Rephonic
Artwork for Live Wire

Live Wire with Luke Burbank

PRX
Comedy
Music
Grief
Mental Health
Alcohol
Parenting
Poetry
Portland Book Festival
Black History Month
I Was a Teenage Slasher
Sobriety
Acne
Stand-Up Comedy
Sloane Crosley
Portland, Oregon
Pop Culture
Church Of Scientology
Paul F. Tompkins
Horror Genre
Text Me Back

Like late-night for radio, Live Wire is hosted by Luke Burbank (Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me) and artfully blends an eclectic mix of artists, musicians, writers, filmmakers, comedians, and cultural observers.

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes752Founded20 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
ArtsPerforming Arts

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Artwork for Live Wire

Latest Episodes

Earlonne Woods & Nigel Poor discuss how they launched their award-winning podcast Ear Hustle while Earlonne was still incarcerated — and why the stories they share inside and outside of prison are not about redemption; stand-up comedian Dylan Adler r... more

Writer Gabe Henry unpacks his book Enough Is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Eezier to Spell, which humorously explores the centuries-long evolution of the Simplified Spelling Movement, where "laugh" most became "laf;" Hawaii-born Samoan po... more

Avery Trufelman, creator and host of the fashion podcast Articles of Interest, unpacks how the US military of World War II came to shape menswear as we know it today; stand-up comedian Kyle Kinane comes to terms with the amount of micro (and macro) p... more

Legendary travel writer Rick Steves reflects on his days adventuring down "the hippie trail" from Istanbul to Kathmandu... and we discover why you might find him eating at McDonald's in Paris; plus The Lullaby Project brings together singer-songwrite... more

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Recent Guests

Gabe Henry
Author of Enough Is Enuf; explores Simplified Spelling Movement
Author, Enough Is Enuf
Episode: Gabe Henry, William Nuʻutupu Giles, and Sir Woman (REBROADCAST)
William Nuitupu Giles
National Poetry Slam champion; poet featured in the segment
Poet, You Speaks Hawaii
Episode: Gabe Henry, William Nuʻutupu Giles, and Sir Woman (REBROADCAST)
Avery Trufelman
Host/Producer of Articles of Interest
Articles of Interest
Episode: Avery Trufelman, Kyle Kinane, and Johnny Franco and His Real Brother Dom
Kyle Kinane
Stand-up comedian
Comedian
Episode: Avery Trufelman, Kyle Kinane, and Johnny Franco and His Real Brother Dom
Johnny Franco
Musician
Johnny Franco and his real brother Dom
Episode: Avery Trufelman, Kyle Kinane, and Johnny Franco and His Real Brother Dom
Rick Steves
Travel writer, TV host, and travel author
Rick Steves Europe; author of On the Hippie Trail
Episode: Rick Steves and The Lullaby Project (REBROADCAST)
Stephanie Schneiderman
Singer-songwriter and orchestrated collaborator for The Lullaby Project
The Lullaby Project; Oregon Symphony
Episode: Rick Steves and The Lullaby Project (REBROADCAST)
Cheryl Strayed
Author and podcaster, Mind Over Mountain
Mind Over Mountain / iHeart Women's Sports Network
Episode: Cheryl Strayed, Skyler Higley, and Patterson Hood
Skyler Higley
Comedian and performer
Stand-up comedian
Episode: Cheryl Strayed, Skyler Higley, and Patterson Hood

Hosts

Luke Burbank
Host of Live Wire; principal interviewer with a collaborative, humorous style
Elena Passarello
Announcer/Co-host; brings embodiment and voice to live performances and interviews

Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars from 355 ratings
  • Love

    Listening to Live Wire on my commute brings me so much joy. Luke and Elena bring the perfect balance of humor, warmth, positivity, and oddly specific geographic knowledge. I love hearing from writers about their lives and artistic process. The standup routines, musical guests, “best news,” and station location examination segments are not only entertaining, but a true comfort in these challenging times. This show is a major highlight of my week!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    randomuno
    United Statesa year ago
  • Damp January

    With new guidelines recommending a cancer warning label for alcohol and thinking about why I consume alcohol, this series is thoughtful and got me thinking about different perspectives. I also appreciate Luke’s courage and honesty in the interview with his mom and his own experience with alcohol. Worth listening to!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Upstate Midwesterner
    United Statesa year ago
  • So good!

    Love the show but some new eps would be nice. You can’t do a TAL rerun-based model with this few episodes.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Raincloud06
    United Statesa year ago
  • Love Luke!

    So excited for this new series Damp January! Luke is the best and his perspective on this topic is so insightful.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    D7s4
    United Statesa year ago
  • Best Weekly Podcast Around

    There’s nothing that delights me more during my busy week than to be notified that Live Wire has dropped another episode. Luke and Elena are delightful and charming and their dynamic is top notch. The guests they have on are obviously chosen with great care, and even when I may not have an immediate recognition of the guest’s work, I’m soon drawn into the interview and I walk away more informed about the world around me. Best News is fun and light, and Station Location Identification is a great ... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Sakura Mama NYC
    United Statesa year ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Some critics want more new episodes and fewer reruns.
Listeners praise the balance of interviews, music, and humor.
Fans note the show's warmth and curiosity as standout qualities.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Gabe Henry, William Nuʻutupu Giles, and Sir Woman (REBROADCAST)
Q: Can you tell us about some of the well-known people who tried to fix English spelling over the years?
The guest outlines figures like Benjamin Franklin and Noah Webster, describing their proposals and the mixed reception they faced, including Franklin's phonetically driven alphabet and Webster's American English simplifications.
Gabe Henry, William Nuʻutupu Giles, and Sir Woman (REBROADCAST)
Q: What was your sort of, like, I don't know, grammar nerd status before you started on this book? Were you always someone who was tracking that kind of stuff?
Gabe Henry describes being a self-professed grammar nerd and later a more accepting writer, suggesting that researching the book softened his strictness about language.
Avery Trufelman, Kyle Kinane, and Johnny Franco and His Real Brother Dom
Q: What is the significance of the miniature dolls story in relation to French fashion history?
Avery recounts how postwar France revived couture through exact miniature replicas, enabling designers to showcase craft like beading and hat work to an international audience, thereby preserving cultural prestige and reviving demand after the war.
Avery Trufelman, Kyle Kinane, and Johnny Franco and His Real Brother Dom
Q: Can you walk us through the idea that much of menswear stems from military clothing and how that shaped modern consumer brands?
Avery explains that the link runs deep, citing brand examples and how surplus military gear fed into civilian fashion, with salespeople becoming trusted experts and labels like Gore-Tex becoming status symbols, illustrating how military lineage informs contemporary style and consumer trust.
Karen Russell, Sam Miller, and David Ramirez (REBROADCAST)
Q: What inspired the setting and memory themes in The Antidote?
Russell explains the Dust Bowl and memory-banking imagery as a lens to explore how communities remember trauma, interweaving historical events with imaginative elements to widen the aperture of collective memory.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Live Wire

What is Live Wire about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Eclectic, culture-forward conversations with a mix of writers, musicians, comedians, and filmmakers. Recurring strengths include intimate author interviews, live musical performances, and thoughtful segments that blend curiosity with lighthearted banter. Guests span travel writers, poets, Indigenous and immigrant voices, and indie musicians, often explored through themes of resilience, memory, identity, and community. A distinguishing feature is the live-show energy, cross-disciplinary mix, and ongoing commitment to accessibility and human-centered storytelling, making it appealing to listeners who crave intelligent culture-talk balanced with warmth and humor.

Where can I find podcast stats for Live Wire?

Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for Live Wire. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to Live Wire and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.

How many listeners does Live Wire get?

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What are the audience demographics for Live Wire?

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How many subscribers and views does Live Wire have?

To see how many followers or subscribers Live Wire has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.

Which podcasts are similar to Live Wire?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Live Wire:

1. Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
2. TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live
3. Fresh Air
4. The Moth
5. Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone

How many episodes of Live Wire are there?

Live Wire launched 20 years ago and published 752 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact Live Wire?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

Where can I see ratings and reviews for Live Wire?

Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for Live Wire from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.

View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.

How do I access podcast episode transcripts for Live Wire?

Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of Live Wire. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.

What guests have appeared on Live Wire?

Recent guests on Live Wire include:

1. Gabe Henry
2. William Nuitupu Giles
3. Avery Trufelman
4. Kyle Kinane
5. Johnny Franco
6. Rick Steves
7. Stephanie Schneiderman
8. Cheryl Strayed

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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