Esquire editor-at-large and former MTV VJ Dave Holmes discusses how his ADHD allowed him to embrace the chaos of live television, why hitting up a NYC vinyl listening bar with The Mandalorian didn't go exactly as planned, and his new podcast docuseries examining MTV's cultural impact. Subscribe to Who Killed the Video Star?: The Story of MTV wherever you get podcasts, and follow @daveholmes on Instagram and Threads.

Hello! For my day job, I host and produce Looped In: Chicago, a podcast for WBBM Newsradio. And this week, they allowed me to make an episode all about the city's ties, past and present, to the record industry. So while it's different from your typical Vinyl Emergency episode, I hope you'll find this one to be an equally engaging listen, with guests including Evan Weiss of Into It. Over It., Smashed Plastic Record Pressing co-owner Steve Polutnik, Chicago Reader columnist Steve Krakow and music history TikTok sensation Patrick Hicks. Subscribe to Looped In: Chicago wherever you get podcasts, and new VE episodes will come your way soon.

This is an encore presentation of a previous episode, originally airing in December 2020.

On today's show, keyboardist Derry deBorja (of Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit) talks about the musical influence of his older brother, his time as a member of Son Volt, how experimenting with a modular synth has changed how he views composition, and the 400 Unit's relationship with David Letterman. Visit jasonisbell.com for updates, and follow Derry on Instagram, @tin_pony.

Since his last visit to Vinyl Emergency in August 2020, Nashville singer/songwriter Ruston Kelly has narrowly escaped a fiery bus explosion, sold off nearly every physical stage piece from his last tour, and rehabbed an old Victorian bungalow with his own two hands. And while all of these experiences are worth talking about, today he says that being a better listener has been a focused priority as of late. This deliberate intention to say less and observe more has led to a run of rewarding collaborations over the last several years: Duets with Caitlyn Smith and Judah & the Lion, co-producing an LP for John Prine's son Tommy, and touring with the massively-popular Noah Kahan. On this week's episode, Ruston dives deep into the first album he remembers as a child, why he sequences songs specifically for vinyl, and his upcoming EP -- Weakness, Etc. -- a combination of new material and reworkings from his third full-length The Weakness, released last year. Plus, anecdotes on sharing toast with Jackson Browne, and debating Pop-Tarts with his fans. Ruston's upcoming solo acoustic tour begins later this month. Tickets, social media and more are at rustonkelly.com, with Weakness, Etc. dropping March 22.

At just 16 years old, Amy Fleisher Madden was contributing to her surrounding Florida punk rock scene like a wily veteran. Through booking and promoting national bands visiting the panhandle -- as well as her DIY zine Fiddler Jones -- she had introduced, connected and championed emo, pop-punk and hardcore bands from all over, eventually leading to the start of Fiddler Records, which gave us the first releasees from Dashboard Confessional and New Found Glory. Most recently, Amy is the author of a hefty book documenting a decade of the scene, titled "Negatives: A Photographic Archive of Emo (1996-2006)." Filled with stunning visuals, emphatic essays and more -- plus contributions from various photographers and musicians -- it's a must-have for anyone who spent time in this particular genre during these particular years, or since. Purchase "Negatives" via Amazon or wherever you get literature. More info can be found via @amyxmadden on Instagram, or at amy-madden.com.

Starting as an NBC page in the mid-80’s, Jim Pitt eventually landed a dream job, for many: music booker for Saturday Night Live. From Nirvana’s debut on network television to Sinead O’Connor’s impactful and headline-making performance, Pitt booked it all starting in 1990, including mega-star appearances from Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. Three years in, Pitt took his talents to David Letterman’s replacement at Late Night, a young upstart named Conan O’Brien. There, not only would Pitt give future Rock Hall inductees like Radiohead, Green Day and Sheryl Crow their first-ever US TV performances, but O’Brien’s unique wit often led to household names like David Bowie and U2 participating in hilariously scripted bits. On today’s show, Pitt recalls all of this and more, walking us through decades of amazing television memories, as well as his move from Conan to Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2017, and when exactly hosts began holding up vinyl again for the home audience, versus compact discs. Follow Jim on Instagram @jimpitt13, and watch Jimmy Kimmel Live! on your local ABC affiliate.

Logistically and artistically, R.E.M.'s 1998 album Up marked a fork in the road for their trajectory: Prior to its recording, drummer and founding member Bill Berry had amicably left the band, having suffered a brain aneurysm while on stage three years earlier, leading the remaining trio of Michael Stipe, Mike Mills and Peter Buck -- for the first time in their career -- to create without a key piece of their dynamic. In the end, Up didn't sound like any of the group's previous eras, using keyboards, electronics, chamber-pop and white noise as a backdrop for some of the band's sweetest melodies and Stipe's most direct lyrics to date, the latter of which were finally printed for fans to comb over -- a first for any previous R.E.M. project, after ten albums of ambiguity. This week, we celebrate the 25th anniversary reissue of Up (available this Friday, November 10th) with returning guest Josh Modell (formerly of the AV Club, now of the Talkhouse Podcast Network) who wrote the package's liner notes. Together we examine how R.E.M.'s existential crisis without Berry, according to Modell, "gave everything (on the album) an undercarriage of vulnerability, sadness, and edge," making it Modell's favorite album in the group's catalog. Purchase the Up reissue at remhq.com or wherever you find music, and catch Modell moderating a live Q&A with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy in Milwaukee on Saturday, November 11th, with tickets available here.

North Carolina-based label Merge Records, inarguably one of America's most influential and prolific purveyors of indie-rock, is on the cusp of turning 35 -- a landmark that co-founders Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan likely couldn't fathom when they started the label in 1989. Then, Merge was simply a DIY avenue to release tunes by their scrappy quartet Superchunk. But along the way, as the band's jangly but caffeinated power-pop caught on with an international audience, Merge evolved from a modest method of putting out music by Mac and Laura's friends into the beloved home of cult acts like Neutral Milk Hotel, Spoon, The Magnetic Fields and countless others, eventually becoming the first indie label to garner an Album of the Year Grammy, for Arcade Fire's 'The Suburbs' in 2011. On this week's show, Mac reflects on Merge's early years, the label's new vinyl-centric web series Digging For Something, as well as Superchunk's latest compilation of singles, demos and other oddities dropping this week, titled 'Misfits & Mistakes.' Visit mergerecords.com to shop for your favorite releases, and follow @macsuperchunk or @mergerecords on Instagram.