John Ondrasik is Five for Fighting. Unless you’ve been living in a cave in Waziristan, you’ve heard his songs like 100 Years, Superman, and The Riddle. But the title cut to his latest album, Two Lights, turns out to come from a lunch with none other than blogosphere fave Victor Davis Hanson. (There are some streamable samples at the link, too.) We talk to Ondrasik about politics in the music business, what drives his songwriting, what aspiring musicians should do to make it, and more — including his new, about-to-launch web-video-based viral charity enterprise, What Kind of World Do You Want? (Hear his music on iTunes here.)

You can listen directly — no downloads needed — by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file directly by clicking right here. You can get a lo-fi version suitable for download by going here and selecting lo-fi. And, of course, you can get a free subscription via iTunes — and you should! As always, of course, my lovely and talented cohost is taking comments and suggestions.

Music is by Five for Fighting. This podcast is sponsored by Volvo USA. Buy a Volvo, and tell ’em we sent you!