Folk The Man! John Henry

About this episode

This episode explores the story of John Henry, an American folk hero, and its relevance in today's society amidst the rise of AI and LLMs.

John Henry is an American folk hero. His mythology goes back to the 1800s and no one is quite sure what part of his story is real, or legend. Nevertheless his story lives on mainly in song form. And his story could not be more relevant today with the advent of LLMs and AI threatening to take people's jobs and change society forever. This week we take a look at some great renditions of his tale from; Johnny Cash, Lead Belly, Rhiannon Giddens/Justin Robinson, Woody Guthrie, Charley Crockett and Drive-By Truckers. I hope you dig it!

Topics covered

• John Henry
• American folk hero
• mythology
• music
• AI
• society

Keywords

• folk music
• renditions
• Johnny Cash
• Lead Belly
• Rhiannon Giddens
• Woody Guthrie
• Charley Crockett
• Drive-By Truckers

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