This is Patti Smith
An episode of the Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso podcast, hosted by Higher Ground, titled "This is Patti Smith" was published on January 18, 2026 and runs 80 minutes.
January 18, 2026 ·80m · Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Summary
Patti Smith has been hailed as the Godmother of Punk, the people’s poet, a defining voice of her generation. She’s been inducted into the Rock & Roll of Fame. She won a National Book Award for her memoir, Just Kids. Last fall, she published her most intimate book yet: Bread of Angels. Act I: In Sickness and In Health We discuss Patti’s early creative awakenings in South Jersey (7:50), discovering Bob Dylan at sixteen (18:00), and the summer job that inspired her infamous poem, Piss Factory (21:20). Act II: Coming to New York Then, we walk through her nomadic years with Robert Mapplethorpe in-and-out-of the Chelsea Hotel (32:30), her run-in with the Rolling Thunder Revue (39:58), the whirlwind of making her debut album Horses (45:28), and why she left it all behind (50:24). Act III: Curtain Call To close, she talks about giving voice to those whose time was cut short (53:00), her tireless desire and commitment to evolve as an artist (59:23), and the protests and politics that have shaped some of her best and most urgent work to date (1:01:37). Subscribe to our new YouTube channel. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Episode Description
Patti Smith has been hailed as the Godmother of Punk, the people’s poet, a defining voice of her generation. She’s been inducted into the Rock & Roll of Fame. She won a National Book Award for her memoir, Just Kids. Last fall, she published her most intimate book yet: Bread of Angels.
Act I: In Sickness and In Health
We discuss Patti’s early creative awakenings in South Jersey (7:50), discovering Bob Dylan at sixteen (18:00), and the summer job that inspired her infamous poem, Piss Factory (21:20).
Act II: Coming to New York
Then, we walk through her nomadic years with Robert Mapplethorpe in-and-out-of the Chelsea Hotel (32:30), her run-in with the Rolling Thunder Revue (39:58), the whirlwind of making her debut album Horses (45:28), and why she left it all behind (50:24).
Act III: Curtain Call
To close, she talks about giving voice to those whose time was cut short (53:00), her tireless desire and commitment to evolve as an artist (59:23), and the protests and politics that have shaped some of her best and most urgent work to date (1:01:37).
Subscribe to our new YouTube channel. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.