A high schooler's music diary — Grammys press pass stories to family concert interviews.
Broken Record turns music discovery into a loose, affectionate radio conversation. Ellie brings in family members, artist stories, Grammy access, and favorite tracks, then lets each song open into memories, jokes, and quick emotional detours.
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Broken Record aired weekly on KMIH 88.9 The Bridge, a high school radio station on Mercer Island, mixing solo narrative episodes with family-interview segments. Host Ellie (also credited as Ellie Sadler) anchors every episode, sometimes narrating her own experiences directly to listeners, such as a frantic day of Zoom red-carpet interviews on a virtual Grammys media pass, and sometimes handing the conversation to relatives. Her father, Ryan Sadler, and sister, Audrey, each appear in dedicated episodes centered on their personal concert histories and the songs that marked different points in their lives, and a separate episode is built around her mother's concert memories. Typical episodes trace an artist's catalog, an award show, or a themed playlist, pairing song-by-song commentary with anecdotes about specific concerts, album releases, or industry moments. One episode assembles a 'feminine rage' playlist and recounts the backstory of Fleetwood Mac's 'Silver Springs'; another has her father walk through ten songs spanning Elton John to Lenny Kravitz. Musical eras discussed range from 1970s and 80s classic rock and the rise of MTV to 1990s grunge in Seattle and current pop and country releases. Episodes run roughly 12 to 40 minutes and are informal and conversational rather than heavily produced. The series closed after about three years with a graduation-timed finale featuring Ellie and her sister reflecting on the show's run. Listeners get an amateur, personal take on music fandom grounded in direct concert and press-access anecdotes rather than trade-press analysis, making the show best suited to those who enjoy nostalgia-driven, family-flavored music talk over professional criticism.
Made for: Listeners who enjoy casual, personal takes on pop, rock, and country music — concert memories, artist trivia, and family conversations about songs — over professional music criticism.
What sets it apart: Unlike typical music-commentary shows, Broken Record is produced by a high school student on a school radio station and is built around family interviews with her mom, dad, and sister alongside first-person industry-access stories like a Grammys virtual press pass.
Broken Record is a show hosted by Ellie every Tuesday at 6pm. Join her as she geeks out about all things music ranging from concerts and artist spotlights to award ceremonies and social media battles. This podcast will *hopefully* introduce you to new music, artists, venues and more!
Based on 4 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Ellie turns songs, concerts, family memories, and press-room encounters into an enthusiastic record of how musical taste gets formed.
Ellie treats music commentary as a personal exchange, building episodes around songs, family conversations, concert memories, and firsthand encounters with the music industry.
Ellie turns family music memories and a Grammys Zoom into the kind of fandom you can borrow.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A warm student-radio goodbye where sibling teasing, graduation emotion, and a beloved song all share the mic.
Broken Record bows out as a small, affectionate high school radio farewell, with Ellie closing a three-year Tuesday-night run and her sister Audrey sitting in for the last hour.
A warm Broken Record episode where Ellie and her dad trace Elton John, Def Leppard, and Michael Jackson through family memory and first pop awakenings.
Broken Record turns a father-daughter playlist into a modest, affectionate map of first musical shocks. Ellie brings on her dad, Ryan, to talk about songs that changed how he heard music, beginning with Elton John's "Benny and the Jets" as a childhood family memory: a cool young…
A warm mother-daughter concert chat, moving from Steve Miller nostalgia to Taylor Swift set-list speculation.
Concerts with mom is a warm, casual pass through live-music memories, with Ellie inviting her mother on to talk about artists she has seen and the songs that still make those shows stick.
A breathless Grammy media-pass diary with a sharp Tyler Johnson production insight tucked inside the fan rush.
Ellie's Grammy recap is less a verdict on the awards than a diaristic look at what it feels like to cover them from a laptop. She starts with the mechanics: virtual press links, one Zoom for the red carpet and another for the media center, which she happily renames the winner's…
Chicago critics DeRogatis and Kot pair new-album reviews with deep dives into records like Rumours.
Annual Songlines Music Awards ceremonies spotlighting global artists, from Afrobeat to sevda.
Stephen Hyden and Ian Cohen argue about indie rock, one Metacritic score at a time.
Ellie closes Broken Record.
Ellie brings her dad, Ryan, on air.
Host Ellie dedicates one of Broken Record's final episodes to a curated playlist of feminine rage songs, spanning Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Fleetwood Mac, Ash, Dua Lipa, and Miley Cyrus.
Ellie brings her mom into the episode and builds it around concerts her mom has seen, starting with Steve Miller Band and the easy grin of "Dance, Dance, Dance." The banter turns very family, very fast.
Ellie marks the 100th episode of Broken Record by reviewing Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department through first-listen voice memos and later reassessments.
Ellie got a virtual media pass for the Grammys, and it shows in the best way.