One of the pleasures of making Frekenomics radios that I get to speak with some of the

most brilliant researchers and social scientists in the world, along with the occasional physical

scientists and perhaps the stray government official.

But there are other sorts of people I admire, musicians for instance, who typically don't

fit into our show.

This changed recently as we've launched a few special series, one on CEOs, one on sports,

and our latest series called How to Be Creative.

This last one has given me the chance to speak with musicians and artists of all kinds, as

well as scientists and inventors.

Occasionally, one of these conversations is so rich that we can't help but put it out

in its entirety, as we're doing with this bonus episode.

It's an interview with Elvis Costello, the 64-year-old singer and songwriter from England,

who now lives in Vancouver with his wife, the jazz singer Diana Crawl and their two kids.

Costello has been making excellent records since the mid-1970s, records that range from

punkish pop to super dense, super pop to country in western, from earnest to sardonic.

He's particularly adept at bringing a postmodern flair to the elegant foundations of the old

school songbook style.

And that's what he's done on his newest record, which is called Look Now, just how versatile

is Elvis Costello?

Over the years, his collaborators have included Bert Baccarock, the Brodsky quartet, and Sophie

Van Aader, Paul McCartney, the Charles Mingus Orchestra, and Alan Tussant.

If you're at all a serious fan of popular music, Elvis Costello has at least been on your

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