The best podcasts about Leonard Cohen, arguably the most interesting man in the world

In 1973, Leonard Cohen announced he was done with music for good. The same year, in October, war broke out in Israel.

The Yom Kippur War would become the bloodiest in Israel’s young history—and Cohen was there to witness it. As the war broke out, he left his home on the Greek island of Hydra to fly into the warzone.

Leonard Cohen never said much about why he went to the front. What we know is that in the months that followed, he would write “Who By Fire.” Five decades later, on Spotify and in synagogue, you can still hear the echoes of this trip.

So what was it that happened in the desert in October of 1973 between this depressed musician and these too young soldiers going off to battle? How did it remake Leonard Cohen? How did it transform those who heard him play? And how did the war transform Israel itself?

Those are just some of the questions Matti Friedman explains in his beautiful new book Who By Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai.

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This person died in 2016 at age 82. He was an unlikely and reluctant pop star, if in fact he ever was one. In the 1960s, he lived in a house on the Greek island of Hydra, where he wrote a pair of novels. He was 33 when his first record was released in 1967. In the early 1970s, his record company concocted an advertising campaign where they called him “the master of erotic despair.” Around 1994, he abandoned his music career and moved to Mt Baldy monastery, where he was ordained a Buddhist monk. His best-known song, a majestic and meditative ballad which has been endlessly covered, is called “Hallelujah”. Today’s dead celebrity is Leonard Cohen.

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Jacob Weiss and includes a guest appearance from Christian Swain. Visit our website at famousandgravy.com and also enjoy our free mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 45 “Rebel Rebel” (David Bowie) and Episode 29 “Zen Comedian” (Garry Shandling).

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

New York Times Obituary for Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen’s 75th birthday concert in Barcelona

Kate McKinnon sings “Hallelujah” on SNL after Leonard Cohen’s death

Susan Cain article on Leonard Cohen’s music

Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast on Hallelujah

Dead or Alive quiz game

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