Episode 659 - Ron Rosenbaum

One of my fave writers, Ron Rosenbaum , returns to the show to celebrate his amazing new book, BOB DYLAN: Things Have Changed (A Kind Of Biography) (Melville House Press). We talk about how his lifetime fandom of Dylan led to this book, why he opted for a biographical meditation over strict biography, the week he spent with Dylan in the '70s for a Playboy interview , what our response to Dylan's songs say about us, and how he got over his sense of betrayal when Dylan joined a Jesus-cult for a few years. We get into his insight into Dylan's Nobel acceptance and the Rosebud-moment therein, the question of theodicy (radical evil) and Dylan's argument with God, Ron's experience falling in love with someone to Dylan's songs, and how Dylan's post-Jesus songwriting methods became a reflection of his One-Mind consciousness. We also discuss authenticity vs. sincerity, the discontinuity of being, the impact of Salinger & Dylan on American language and outlook, Ron's top 20-ish of Dylan's songs, the 4+-hour movie Dylan made in the '70s and how it may have led to his crack-up (and why Ron thinks it should be reissued), and more. Follow Ron on Twitter • More info at our site • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Stripe , Patreon , or Paypal , and

You can listen to Episode 659 - Ron Rosenbaum online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode 659 - Ron Rosenbaum is an episode from The Virtual Memories Show by Gil Roth.

This episode is 01:14:56 long.

This episode was published on Oct 21, 2025.

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