Across Timelines with Maddie Frye: Seeger Sessions, U2, Faith, and the E Street Community

Host Jesse Jackson welcomes London-based journalist Maddie Frye to a “timey-wimey” episode of Set Lusting Bruce, exploring her path to Bruce Springsteen and U2 and how music shaped her spiritual and political awakening. Maddie, who writes about religion, sex, politics, and pop culture, describes growing up near London with parents who loved Bowie, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, and Genesis, discovering U2 at 12–13 through All That You Can’t Leave Behind, and finding Springsteen via a 2006 BBC broadcast of the Seeger Sessions that felt both political and spiritually transformative. She discusses working backward through Bruce’s catalog, key live shows (including London 2013 and Liverpool with Paul McCartney), family connections to Springsteen, and reflections on religion’s relationship with power. Maddie answers the “Thunder Road” question—Mary gets in the car—and shares where to find her Substack, U2 and Us. 00:00 Podcast Welcome 00:45 Meet Maddie 01:55 Growing Up Musical Roots 04:07 Finding Bruce via Seeger 06:23 Seeger Sessions Meaning 10:30 Working Backwards Catalog 14:12 Live Shows Life Changes 18:54 How Many Shows Seen 20:45 Discovering U2 Obsession 23:20 Fandom Numbers Talk 24:52 Writing Religion Politics 25:02 Music Sparks Big Questions 26:24 Faith Through Lyrics 28:00 Reading Toward Belief 29:22 Faithless Research Journey 32:53 Religion Meets Politics 36:13 Radical Gospel Values 41:01 Privilege Luck and Power 44:03 Liverpool Show Memories 46:06 Facing Mortality of Icons 48:24 Thunder Road Mary Answer 49:48 Where to Find Maddie 50:53 Podcast Wrap and Housekeeping

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