Yellowstone, television's number one show is back on Paramount Network.

I John Dutton, who solemnly swear to uphold the Constitution of the State of Montana,

against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Featuring an all-star cast led by Academy Award winner Kevin Costner,

the invasion is over. They will fight you dirty.

Is there any other way?

As the Dutton family fights to protect their legacy, they'll learn power has a price.

Signed as a declaration of war.

We're already at war.

Yellowstone, new episodes Sundays at 8 p.m. Eastern, exclusively on Paramount Network.

This is Alec Baldwin, and you're listening to Here's the Thing from I Heart Radio.

That is, of course, the Prelude to Lohengren by Ricard Wagner, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic,

conducted by Segeo Zaua.

My guest today, Alex Ross, is the author of Vognorism, Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music,

about the life and work of German composer Ricard Wagner.

Alex Ross has been the music critic at the New Yorker since 1996, and at the New York Times before that.

While his beat is classical music, he writes on a wide-ranging number of subjects,

from opera to avant-garde, Kurt Cobain to Bob Dylan, all alongside essays on history, art, film,

and literature. He's a MacArthur Genius grant recipient, cited by the foundation for his ability

to offer, quote, new ways of thinking about the music of the past and its place in our future,

unquote.

With his deep knowledge of music history, I wanted to know how Alex Ross saw popular music

...