Ali Selim + Carla Kihlstedt

Filmmaker and director Ali Selim shares a story about his complicated relationship with his father. Dr. Emily Gaarder talks about her work in restorative justice, and explains why she sometimes refers to forgiveness as “the F-word.” Songwriter Carla Kihlstedt recalls her long connection to Ali and his work, and shares a brand new song. Special thanks to FilmNorth for hosting the live event, and to New England Conservatory 's Department of Recording and Performance Technology Services, and to audio engineer Collin Register. Chapters: 00:02:38 Ali Selim's story 00:16:28 Dr. Emily Gaarder's perspective 00:42:29 Carla Kihlstedt's "I Am a Fish" SongWriterPodcast.com Instagram.com/SongWriterPodcast Facebook.com/SongWriterPodcast TikTok.com/@SongWriterPodcast YouTube.com/@SongwriterPodcast SongWriter is a music and songwriting podcast that turns stories into songs. Host Ben Arthur invites writers, poets, and musicians to share a story or poem, then pairs it with an original song written in response. Along the way, the show explores the creative process through intimate conversations and performances. Guests have included Questlove, Susan Orlean, David Gilmour, David Sedaris, Joyce Carol Oates, and George Saunders. Distributed by PRX, SongWriter also appears on the syndicated radio program Acoustic Café and in Paste Magazine. Learn more at SongWriterPodcast.com . Season seven is made possible by a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation

You can listen to Ali Selim + Carla Kihlstedt online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Ali Selim + Carla Kihlstedt is an episode from SongWriter by Ben Arthur.

This episode is 51:21 long.

This episode was published on Mar 24, 2026.

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