160. Mark McKinnon on Kris Kristofferson, music vs politics & programming the President's iPod

Political strategist and co-host of the Circus, Mark McKinnon has spent decades in the A-league of 'showbusiness for ugly people', including as chief media strategist for President George W Bush. But before that, he was a singer-songwriter whose band caught the ear of Kris Kristofferson. Mark talks about how Kristofferson's most iconic songs shook up country music, living in Kristofferson's Nashville apartment in the 70s and trying to keep up with his lifestyle, what politicians could learn from great musicians, 'authenticity', when Elvis Presley almost recorded one of his songs and programming President Bush's iPod.

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My Favorite Album is a podcast unpacking the great works of pop music. Each episode features a different songwriter or musician discussing their favorite album of all time - their history with it, the making of the album, individual songs and the album’s influence on their own music.

Jeremy Dylan is a filmmaker, journalist and photographer from Sydney, Australia. He directed the music documentary Jim Lauderdale: The King of Broken Hearts and feature film Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins, and writes for Capital News magazine.

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