From
By
Stephen Kallao
,
Will Loftus
Social Distortion
Jonathan Weiner
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Set List
Mike Ness wants you to know that the new Social Distortion album did not take 15 years to record .
It may be the longest gap between albums in the storied Orange County punk rock band's history, but it wasn't for lack of trying. A series of personal challenges, relentless touring and, ultimately, a cancer diagnosis all delayed the record.
Now, with Ness healthy and the band in fine form, Social Distortion joins World Cafe to perform songs from its eighth studio album, Born to Kill .
Today, Ness opens up about his experience with tonsil cancer and the surgery that frightened him more than anything he'd faced before.
We also talk about his admiration for Lucinda Williams , who joins him for a duet on the new album called "Crazy Dreamer," and why Ness, who's spent his career writing about personal struggles, is starting to embrace more political themes in his songwriting.
This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Will Loftus. Our digital producer is Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson. Our executive producer is Bruce Warren.
World Cafe: 10/23/2026
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