Steven Hyden
Steven Hyden is an American music critic, author, and podcast host. He is the author of the books Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me, Twilight of the Gods, Hard to Handle: The [Life and Death of the Black Crowes|Hard to Handle], This Isn't Happening, Long Road, and There Was Nothing You Could Do In 2025, he announced two forthcoming books that will be critical overviews of The Strokes and U2.
He co-hosts the podcasts, Indiecast and Never Ending Stories, and previously hosted the podcasts, 36 From the Vault, Rivals, Break Stuff: The Story of Woodstock '99, and Celebration Rock. He is a critic for Uproxx and previously served as staff writer at Grantland and an editor at The A.V. Club. He also has appeared as a pundit in various music documentaries, and was the story producer of HBO's popular 2024 film "Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary."Early life
Steven Hyden was born on September 7, 1977 in Wisconsin. He graduated from Appleton East High School, then the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2000.Career
Hyden began his career with The Post-Crescent in 1993; then 15 years old, he contributed to a weekly section for teenagers. He continued working for the paper as an intern while in college, and then joined the staff as a full-time reporter when he graduated in 2000.
He joined UPROXX as a cultural critic in July 2016. He previously worked at Grantland as a staff writer and at The A.V. Club as an editor. His music criticism has been published in several other outlets including Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Slate, American Songwriter and Salon.com.
Hyden has been regularly featured as a pundit in documentaries, including CNN's "The Nineties," "The 2000s," and "The 2010s," and HBO's "Billy Joel: And So It Goes." He has also worked behind the scenes on music documentaries, including "Woodstock 99: Peace, Love And Rage" and "Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary".Podcasts
''Celebration Rock''
From January 2016 - December 2018, Hyden hosted the Celebration Rock podcast. A new episode debuted weekly on Monday afternoon and usually ran about 50–60 minutes in length. Hyden and his guests covered topics ranging from "Best Rock Albums of the '10's " to hour-long interviews with artists and hosting other critics to discuss their famous works. The podcast mostly emphasized the current rock scene, but also dove into the past with episodes and interviews about The Replacements, Cheap Trick, and others.''Break Stuff: The Story of Woodstock '99''
From July 9, 2019 to August 27, 2019, Hyden hosted an eight episode podcast about the Woodstock '99 festival on the subscription podcast network Luminary. He later appeared as an expert on the HBO documentary Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, And Rage.''Rivals''
From February 6, 2020 to January 27, 2021, Hyden co-hosted Rivals, a podcast about rivalries between band-mates and contemporaries in rock, with Jordan Runtaugh.''Indiecast''
In July 2020, Hyden began co-hosting Indiecast, a podcast about indie music news and trends, with Ian Cohen.''36 From the Vault''
In January 2020, Hyden began co-hosting 36 From the Vault, a podcast about the Grateful Dead's live album series Dick's Picks, with co-host Rob Mitchum.''Never Ending Stories''
In 2023, Hyden began co-hosting Never Ending Stories, a podcast about Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour and other live recordings, with the hosts of Jokermen, an initially Dylan-themed podcast.Books
''Inventory''
In 2009, Hyden was a co-author of the book Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists, a collection of lists from The A.V. Club.''Whatever Happened to Alternative Nation?''
In 2011, Hyden published the e-book Whatever Happened To Alternative Nation?, a critical analysis and personal reflection on 1990s alternative rock that originally ran as a 10-part series at The A.V. Club.''Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me''
On May 17, 2016 Hyden released Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me, published by Back Bay Books. It is a collection of essays on famous pop music rivalries throughout rock history, including Oasis versus Blur, Beatles versus Rolling Stones, and Madonna versus Cyndi Lauper.''Twilight of the Gods''
On May 1, 2018, Hyden published Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock. The 19-chapter book is structured to resemble a double-LP, with "tracks" divided among four "sides".''Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes''
On September 24, 2019, Hyden published Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes with co-author Steve Gorman about the latter's time as the drummer in the American rock band The Black Crowes.''This Isn't Happening: Radiohead's "Kid A" and the Beginning of the 21st Century''
On September 29, 2020, Hyden published This Isn't Happening: Radiohead's "Kid A" and the Beginning of the 21st Century about Radiohead's 2000 album Kid A and its broader cultural context and influence.''Long Road: Pearl Jam and the Soundtrack of a Generation''
Hyden's Long Road: Pearl Jam and the Soundtrack of a Generation, was published by Hachette Books on September 27, 2022. AllMusic interviewed Hyden about his publication and enquired about Pearl Jam's decision to release a number of 2000 live shows.''There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A. and the End Of The Heartland''
Hyden's There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A. and the End Of The Heartland was published by Hachette Books on May 28, 2024. It was praised by filmmaker Benny Safdie and comedian Tim Heidecker, among others, as an insightful look at Springsteen's best-selling album.Personal life
Hyden is married and lives in Minneapolis.