Too many ads that I pay zero attention to

I don’t mind commercials in podcasts. I get it. But when the podcast is really one non stop continuous ad with a smattering of content, I lose interest in even the most interesting podcasts. Would give it 5 stars with 30 percent fewer ads. So my rating is for the entire podcast which includes ads.

More please!

Paul Muldoon is simply brilliant. The conversations generated from his prompts is a gift to us all. I could listen to Paul and Paul analyze and theorize and parse through these songs for another 100 hours.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series. I hope there’s another season but the final episode does not give me much hope. It’s too late now but I would have loved to hear the entire song being discussed in full at the end of the episode. I found myself craving the opportunity to hear the full song after learning about its origin.

Take the Band on the Run episode. Playing the same snippet of the song over and over and over and over adds nothing. Overproduced.

This is like “My Dinner with Paul”. Or maybe he’s just eating pistachios the entire time?

I thought this would be a conversation with Paul about his lyrics. Instead, it’s a clip of Paul and then some weirdo explaining what he said. I wish they would just release the whole conversations of these sessions.

I’m very glad this came back for a second season. I find the shortness of the episodes nice. McCartney tells only as much as he feels he needs to and doesn’t waffle on. I also appreciate McCartney’s willingness to politely push back when Muldoon tries to offer an interpretation that isn’t right. Sometimes, it seems like Muldoon is trying to make things more profound than they were, and I like that McCartney’s not afraid to admit the lyrics are what they are and nothing more sometimes. Some episodes seem a bit scattered, sometimes jumping across songs. I don’t mind that, but it sometimes feels like they could have gotten plenty out of just the song named in the title of the episode. Sometimes, too, there’s the odd decision to play only the same few bars from the song over and over, which could leave one who never heard the song to believe that’s the only good part of the song. That’s pretty hard to figure out when McCartney’s songs have plenty of substance to play more than the same snippet. But these are minor gripes, and I don’t even know they’re gripes. The show is very enjoyable, and it’s a delight to hear Paul - so clever, talented, and down-to-earth - tell stories about his amazing and fascinating life and unparalleled craft. Additional: I see a lot of people commenting on the eating sounds in the season two episodes. I actually like them because it makes it seem more like a casual conversation happening between friends. But the ads are excessive and obnoxious.

I hope there are more episodes ..

Preserving moments in time…real and honest.

it’s bad enough that these podcasts add nothing new to any of the well-worn stories. they seem to have become about 50/50 podcast/ads. and the same f’ng ads, over and over. (yeah, i get it, you want me to pay—as though i hadn’t already paid for the overpriced Lyrics book!) and this season, we also have to deal with Paul’s chomping through the last two episodes. come on.

Would be a good show, if the sound quality weren’t so bad…

Clearly he was interviewed during a meal

As a Beatles fan, I’m glad to have this. Despite the horrible, never-ending ads; despite McCartney’s eating (which I’m sure he had to do if he spent a day or two in a room with Muldoon). Despite quite an ego on McCartney, I mostly enjoy hearing him talk about his life and his songs. Muldoon reminds me of literature professors from my past who would inject their own interpretations into the meaning of a work, and usually they’d be deliberately obscure or overly clever. Things that tell more about THEIR frame of reference than the artist’s, and which often don’t ring true. That’s what this reminds me of. Muldoon suggesting interpretations to McCartney and McCartney usually pausing and then hesitantly agreeing to something that probably never occurred to him. I still appreciate the effort and I’m still listening to every one, you just have to accept it for what it is.

Please add a menu of what you're eating in each show.

I thought McCartney sounded odd from time to time. Question is what’s the song playing yay the start of the podcast it sounds familiar

This is the worst podcast I’ve ever heard. It’s painfully short, full of commercials, and the previews are basically the entire episode. Shameful job.

There is about five minutes of worthwhile content in each 30+ minute episode. If you fast forward through the repetitive clips and ads you'll hear one or two interesting things. And yes, Paul's eating/chewing is very unprofessional and annoying but I suppose he's at the point where he can do whatever he likes.

I just loved every episode of season one of the McCartney podcast. I am expecting, equally, to enjoy season, two just as much, if not more! My only critique, complaint is that in some of the episodes it sounds either as if Paul has cotton in his mouth, lol, or is talking while eating. I understand the reasoning for that, and understand that originally these were not intended to be podcasts, but rather background information for publications or a publication. Still, since I am an American, I have difficulty sometimes understanding an English accent. When you couple that with someone who is speaking with food in their mouth, it makes it a little bit more difficult. I had to listen to some sentences and phrases more than a few times to understand what was being said. But again, that is my absolute only criticism. Everything else was phenomenal!

I love the content here and the format, but my misophonia kicks in big time when I hear him having a chomp while talking about the greatest songs of all time.

I understand the need for ads but the disproportionate ratio of ads to content makes this too awful. I’ll watch documentaries instead.

What an honour to hear this history! I am beside myself with glee! And to people who said that they were put off by Paul eating - are you kidding? Do you understand how this all came about? They recorded their visits for a book and once they’d finished realized they had this awesome treasure trove of his stories told by him! Why not share that with the world? Listen to Naked Lunch podcast and Jane Fonda - she eats through the whole thing and that’s the point - having lunch with her (and any other guest). Lighten up people and really realize what we have here - a living legend sharing his stories. Can’t get any better than that!

Like all Pushkin shows since they introduced the pay service, the amount of ads in these short episodes is ridiculous and really takes you out of the storytelling. I miss the old days.

Delightful conversations about iconic songs. Agree with the many listeners who are put off by Paul’s eating. Maybe the series needs a name change: Lyrics Over Lunch. Given all that noshing, will Paul be live from the loo in Season 2?

The content is great but the amount and length of commercials makes it excruciating to listen.

Amazing chats about process and meaning. No speculating about context because the artist is right there.

Love these interviews. I just wish Paul was not eating throughout.

Love Paul . Enjoyed all the episodes. However I have one pet peeve. In the last few episodes Paul was eating while speaking about the songs. Im a little surprised and I find this rude.

It needs subtitles

So much enjoyed listening to Paul tell the story behind the song that most I had never heard before bringing a new appreciation for all the music that was created in that very magical time.

I love listening to the stories behind the songs. The format of two friends sitting down & casually chatting about the inspiration for each song is perfection. Will be re- listening to all of these classics. Thank you for this behind the scenes look & the memories!

A lovely collection of ads. They occasionally get interrupted by McCartney discussing his lyrics, but it’s easy to skip over that and get back to the ads…

Ridiculous number of ads. If it wasn’t for Paul, I’d never list.

Love hearing Paul’s stories regarding his songs’ backgrounds but the amount of ads and Paul Muldoon’s interruptions versus the brevity of Paul’s conversations are frustratingly disappointing.

Some interesting tidbits about the songs, but on a whole each episode is too short and there are far too many commercials, all of which come across as incredibly obnoxious.

I wish Muldoon would have let McCartney tell the stories and only keep the questions. The narration is overboard, along with the ads. Between the two, there can't be more than 10-12 minutes of McCartney + bits of songs per episode.

I listened to Paul talk about songs I grew up with…that I still remember word for word. It takes me back. I enjoy all the segments with him. The other gentleman is basically making money from the podcast. Suffer through him for the gems from Paul.

I gained a whole new understanding about Mcartney!!!! What a poet! I really just thought he lucked into becoming a rock star!!! No No he is an artist!!!🧑‍🎨

Great content, but you will be punished with relentless ads if you do not subscribe. I love Malcolm Gladwell’s voice as much as the next pair of ears, but it is a lot. One might consider that with the bulk of these advertisements, some listeners may double down on not subscribing in spite.

I feel like I am sitting off to side and just listening to a legend 💙 Thank you Sir Paul for letting us in!!

I adore this podcast. Thank you Sir Paul for sharing these beautiful stories!

The way Paul tells the stories about his songs and experiences is very relaxing. I’m glad I found this podcast.

great to hear Paul in his own words.

What a blessing to hear this amazing conversation with the great Sir Paul. Thank you, thank you, thank you. * NEXT series: get Ringo. Then, get Ringo and Paul together to recount the early memories of rock music history.

I love listening to Paul and the backstory to each song. I realize that these episodes were made from conversations recorded for the Lyrics book however its off putting to hear interviewer interrupt Paul constantly. Way too many ads.

I am currently reading the book that you mention. It is wonderful! This podcast is like icing on the cake. A lovely companion to the book.

This is milk and honey.

This could be a great piece of recorded history but its not. Its great listening to Paul’s stories but there SO MANY ADS. The episodes are less than 19 minutes which includes about 8 minutes of ads and about 2 minutes of preamble. Its also poorly edited with a lot of commentary. I wish I could just hear Paul tell the story. Do better Pushkin.

I’m enjoying hearing the little side stories to the music he and the Beatles created and the tender moments he had with John. Hope the podcast keeps going!