Meet Warren Zanes, the Author and Rocker Behind the Springsteen Movie | Better in Person
When he joined the Del Fuegos, his big brother’s band, all Warren knew how to play was a record player. Things went great for a while — and then it all fell apart. So how did he wind up writing definitive books on Springsteen and Tom Petty?
If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.
- Duration
- 50m
- Broadcast on
- 18 Aug 2026
- Audio Format
- other
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When he joined the Del Fuegos, his big brother’s band, all Warren knew how to play was a record player. Things went great for a while — and then it all fell apart. So how did he wind up writing definitive books on Springsteen and Tom Petty?
If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.
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This episode of Better in Person is presented by Chat GPT. Put Chat GPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Download the new Chat GPT Desktop app today. Hey there, it's Stephen W. And this bonus episode comes from our new TV talk show called Better in Person. To get the full video experience, go to the Freakonomics YouTube channel. Or you can look for Better in Person on Apple Podcasts. Our guest this week is Warren Zanes. Don't worry if you've never heard of him. By the time you're finished, you will feel like you've known Warren your whole life. As always, thanks for listening. I knew never self-reference ever. So my first... It's all I got, Warren. It's all I got. This is Better in Person with Stephen Dubner and Warren Zanes. If you've ever chased a dream, a kind of dream that would rearrange your life, you may have wondered what if it comes true. But also, what happens if it falls apart? Warren Zanes has lived both sides of that dream. In the 1980s, he joined the Del Fuegoes, a Boston rock and roll band that was started by his big brother Dan. They put out a few good records for Warren, especially things did not end well. But over time, he would mount an amazing comeback as a rock and roll scholar. He wrote an intimate biography of Tom Petty and an even more intimate book about Bruce Springsteen that was recently turned into a film. I knew Warren and his band way back when because I was in my own band, The Right Profile. For a good while, it was really the only thing I cared about. And there was this one night in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Del Fuegoes were playing two sets in a bar. I went to see them. Between sets, we were hanging out in the back room and in walks, Bruce Springsteen. When Bruce came to the rhinoceros club in '85. You're still touring your first record? Yep, touring the first. We were coming down from Boston, going down the eastern seaboard, and then across the southwest to LA. So it was for us the biggest tour yet? Okay. Biggest tour, still small spaces. But a moment of great promise. You know, it's your first record. You're seeing things you haven't seen before. How were you feeling about that record at that moment? One part of us felt like we just made beggars banquet. You know, another part of us worried that we made something terrible. You know, flip flopping between the extremes. This night, it was a night off for Bruce Springsteen, the E Street band. And we knew that. How'd you know that?
Transcription truncated.
When he joined the Del Fuegos, his big brother’s band, all Warren knew how to play was a record player. Things went great for a while — and then it all fell apart. So how did he wind up writing definitive books on Springsteen and Tom Petty?
If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts.