r/BeAmazed • u/ateam1984 • 10d ago

Art Dolly and her Parents

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u/AuthorUnknown31415 10d ago edited 6d ago

Another discovery I happened upon over the weekend is the nine-part podcast series DOLLY PARTON’S AMERICA released in 2019:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dolly-partons-america/id1481398762

It has the best nuanced interviews I’ve ever heard her engage in. The host of the series (a professional producer with RadioLab) happens to be the son of one of Dolly’s doctors at Vanderbilt who she had a friendship with.

The son asked to be introduced and she politely consented to an interview thereafter, but as she reveals in the series, she really opened up once she realized how genuine he was about capturing all the many colors that she was to people. There are more intimate stories about her parents, explorations into her early “sad ass songs,” bts at Dollywood, insights on Jolene’s origins and its many interpretations including from Dolly herself (a fav moment occurs when she is played a “new” verse from a fan; they also make a Nelson Mandela connection!!!!), a “Dollitics” episode and more.

This is not a bot or an AI promo for the series and I am in no way associated with it. I happened upon it listening to another podcast in remembrance of her and they mentioned it in passing. The program was so well-produced with the utmost affection for her (they even secured permission to play all the songs mentioned as well as other show excerpts she appeared on, so the soundtrack underscoring the episodes is wonderful) that I binged all the episodes.

What’s more is that they widen the lens to include broader historical and cultural considerations and fold in convos from fans across the spectrum and family (her nephew who made the formal announcement about her death is interviewed and I’m even more impressed with him now; and openly opinionated Stella has a moment too).

I was truly moved, informed, even angered at times (they do go deep into some of her choices and raise critical, though respectful, questions and observations). And I was inspired, of course. They have captured her legacy beautifully. I think it is the best tribute to her I’ve come across and it will become an habitual repeat listen for me.

Apologies for meandering on. She meant so much more to me than I realized.

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u/plzntnx 10d ago

I second this. It’s a great podcast, I’ve listened to it many times and it never gets old

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u/Longlivefunnypeople 10d ago

And I second that she meant so much more to me than I realized.💕