And those often end up being some of the best episodes.
When Jason Flom came to the studio, I thought I knew what we were going to talk about.
Jason has broken more huge music artists in the last 3 decades than just about anyone. You name them, Jason probably helped launch their career while head of Atlantic Records, Virgin, and Capital (and now Lava Records).
He has story after story of discovering artists like Katy Perry, LORDE, Kid Rock, the list goes on.
However, that’s only one part of why Jason is one of the most interesting guests to ever come on the show.
He is also a huge supporter of exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted and gone to prison innocently.
For years, Jason has been working tirelessly to not only get these people free, but to spread awareness of what a huge issue this is in the U.S.
He hosts his own podcast, Wrongful Conviction, where he tells these stories, and serves on a number of boards working on these issues.
I was mesmerized by Jason’s stories, both from the music world and the criminal justice world.
One of the things I admire most is Jason’s ability to create powerful change no matter what his focus is.
I can’t wait for you to hear these stories and learn for yourself what’s possible when you seek to serve others in Episode 458.
Some Questions I Ask:
- Are there any big singers you passed on that later became huge? (25:06)
- How do we change the problems in our way of dealing with convictions? (48:05)
- Have you gotten anyone off of death row? (49:44)
- What can people do to actually impact some kind of movement around these issues? (1:13:35)
- Are celebrities as influential as we think they are at making people’s opinions change? (1:18:10)
In this episode, you will learn:
- How Jason went from hanging concert posters to becoming the chairman of Atlantic Records (3:30)
- The story behind discovering LORDE and developing her as a superstar (15:00)
- The story behind developing Katy Perry into a superstar (26:55)
- Why Jason is so passionate about helping wrongfully convicted people (35:04)
- The problems with our current legal system and drug offenders (40:12)
- How many innocent people are executed in the U.S. (49:19)
- The average amount of time served by people who are exonerated (55:25)
- What motivates exonerated people after they are freed (1:05:40)
- The issue with lack of accountability for prosecutors in the U.S. (1:08:25)
- Plus much more…
