In episode 28, show host and I Love Libraries editor Phil Morehart speaks with musician Brian Baker from legendary punk bands Minor Threat, Bad Religion, and more about his new book of photography, “The Road” (Akashic Books, 2025).
As the bassist and guitar player for Minor Threat in the 1980s, then-teenage Brian helped create a new form of music—hardcore punk—that would influence the world. His legacy was furthered cemented in the years following Minor Threat’s breakup, which saw him playing in the bands Dag Nasty, Samhain, The Meatmen, Government Issue, Junkyard, and more before joining long-running punk stalwarts Bad Religion in 1994—a position he holds to this day.
Brian’s musical bone fides are unquestionable, but he has another passion that is just now being recognized and celebrated: photography. Brian has been taking photographs on Bad Religion tours and personal travels for years, and the photos have been collected in the impressive new volume, “The Road.”
Brian joins the show to discuss his photography, “The Road” and its impetus, the legacy of punk rock, book bans, and, of course, how he libraries.