Straw into Gold

Words + Music, Vol. 33

By: Aimee Mann

Narrated by: Aimee Mann

Indie-rock icon Aimee Mann is well acquainted with trauma and the transformative act of using it as a basis for artistic expression, but that doesn’t mean that she knows how or why it works. Mann goes on a journey of discovery to better understand the link between damage and why what we do with it matters.

These are her Words + Music.

In Straw into Gold, Mann partners with actor, comedian, and creator of the popular podcast Dead Eyes, Connor Ratliff, to lead a small group of artists through a series of intimate, often funny, and always enlightening conversations about the relationship between the bad things that happen to us and the art that can result from them.

Listeners of Straw into Gold will delight in new renditions of songs from beloved albums including Whatever and Charmer, as well as many newer songs from Mann’s 2021 studio album Queens of the Summer Hotel, soon to appear in Mann’s upcoming Broadway musical adaptation of Susanna Kaysen’s seminal novel Girl, Interrupted–which served as a primary inspiration behind the explorations in Straw into Gold.

©2023 Aimee Mann (P)2023 Audible Originals LLC

Engaging and thoughtful

I’ve always loved Aimee for her music and willingness to dig deep. This audio experience was thought provoking and expanded my view of how trauma impacts lives and how music can help the healing.

Not An Overview

Focused on a specific thing, it was not the artist journey I expected, but very good heartfelt exploration. Thank you.

Wonderful work

This is a wonderful take on trauma, creativity, and art by Aimee Mann and others! I’m a psychotherapist and work specifically with severe trauma and dissociation, so the territory is familiar, and more important than most people acknowledge. Thank you so much for this! Not only is it very informative for people about trauma, what follows and how people deal with it, but it really weaves in the extra material and connections about processing through art, and even whether the trauma affects (even in some cases enhances, early on!) our ability to make that art or music. Thank you, Aimee Mann, for this contribution. ☺️

Inspiring and affirming

Wow, this podcast really resonated! I have always adored the music of Aimee Mann, and it was fascinating to hear her perspectives and those of her guests on how art transforms trauma. So many moments of head nodding and connection with these conversations and the music interwoven between them.

Insightful

Fascinating insight into Mann's past, the role of trauma in her creative process, and a bigger picture documentary on the role of trauma in the lives of a wide range of artists.