Listen Live
Donate
 on air
Schedule

KCRW

Read & Explore

  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Culture
  • Events

Listen

  • Live Radio
  • Music
  • Podcasts
  • Full Schedule

Information

  • About
  • Careers
  • Help / FAQ
  • Newsletters
  • Contact

Support

  • Become a Member
  • Become a VIP
  • Ways to Give
  • Shop
  • Member Perks

Become a Member

Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

DonateGive Monthly

Copyright 2025 KCRW. All rights reserved.

Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
Cookie Policy
|FCC Public Files

Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Press Play with Madeleine Brand

The relationship between Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen

Leonard Cohen died in 2016. That was only a few months after the woman who inspired some of his best work died, Marianne Ihlen. A new documentary explores their relationship, called "Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love."

  • rss
  • Share
By Madeleine Brand • Jul 8, 2019 • 1 min read

Leonard Cohen died in 2016. That was only a few months after the woman who inspired some of his best work died, Marianne Ihlen. A new documentary explores their relationship, called "Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love."

Director Nick Broomfield tells Press Play that Ihlen inspired him to start making documentaries. “I think [Marianne] had a great talent for supporting the strengths of people and encouraging them to follow that strength, which is a very rare talent," he says.

Even though Cohen's lyrics were written in a different era, they still endure today. “The words are so incredible. He was very selective in how he wrote and what he wrote. And he obviously took an immense amount of time over the particular words he used and the sentences he used. He was such a craftsman," says Broomfield.

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Madeleine Brand

    Host, 'Press Play'

  • KCRW placeholder

    Sarah Sweeney

    Vice President of Talk Programming, KCRW

  • KCRW placeholder

    Michell Eloy

    Line Editor, Press Play

  • KCRW placeholder

    Alexandra Sif Tryggvadottir

    Associate producer

  • KCRW placeholder

    Nick Broomfield

    director

    CultureEntertainment
Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand