OBERST Yeah, this person, I think, thought they were living in an imaginary place where they’re getting feedback from people on a comment section. And then our super-fandom web boards took it, and then all of a sudden it’s real to people. That absolutely took years off my life.
COSCARELLI Was that the beginning of this dark period?
OBERST It definitely sent me on a darker way down the path. Like, I’ve put myself, all this music into the world and I’ve lived this whole life, and the fact that something completely false on the internet can become a real thing, it’s like a weird monster, an invisible thing attacking you.
I’ve had to come to peace with just, no one’s gonna know you and you can’t know everybody. And the people that know you, that’s what matters.
When someone’s like, oh, I don’t like your record, it’s like, who cares? I’ve had the worst thing said about me, so there’s really nothing you could say to me. I’ve seen the horror of the mob, felt the stones hitting me, you know? I’m kind of like, impenetrable. I’m not scared of anybody.
Credits
Popcast is hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli and produced by Sophie Erickson, Kate LoPresti and Felice Leon. This episode was filmed by Luke Piotrowski, Bernardo Garcia Elguezabal and Dave Mayers. It was edited by Eddie Costas with help from Rebecca Blandon. Our theme music is by Elisheba Ittoop. Nick Pitman is our audio engineer and Amanda Webster is our photo editor. Brooke Minters is our executive producer. Header video cinematography is by Diego Garcia.
Special thanks to Sarah Bonn, Dahlia Haddad, Mike Cordero, Nicole Huber, Aaron Byrd, Carl Mazurek, Zach Caldwell, Maddy Masiello, Brad Kimbrough, Andrew Wilcox, Sia Michel, Nina Lassam and Sam Dolnick.
