This week on the 5AM StoryTalk Podcast, I'm joined by an Australian musician whose career I’ve been following since I first interviewed him in a Detroit club 20 years ago. I’m talking about Ben Lee here, and we’ll be discussing his music (including the 20th anniversary of his seminal album Awake Is the New Sleep, which is how we first met), the death of the American myth that once inspired us to chase our dreams, and our complicated relationships with the country we once called home.
This episode also includes Ben performing his stunning, beautiful, heartbreaking new single “The Fall of America”, though you can also listen to it below. I loved this song so much, I rearranged my entire Season 2 podcast schedule so he and I could talk about it.
What you’re about to listen to is political, yes, and I know that can be off-putting for some trying to run away from the P word these days. But I think Ben’s perspective here is valuable. Art helps us dream. It’s a promise in some way. And the promise of America for artists not born there is unparalleled…or at least it was. Something has changed for those outside the country. It’s hard to dream about a place if you feel unsafe even talking about what’s happening there. As you’ll hear, Ben wasn’t even sure if he should share “The Fall of America” with the world, as it might put his family at risk. What a terrible place for artists to find themselves.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. This is also an episode about the power of art. It’s about the artistic process and drive. And it’s about hope.
A bonus episode with Ben is also available so be sure to listen to that here or below, too. In it, he and I discuss a foundational piece of art from his life — the iconic short story “The Balloon” by Donald Barthelme, first published in The New Yorker in 1966. You can read the story here if you want (it’s barely six pages!).
Listen to Ben’s new single “The Fall of America” here:
Subscribe to Ben’s substack, Weirder Together, which he operates with his wife Ione Skye!
Ben is due to tour Australia throughout the first five months of 2026. You can learn more about that tour here.
