to hear more.