Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen
PRXStudio 360 with Kurt Andersen
The Peabody Award-winning Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, from PRX, is a smart and surprising guide to what's happening in pop culture and the arts. Each week, Kurt introduces the people who are creating and shaping our culture. Life is busy – so let Studio 360 steer you to the must-see movie this weekend, the next book for your nightstand, or the song that will change your life. Produced in association with Slate.
© Public Radio International
The Peabody Award-winning Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, from PRX, is a smart and surprising guide to what's happening in pop culture and the arts. Each week, Kurt introduces the people who are creating and shaping our culture. Life is busy – so let Studio 360 steer you to the must-see movie this weekend, the next book for your nightstand, or the song that will change your life. Produced in association with Slate.
© Public Radio International
This week, a stereophonic odyssey into the Amazon, the otherworldly nature of octopuses, and why a theater critic thinks Shakespeare is much ado about nothing.
Discover the hidden magical, religious, and spiritual realms of the United States.
History, Blackness, and life in the South.
A new podcast from The Peabody Awards
An audio documentary series exploring the changing nature of monuments in America today.
Nixon at War - Ep 1 October Surprise
Alec Baldwin conducts Kurt Andersen’s exit interview, TV writers school us on the art of the finale and Rosanne Cash plays one last song for the road.
Jacob Lawrence’s epic series of paintings shows the northward journey of millions of African Americans from the Jim Crow South to cities in the North.
The show’s original producers reflect on the creation of Studio 360 and its 20-year broadcast run.
The revolutionary “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back,” how Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” changed everything and finding solace in a TLC lyric.
The film studio that dates back to when New York was the movie-making capital — and is still thriving.
Romantic advice and pop music with Delilah. The improbable starmaker that brought us Yanni and John Tesh. And why Bim Adewunmi still loves the “Sweet Valley High” books.
Academy Award contenders including Quentin Tarantino, Adam Driver and Antonio Banderas.
A live album that captured the rage and hope of the civil rights movement.
How “12 Angry Men” spawned the modern courtroom procedural, and how Kris Maddigan composed a jazz score for Cuphead, the video game.
How Wynton Marsalis became immersed in classical music, and why Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love” has drawn such wide and diverse admiration.
How a dark comedy got so dark and so funny.
Two segments from our new series, New York Icons, are both from midcentury and both uptown: the original “West Side Story” Broadway production and the famously controversial photo from Garry Winogrand, a street photography pioneer.
Ranky Tanky performs live and explains the influence of Gullah music. Why Tig Notaro loves a song by Nickelback — and doesn’t care if you hate them. And mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton’s take on performing songs about women that were intended to be sung by men.
The philosophies of a master street photographer, and the story of how he took his most controversial picture.
"My distrust of technology comes entirely from that movie.”
It’s HAL’s world — we just live in it.
A short story turned radio drama by Kurt Andersen.
How the Brill Building cranked out hits in the late ’50s and early ’60s ... and why that era’s “Mugmates” wasn’t one of them.
A whole episode about the cultural impact of glass, from Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” and Bauhaus-inspired glass skyscrapers to composer Philip Glass and unbroken glass ceilings.
How a bunch of teenagers in a midtown Manhattan office building changed pop music.
An American Icons look at Patricia Highsmith’s “Ripley” novels. Perfumer Tanwi Nandini Islam creates a fragrance based on Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.” And writer Sadie Stein goes to bat for the word “moist.”
The aria "Un bel dì vedremo " captures Butterfly's unwavering faith in her reunion with her American husband and her unflagging desire for a better life.
Director Jennifer Reeder on her new film, “Knives and Skin.” The story behind the infamous 1969 literary hoax, “Naked Came the Stranger.” And screenwriter Oliver Butcher makes a case for a film that’s often snubbed as corny, “Love Actually.”
Wynton Marsalis and the evolution of swing rhythm, but with a classical twist.
Giving Willa Cather’s “My Ántonia” its due. Cartoonist Lynda Barry professes her love for the oft-maligned “The Family Circus.” And Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins on why he’s not always trying to paint the prettiest picture.
This is the show that changed the Broadway musical — and how New York City sees itself.
What Sylvia Plath’s novel and a landmark salsa album owe to the city.
The widely loathed font serves a noble purpose.
Choreographer Mark Morris’ musical obsessions, Carmen Maria Machado on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and how "Rocky and Bullwinkle" was “The Simpsons” of its time.
Jamie Barton puts a bisexual spin on classical music.
These are the stories that introduced America to its dark side.
The making of “The Bell Jar,” and the unmaking of its author.
The portraits of everyday people that Amy Sherald painted after her official Michelle Obama portrait, and the unlikely making — and legacy — of “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians.
How a centuries-old musical tradition inspired the Billboard-topping jazz hits of Ranky Tanky.
An American Icon two-fer: rewatching the movie that made an art of talking back to movies, and John Ford’s racially problematic masterpiece.
How Kate Bush’s album captivated musicians as varied at Outkast’s Big Boi and singer Julia Holter.
How Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” changed everything, and Liz Phair on her new memoir.
Antonio Banderas on his latest Almodóvar collaboration, Rick Baker on the Joker’s makeup and the complicated wonder of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.”
A look back at the early days of the seminal band.
How Fred Wilson’s art challenges the conventions of museums. Remembering the legendary performer and acting teacher Uta Hagen. And how a random song from the 1980s became known as “The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet.”
Hari Kondabolu is in the host seat, with fellow comic Hannah Gadsby and hip hop impresario Sophia Chang.
Extra: New York Icons: ‘Siembra’
Writer Ashley C. Ford, indie artist Vagabon and remembering Notorious B.I.G.’s “Ready to Die.”
Playwright Michael R. Jackson, artist Molly Crabapple and the creators and cast of “Felix Starro,” a new musical from the Ma-Yi Theater Company.
Lots of actors moonlight as waiters or baristas to pay the bills. Alex Kramer moonlights as a spy.
With Margaret Atwood’s sequel to “The Handmaid’s Tale” forthcoming, a look at the novel’s impact, including Ann Dowd, who plays Aunt Lydia on the Hulu adaptation, and how Louise Erdrich and Megan Hunter also wrote about pregnancy in their dystopian novels.
How film noirs inspired Portishead’s album “Dummy,” gave novelist Karen Russell a creative breakthrough and launched the career of composer Carter Burwell.
The acclaimed mystery writer tells Kurt about her fascination with Poe, and why Baltimore is a “good noir town.”
The oddity of Sha Na Na at Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix’s searing performance of the national anthem, how Sly and the Family Stone’s album “Stand” sounded a note of hope in a turbulent time, and the surprising, life-changing influence of that other Woodstock — the “Peanuts” character.
How Leonard Cohen lives on for artists and fans, Nick Waterhouse performs live, and why Bim Adewunmi still loves the “Sweet Valley High” books.
In a 2014 interview, the late Nobel Prize laureate explains why she began writing: She couldn’t find the novels she wanted to read.
Along with serving up a generous helping of dirtyish jokes and goofy parodies, “Mad Magazine” changed the way we consume pop culture and how we talk about world affairs.
In this Peabody Award-winning show, Kurt Andersen sets sail in search of the great white whale.
John Leguizamo on his one-man play “Latin History for Morons.” Plus how the updated version of ‘Oklahoma!’ took a bold approach to choreography. And trying to bring peace to LA gangs in the wake of Nipsey Hussle’s death.
How the debut B-52’s album wedded punk with fun.
The mystery and mastery of singing, with Billie Holiday’s “Lady Sings the Blues,” Eric Whitacre and the Silver Lake Chorus
Lynn Shelton on her new movie, “Sword of Trust,” a studio visit to see how Ursula von Rydingsvard make her enigmatic sculptures, and how the villain from “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” changed everything for a fourth grade boy.
How the comedian dissolves into multitudes of characters, from his mother to Andrew Jackson, in his one-man plays.
Live on stage with Yo La Tengo, Aasif Mandvi and Friends Who Folk.
Julio Torres and Ana Fabrega of “Los Espookys,” what Hollywood gets wrong about Stonewall and when two artists independently come up with the same original-seeming idea.
This is a new American hero.
John Cameron Mitchell’s podcast musical about a cancer patient, Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s tragically funny novel about divorce, and how Steve Von Till balances being a metal guitarist in Neurosis and an elementary school teacher.
How Van Morrison and John Lee Hooker inspired the retro-styled music of Nick Waterhouse.
How Regina Spektor prepared for Broadway, plus the real drama behind “Salt of the Earth” and finding oneself through “Finding Nemo.”
“There are no rules out here. Do not expect to be treated with a complicated civility.”
Why Elaine May’s 1987 flop “Ishtar” deserved better, the stars of “Booksmart” on their favorite on-screen friendships and how watching “Star Trek” as a boy changed everything for Ronald D. Moore.
“My distrust of technology comes entirely from that movie.”
BFFs Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever share their favorite on-screen friendships.
An all-theater episode, including deconstructing the patter song, Taylor Mac’s latest on Broadway and how so much Shakespeare ended up in so many parks.
How the legendary jazz singer transformed pain into art on her 1956 album.
Herzog on "Meeting Gorbachev," “When Doves Cry” at 35, and directing TV comedy.
John Cameron Mitchell on the origins of his new musical podcast.
It’s HAL’s world — we just live in it.
Karl Ove Knausgård’s book about Edvard Munch and Ani DiFranco’s about herself. Plus Pete Seeger’s centennial and really catchy — but patriarchal — songs.
Author Ali Smith on her post-Brexit novel “Autumn”
How “Horses” by Patti Smith helped ignite the punk explosion, plus Susan Choi on “Trust Exercise” and a published poet who’s also a cop.
Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks on “White Noise” with one of its stars, Daveed Diggs. Plus the rich history of the folk song “In the Pines,” and the art of being a supernumerary.
For over half a century, Merce Cunningham’s work was marked by his consistent embrace of innovation expanding the frontiers of contemporary dance.
Frederic Tuten’s Zelig-like connection to New York, plus cartoonist Cathy Guisewite on creating “Cathy,” and the music of Helado Negro.
This is the album that helped forge punk’s DIY attitude with its fusion of free-form rock and poetry.
Filmmaker Jia Zhangke, David Remnick, and others on why we’re so obsessed with the gangster myth.
How a fun file on Susan Choi’s hard drive turned into her new novel, Trust Exercise.
What happened when iconic filmmaker Agnès Varda and artist JR teamed up for a road trip? They brought art to the people of rural France.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the woman who created the Creature from the Black Lagoon but didn’t get credit, and how reading “The Metamorphosis” created a metamorphosis for one writer.
After prosecuting the O.J. Simpson case, Marcia Clark turned to writing courtroom-drama novels and a new TV show. Plus the mystery of “Cracks,” a “Sesame Street” cartoon that terrified kids — and then disappeared.
Jia Zhangke on his latest film about the lives of working-class Chinese, Ash Is Purest White, and the movies that shaped him.
The improbable starmaker that brought us Yanni and John Tesh. Plus director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and Nat King Cole at 100.
Heidi Schreck’s memoir-tinged play about the Constitution hits Broadway, plus making Broadway autism-friendly and the magic-realist documentary “301 Hollywood.”
A Baltimore police officer turns to poetry to understand his experiences on the job.
“This Is Spinal Tap” at 35. Plus N.K. Jemisin on “How Long 'til Black Future Month?” and the mythology — and musicality — of Robert Johnson’s “Cross Road Blues.”
Two nominees — actor Richard E. Grant and “Black Panther” costume designer Ruth E. Carter. Plus how a movement director helped Rami Malek embody Freddie Mercury.
The Sesame Street cartoon that terrified children and created an obsession.
Sex on the screen: first times, an intimacy coach and bisexual pride. Plus, “Reality Bites” at 25.
The past, present and future of country music.
Kids on the spectrum — and their families — let it go at a special performance of Frozen.
How Natasha Wimmer translates Bolaño, plus theater about gynecology’s unconscionable founder, and fine art made of carpet.
Dance, movement and the music that moves you to dance.
The wildly beautiful aria that drives Samson wild.
A new exhibit at the Guggenheim suggests it was Hilma af Klint who invented abstraction — so why has she been practically unknown for the last century?
The quietly enduring impact of Nickelodeon’s “Doug,” plus artist Rina Banerjee and the migrant-camp play, “The Jungle.”
How John August fell in love with screenwriting -- and illuminates the craft for aspirants.
Some of our favorite stories from the last year: Daniela Vega, the drudgery of a movie and TV quality control technician, novelist Lauren Groff’s complicated relationship with Florida and an oral history of the hip-hop pirate radio station WBAD.
Some of our favorite stories from the last year: Library music, The Noid and Angélique Kidjo.
How a new play puts the audience inside a migrant camp.
John Ford’s problematic masterpiece “The Searchers” and an inexplicable love for Hallmark Christmas movies.
The Muppets, picture books and other childhood pursuits you never outgrow.
The literary con artist talks about her criminal past — now adapted into the Melissa McCarthy film, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
A scholarly look at why men in classical art are so slightly endowed, plus how a writer thinks about her day job as a respiratory therapist and holiday fiction from Kurt Andersen.
Lyricist Alan Jay Lerner’s centennial, and more theater magic with impresario Jack Viertel and “Sweat” in the Rust Belt.
Where a troubled teen discovered Sylvia Plath: in a Charlie Sheen TV movie.
America’s love affair with a motorcycle, plus Georgia O’Keeffe’s Southwestern masterpieces and how Jimi Hendrix summed up the Vietnam War with a single guitar solo
A haunting opera about Homestead Act settlers, plus new leads in the Gardner Museum heist, a White Album obsessive, and a Buffalo Tom member’s day job in the leafy suburbs.
How the Harper Lee classic still finds fans — and detractors.
Nathaniel Kahn’s documentary about the art market, plus the making of a Talking Heads masterpiece and Kenneth Lonergan on writing plays and movies.
The art of finishing — how creative people get unstuck and creative projects get back on course.
How Sweat, the Pulitzer Prize-winning labor drama by Lynn Nottage, made the jump from Broadway glitz to blue-collar communities.
How a perfumer concocts a scent from Toni Morrison’s “Beloved,” the mysterious betrayal at the heart of the documentary “Shirkers,” and making sense of “American Pie.”
The many aspects of speculative fiction: sci-fi, fantasy, horror, alternate history and everything else otherworldly.
Stacey Rose is a playwright, screenwriter, director, producer and...a respiratory therapist.
Theresa Rebeck on the most famous actress of her day, Justine Bateman on fame waxing and waning, and a pirate radio station that got too famous for the FCC.
Millennials and boomers do battle in “Boomer1,” learning to love Lawrence Welk, and Argentine experimental musician Juana Molina performs live.
The song where everyone knows the words, but few what know what those words mean.
Ethan Hawke embraces the aging process, the enduring power of Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks,” and the genre-defying music of Balún.
The golden age of grunge — and moving beyond dumb grunge cliches — in the Pacific Northwest.
How a dark comedy got so dark and so funny.
How Ann Dowd makes her dystopian character on “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Aunt Lydia, more believable, and how hippies in the late ’60s started obsessing over Doomsday.
What’s it take to win entertainment’s grand slam?
The guitarist who Dave Davies and Jimmy Page worshipped.
Liz Diller on her favorite use of architecture in film, a classic Richard Pryor album turns 40 and a noteworthy summer for black cinema.
How the politics of the past, and today, inspire art, music and poetry.
Poet Maya Phillips talks about how rap elevates this modern dramedy about race, friendship, and a rapidly gentrifying Oakland.
The curious world of vintage stock music libraries, a groundbreaking radio thriller, and America’s most prestigious cinema: the White House.
Studio 360 presents a special bonus episode of another great podcast — Hit Parade.
How “Walden” holds up, “I Will Survive” at 40 and Leonard Bernstein’s concerts for children.
As conductor of the New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein changed the way audiences understood classical music.
Ken Jennings on the history — and ubiquity — of comedy, Picasso in Mira T. Lee’s new novel and a performance by Roomful of Teeth.
The art of children at play: playground design, imaginary friends and the unlikely histories of Barbie and the Frisbee.
Forty years ago, Steve Martin made comedy history with “A Wild and Crazy Guy” and “King Tut.”
A citywide art survey in Ohio, a biblical reading of Beyoncé and the mastery — and misery — of a quality control technician.
A reading by acclaimed poet Marianne Moore and Chicago filmmaker Jim Trainor on his “anti-Disney” animal educational film.
How a hit record saved the whales and how certain whale songs become hits.
Author and Historian Laurel Braitman puts on concerts for all-animal audiences. Richard Prum talks to us about the aesthetic preferences of animals.
What inspired comic artist Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Wilson Pickett and “Luke Cage” showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker.
The new season of the music documentary podcast Pitch takes listeners behind the music of ISIS, blacklist jazz, Carnival, and more.
This is the home of America’s aspirations and its deepest contradictions.
What is medical improv? WNYC’s Amanda Aronczyk takes us on a tour. Plus, back to Laughter Yoga with Kurt Andersen and Marry Harris.
Your brain on Laughter: Neuroscientist Sophie Scott explains the science of laughter. Plus, Comedian Chris Gethard talks to us about how depression and comedy can be interwoven.
Kurt Andersen and Marry Harris give Laughter Yoga a try.
When art is dirty ... and dirt is arty.
Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker on the show’s ‘90s, New York, hip-hop vibe.
A revolutionary Public Enemy album turns 30, the history of protest art and the “Nancy” comics reboot.
The strange, creative influence of Florida
The influences behind Ari Aster’s debut film.
The Ray Bradbury novel’s new relevance, plus the making of a Bowie mashup and “American Animals” director Bart Layton.
What are gravitational waves? Astrophysicist Janna Levin has the answer.
Pop-Culture Einstein: John Wray and James Gleick on how Einstein influenced their writing.
When Einstein was no Einstein: The long road to the theory of relativity.
How do you memorialize a war that was more tragic than triumphant? Inscribed with the name of every fallen soldier, Maya Lin’s granite wall became a sacred place for veterans.
How filmmaker Bart Layton blurred the line between a feature and a documentary to create American Animals.
How Jim Henson brought the Muppets to life.
The multiheroes of the superverse: Physics Professor James Kakalios and TV producer/creator of the Tommy Westphall universe Tom Fontana.
Artist Charles Jenks has turned the Scottish countryside into a map of the multiverse.
What is the multiverse?
How pets inspire and confound us.
How should journalists write about art in the #MeToo era?
Women who create stories about what it means to be a mother now.
The mortals who bring comic book characters to life.
How Tony Visconti, Bowie's longtime producer, captured the artist's career in a 15 minute remix.
An interview with Laurie Metcalf (“Three Tall Women,” “Roseanne,” “Lady Bird”), a miniature play and jazz guitar great Wes Montgomery.
American Icons 3-pack: “Amazing Grace,” “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and “Spoon River Anthology.”
How Brendan Baker and Chloe Prasinos created a sound-rich world for Marvel’s Wolverine: The Long Night.
The triumph and tragedy of a pizza mascot.
Inside the heart and soul of American poetry.
The writer for The Simpsons, Late Night with David Letterman and Newhart on being the only woman in the writers’ room.
How the multimedia artist bounced back from losing Lou Reed — and so much more.
The pioneers who turn the sound of everyday objects into music.
In 1978, the Comedy Store gave female comedians a room of their own. Here’s the story of its complicated legacy.
The case for the earnest Styx ballad, plus the Brothers Weisberg on “The Americans” and “Trumpcast,” living with the “Truman Show” disorder and remembering art collector Peggy Cooper Cafritz.
Midlife breakthroughs with Toni Morrison, David Chase and Philip Glass.
Jacob Weisberg, the host of Trumpcast and Joe Weisberg, the creator of The Americans, talk about Trump and Russia.
Underrated and overrated performances from this year’s Oscars, and how to make a political acceptance speech that doesn’t get booed.
The Lincoln Memorial is now one of the most treasured landmarks of Washington, DC. But for decades people fought over every aspect of it — and even whether it should be built at all.
Denise Gough on mucousy method actors, an atheist’s love of Christian rock, mocking Kennedys, and a photographer’s mentally ill mom.
A case for the most-hated typeface.
The musical children of pop stars
Super Bowl commercials aren’t exactly a place you’d look for enlightened portrayals of women. Will that finally change in this year of #MeToo?
The fantastic actress who is “A Fantastic Woman”
What a long, strange Trek it’s been
How “Convoy,” a novelty country song by a couple admen, became a #1 hit.
Completing our favorites list: Stevie Salas on Native American rockers, Angie Thomas on how a TLC lyric saved her life, and the hoax behind the bodice-ripper “Naked Came the Stranger.”
Some favorite segments from 2017: Scorsese’s film editor Thelma Schoonmaker; the accused witch who inspired “The Handmaid’s Tale”; writer Yewande Omotoso; and making a case for the movie that gets no love, “The Godfather, Part III.”
Where is Bobbie Gentry?
June Thomas on Scenes of Workplace Sexual Harassment: From “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” to “The Office”
What do we mean by creativity? How can we encourage it and measure it? From imaginary friends to jazz musicians in fMRI machines, we explore the creative brain.
NYT Theater critic Jesse Green and playwright Paul Rudnick on groundbreaking gay theater.
Illustrator and political cartoonist Barry Blitt is best known for his New Yorker covers
Stories from inside the oddly touching, sometimes creepy, deeply American utopia that Walt Disney created.
Three American Icon segments about women’s identity in works by Hawthorne, Porter and Sherman.
Kurt talks to Alec Baldwin about playing Donald Trump, how the actor depicts villains, and his favorite depictions of villains in the movies. Plus filmmaker Taika Waititi on the jump from making low-budget comedies to making “Thor: Ragnarok”
Newly minted MacArthur geniuses: Annie Baker tackles small talk in her plays, Jesmyn Ward depicts rural African American life in her novels, and Taylor Mac’s 24-hour revue of the entire history of American pop music.
An artist searches for the buckets of Hillary Clinton’s victory confetti that were never dropped on Election Night. Plus Kurt interviews the sketch comedy genius Tracey Ullman as well as the novelist and YouTube star John Green.
Twyla Tharp’s love of popular music, a belly dancer inspired by Bono, parents obsessed with tango, scientific principles to ballet, and how Christopher Wheeldon brought “An American in Paris” to the stage.
Artists Agnès Varda and JR on a road trip (and sugar binge), the overuse of horror-movie jump cuts, why Hari Kondabolu loves “Untamed Heart,” and a manifesto for slow art.
Ken Kesey had worked in a mental hospital, but his first novel was really a parable of what happens when you stand up to the Man—a counterculture fable that doesn’t end well.
Danny Strong takes on J.D. Salinger, Van Gogh paintings come to life, Michael Chabon’s punk awakening, kids’ books as literature.
Sure, laughing makes us feel good in the moment. But could it have enduring health effects?
Spielberg’s greatness, “Bojack Horseman’s” edginess, the worst seat at the symphony.
Why B.J. Novak loves “Fuller House,” John McPhee’s writing tips, Amadou & Mariam live.
This week: Kurt calls up his favorite high school teacher, novelist Nicholson Baker fills in as a substitute, and scientists turn their research into dance.
A behind the scenes look at films we love and one film people love to hate.
Our favorite recent segments about the stage, including lingo for staples of musicals like the “I want” song.
Our favorite recent segments featuring writers and books, including one writer’s defense of the word everyone hates: moist.
Our favorite recent segments about when music hits hard – sometimes a bit too hard.
In this Peabody Award-winning show, Kurt Andersen sets sail in search of the great white whale.
The astounding mad scientist life of Nikola Tesla.
How many f-bombs and gun shots determine a movie’s rating? Howard Fridkin reveals the process of rating movies. Plus, how Native Americans shaped rock and roll history, and a live performance by NPR Tiny Desk Contest winners Tank and the Bangas.
This is the novel about racism that America couldn't ignore. The story of a young man in the ghetto who turns to murder was an overnight sensation. Richard Wright set out to confront white readers with the most brutal consequences of racism, and finally
This week, Kurt goes through the looking glass into the world of conspiracy thrillers. Plus, Matt Walsh breaks down how he improvises comedy on the set of “Veep.” And Jimmy Iovine explains how he sold music in the ever-shifting music industry.
Episodes of false identity, living large, and murder in the suburbs add up to the great American novel. Studio 360 explores F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and finds out how this compact novel became the great American story of our age. Novelist J
Should arts organizations accept money from the Koch brothers? Art critic Philip Kennicott weighs in. Plus, Oscar-winning director Errol Morris talks about interviewing Elsa Dorfman and Donald Trump. And Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein share music
This week, an episode about groundbreaking pop music: The music that preceded and followed Radiohead’s landmark album, “OK Computer.” Plus, an exploration of how the life of Tupac Shakur was mythologized — even by Tupac himself. And gospel punk band Algi
Universe not big enough for you? There’s always the multiverse — many universes, scattered through time and space. In one world, you might drive a bus; in another, you might be a Formula One racer. If the idea sounds familiar, that could be because it ha
This week, Kurt talks with “Daily Show” Correspondent Hasan Minhaj about surviving the Trump Administration. Plus, the story behind one of the great literary hoaxes of the century: “Naked Came the Stranger.” And statistician Ben Blatt uses data analysis
This is where television invented itself. It set the model for the hit family sitcom. Lucy was a bad girl trapped in the life of a ’50s housewife; her slapstick quest for fame and fortune ended in abject failure weekly. Both the antics and the humiliatio
This week, a conversation with music journalist Eve Barlow about the terror attack in Manchester and the city’s rich musical history. Plus, “Master of None” co-creator Alan Yang reveals behind-the-scenes stories from the Netflix series, and an expert on
This week, as President Trump threatens Canada, we salute our neighbors to the north. Kurt gets his Canadian knowledge tested, k.d. lang talks about her Canuck roots, and Mac DeMarco plays live.
This week, we head back to “Twin Peaks.” “Fargo” showrunner Noah Hawley talks about the impact of David Lynch’s cult TV show. Plus, what it was like growing up where the show was filmed, and the composers behind “X-Files” and “Breaking Bad” discuss the b
This was the American spectacle that colonized our dreams. He was the most famous American in the world — a showman and spin artist who parlayed a buffalo-hunting gig into an entertainment empire. William F. Cody’s stage show presented a new creation myt
This week, why Margaret Atwood dedicated “The Handmaid’s Tale” to a woman known as Half-Hanged Mary. Plus, the Kinks’ Ray Davies shares his playlist of his favorite American songs, and the story behind that album with George Carlin’s classic bit, “Seven
This week, Studio 360 gets obsessed about fandom: a look inside the world of black cosplayers at ComicCon, Kurt visits a Japanese pop culture paradise, and an atheist proselytizes “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
How a church hymn became an American anthem: the surprising and complicated story behind “Amazing Grace.” Plus, a conversation with novelist Yewande Omotoso about her book, “The Woman Next Door.” And Aimee Mann reveals her biggest influences and performs
Disguised as a mild-mannered reporter, Kurt Andersen explores the history of Superman with cartoonists Jules Feiffer and Art Spiegelman, director Bryan Singer, novelists Michael Chabon and Howard Jacobson, and the 1978 Lois Lane, Margot Kidder. Is this s
This week, the story of “Shaft.” Plus, learn the lingo in a TV writers’ room with “Veep” showrunner David Mandel. And Kurt talks to author Osama Alomar about his collection of very short fiction, “The Teeth of the Comb & Other Stories.”
This week, Kurt heads to a dog park and learns how to take the perfect pet portrait. Plus, the story behind “Share A Smile Becky,” Mattel’s attempt at creating a Barbie doll that used a wheelchair. And Carter Burwell, who scored the music for films by di
This week, Kurt talks to comedians Kate Berlant and John Early about their absurdist new series, “555.” Plus, how filmmaker Garry Fraser went from being a heroin addict in Scotland to working on “T2: Trainspotting” — a movie about heroin addicts in Scotl
The home of America’s aspirations and deepest contradictions. Monticello is home renovation run amok. Thomas Jefferson was as passionate about building his house as he was about founding the United States; he designed Monticello to the fraction of an inc
This week, Kurt talks to writer/director Jordan Peele about his new horror film “Get Out.” Plus, how Leonard Bernstein brought classical music from the concert hall to the living room. And Afropop band Sinkane performs live in our studio.
This week, a look at artists — from the left to the right — getting political. Conservative painter Jon McNaughton talks about creating art in the era of the Trump administration. Plus, the Black Panthers' brief foray into the music business. And Philip
This week, we preview the Academy Awards. The casting director of “Moonlight” talks about the complicated process of finding the right actors for three different time periods. Plus, “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle guides Kurt through the classic Ho
Where do you turn when you’re heartbroken in the dead of night? Delilah, of course — her radio call-in show pairs romantic advice with the perfect song. Plus, we discover the surprisingly sweet couple behind one of history’s naughtiest gag gifts: edible
This week, Kurt talks to former NEA chairman Dana Gioia about how the Trump Administration may target federally-funded art. Plus, screenwriter Robert D. Siegel reveals how a real-life story becomes a Hollywood movie. And Karina Longworth and Noah Isenber
This week, a conversation with Oscar-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker, the story behind Marilyn Monroe’s most iconic moment, and a New York Times critic picks the timeliest show on TV.
This is America’s dreamland. It's been 78 years since movie audiences first watched “The Wizard of Oz.” Meet the original man behind the curtain, L. Frank Baum, who had all the vision of Walt Disney, but none of the business sense. Discover how “Oz” capt
Marilyn Monroe’s most iconic moment — standing over a subway grate as her white dress billows up — was originally filmed in Manhattan in 1954. But a crowd of onlookers forced the producers to reshoot the scene in a Hollywood sound stage, and footage from
Our inauguration special: A review of Barack Obama's arts legacy, how fashion goes from inside the beltway to the runway, and "Game Change" co-author John Heilemann talks about the cultural tastes of Donald Trump.
This week, Kurt talks to Adam Driver, an architect tries to build a museum in Iraq, how Sly and the Family Stone created a pop music masterpiece, and Taylor Mac does a decade-by-decade revue of American pop.
Jack Viertel is a human encyclopedia of musical theater. He’s the producer of hit Broadway shows like “Hairspray,” “Kinky Boots,” and “The Producers.” And he’s also the artistic director of Encores, a New York series that resurrects vintage musicals. Vie
From "Semi-Living Dolls" to glowing florescent illustrations, artists are using the tools of synthetic biology to grow their own materials and create works of art that are, essentially, alive. It’s one thing to wag our fingers at big scientific instituti
The Man in the High Castle, the Emmy Award winning TV series, imagines a world in which the Nazi’s won WWII. Set in the 1960s, the show blends actual pop cultural imagery and artifacts with fictional interpretations of an alternative ending to the war. W
This week, Kurt creates a crossword with a New York Times puzzle-maker, a neuroscientist explains why so many people share the same false memory, and a theater company brings August Wilson back to his boyhood home.
Kurt Andersen’s version of a Christmas story doesn’t have your typical talking snowman or mistletoe. Instead, this holiday tale involves extraterrestrial surveillance and melting polar ice caps. "Human Intelligence," was produced for radio by Jonathan Mi
Nothing takes the edge off the holidays quite like the soundtrack to “A Charlie Brown Christmas” by Vince Guaraldi. The jazz musician and composer always wanted to write a standard. And since the “Peanuts” holiday special first aired in 1965, its score h
This week, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity: how Einstein upended the way we see space and time, his effect on pop culture, and how one of his most preposterous ideas was ultimately proven right.
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An hour about spoofs, parodies, and lampoonery. Mel Brooks and David Zucker talk about the art of mocking movies. Then, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost deconstruct action flicks. And a live, unplugged performance by "Weird Al" Yankovic. (Segments
Sharon Jones burst onto the music scene about 10 years ago — she was backed by The Dap-Kings, a straight-out-of-the-1960s funk band with a fantastic horn section. And at just 5 feet tall, Sharon had all of the funk and spark of James Brown. The band was
On the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, we look at the ways his work continues to change and adapt. In the 19th century, Shakespeare’s work got caught up in minstrel shows — and African-American actors are still struggling to claim the B
Leon Russell passed away last week — he was 74. During the 1970s, he forged a musical career unlike almost anyone else’s before or since: an ultra-American mix of country, blues, gospel, and rock n’ roll, collaborating with musicians from all those genre
On this week’s show, novelist Brit Bennett reads from her debut novel, “The Mothers.” Plus, Josh Katz gives us a tour of American regionalisms. And Leonor Caraballo and Abou Farman create art in the face of the cancer.
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This week: How a former reality TV star was elected president. Then, Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy K. Smith writes a poem inspired by a Baton Rouge protester. And we explore the creation of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.”
Nobody defined the satirical style of “Saturday Night Live” more than Jim Downey. He wrote for the show for over 33 seasons and was SNL’s head writer for 10 years. Downey gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how SNL crafted political sketches throughout
On this week’s show, Eugenia Cheng whips up a delicious math lesson for Kurt. Plus, writer Sadie Stein defends one of the most detested words in the English language. Then, an art historian and a scientist explore the connection between bird plumage and
Happy Halloween! Jack Handey, thinker of Deep Thoughts, takes on the ultimate holiday question: If a skeleton’s not scary, what’s the point of having one? He offers a few tips on how to make your skeleton live up to its reputation so you’re not burying j
Close Encounters
December 15, 201649min 9sec
This week, a stereophonic odyssey into the Amazon, the otherworldly nature of octopuses, and why a theater critic thinks Shakespeare is much ado about nothing.
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