{"id":560305,"date":"2026-06-29T18:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/560305\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T18:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:24:09","slug":"bruce-springsteen-goes-to-pbs-for-half-hour-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/560305\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Springsteen Goes to PBS for Half-Hour Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tBruce Springsteen<\/a> once decried TV as a venue that offers \u201cfifty-seven channels and nothin\u2019 on.\u201d He apparently doesn\u2019t feel that way about PBS<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPBS NewsHour<\/a>\u201d co-anchor Geoff Bennett<\/a> recently interviewed the musician about the opening of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, the Monmouth University repository of the artist\u2019s archives and a center for exhibits of his work as well as others tied to American music. \u201cAs the interview unfolded, it occurred to me that it would be a shame to lose half the conversation on the cutting-room floor, which is often what happens with a broadcast interview,\u201d Bennett says via email.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe journalist pitched Sara Just, senior executive producer of \u201cPBS NewsHour,\u201d on the prospect of turning the interview into a half-hour special, and the public broadcaster agreed. \u201cBruce Springsteen: Finding America in Song,\u201d will run on PBS on July 5th at 6:30 p.m., and will focus on Springsteen discussing his life, career, legacy, and the role music plays in telling America\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBruce Springsteen doesn\u2019t do many interviews these days, so we knew this was a rare opportunity and wanted to make the most of it. Rather than retracing the familiar milestones of his remarkable career, we wanted to use the moment to explore bigger questions,\u201d Bennett says. \u201cWe talked about how his understanding of the country has evolved over five decades of songwriting, what he believes music can reveal about the American experience, and how he thinks about his own legacy. It became a conversation that was less about looking back and more about reflecting on the country, its history, and the role music plays in helping us understand both.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd the conversation will air as the nation celebrates its 250th birthday. The program also features interviews with Jon Landau, who has long helped manage Springsteen\u2019s career, and Bob Santelli, executive director of the new Center. <\/p>\n

\n\tSpringsteen was \u201cremarkably thoughtful and generous with his time. He seemed genuinely interested in wrestling with the questions. He thinks his way through an answer, drawing connections between music, history, and lived experience,\u201d says Bennett. \u201cYou can see why his work has resonated for so many decades. There\u2019s an authenticity to him that comes across immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBecause the discussion focused less on Springsteen\u2019s individual achievements and more on broader ideas, Bennett felt it could capture attention for a longer period of time. \u201cAs the interview unfolded, I realized we were going to have to leave too much on the cutting room floor,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s the nature of television news \u2014 we\u2019re always working within time constraints. But this conversation had a different rhythm. It felt like one that deserved room to breathe.\u201d The longer time frame meant \u201cwe had the time and space to stay with ideas. Bruce reflected on his musical influences, patriotism, protest, and the role of artists in helping a nation understand itself,\u201d says Bennett. \u201cIt\u2019s less a conversation about Bruce Springsteen the celebrity than Bruce Springsteen the American storyteller.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe anchor believes his conversation with the musician will spur a broader one among the people who watch it. \u201cWe hope people come away with a deeper appreciation not only of Bruce Springsteen and his cultural contribution, but of the power of music to tell the American story,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bruce Springsteen once decried TV as a venue that offers \u201cfifty-seven channels and nothin\u2019 on.\u201d He apparently doesn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[265],"tags":[15248,18,117,239498,19,17,34331,239499,128],"class_list":["post-560305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-bruce-springsteen","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-geoff-bennett","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-pbs","tag-pbs-newshour","tag-tv"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}