Specials: Recent Episodes
None
Join us for a curated presentation of special programs from public radio producers across the country.
WNYC, St. Ann’s Warehouse and Brooklyn Bridge Park present Rhapsody for This Land: The American Odyssey in Music, a free outdoor concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of Gershwin’s exuberant American anthem Rhapsody in Blue.
Hosted by Terrance McKnight and situated beneath the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, the concert features classical pianist and host of NPR’s AMPLIFY Lara Downes, performing the New York City premiere of her take on Gershwin’s innovative 1924 work in a radical new arrangement by the Puerto Rican composer Edmar Colón. Considering American music through a century of immigration and transformation, Rhapsody for This Land celebrates our country’s long history of hope, protest and change. Headcount, a non-partisan organization that channels the power of music to promote participation in democracy, will register voters at the concert.
WNYC will broadcast the concert live as part of its own Centennial celebration. Listen live on 93.9 FM, AM 820 and wnyc.org.
Past and present WNYC staff Sara Fishko, Latif Nasser and Stevan Smith take listeners on a tour of key moments in New York history, including press conferences, events and interviews with Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Martin Scorsese, Gloria Steinem and Barack Obama. We also hear key historic news reports that aired on WNYC, including the announcement of the attack on Pearl Harbor, a broadcast of a town hall meeting on the Atom Bomb, and WNYC journalists running toward the Twin Towers to report on 9/11.
Depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues are the most common complications during and after pregnancy, yet 75 percent of postpartum problems go untreated. The consequences can be devastating. Suicide and overdoses are leading causes of maternal death in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first-ever pill specifically aimed at postpartum depression, but most health plans don’t cover the medication.
This special program looks at the under-recognized public health issue of postpartum depression and the challenge of treatment. We’ll hear first-hand from people who have experienced it.
Homelessness in the United States reached a record high in 2023. On any given night, more than 650,000 people experience homelessness. People living homeless have higher rates of untreated mental illnesses and substance use disorders than the general population. That can make it difficult to find a permanent place to live. This program takes you to the streets of New York City to hear directly from people who have lived homeless about what they needed most. You’ll also hear from experts who say the best mental health care for people living homeless is no-strings-attached housing.
Nearly half of incarcerated Americans have a history of mental illness – that's twice the prevalence of mental illness in the adult population of the United States. People with serious mental illnesses encounter law enforcement and the court system for many reasons. This program brings together stories of people who have lived with mental illness while incarcerated, mental health providers calling for increased mental health care in prisons and jails, and legal experts pioneering new systems.
Climate change can feel apocalyptic and unsolvable. Yet, communities across our region are finding ways to adapt and build resilience to its impacts. Higher Ground tells the stories of people engaging in community science to take control and find understanding in changes to their environment. Empowered with information, these communities are able to keep cool heads in the face of global warming.
Find more Higher Ground stories from our colleagues at WSHU public radio in Fairfield, CT.
BBC Witness History: Women's History Month 2024 is an all-new collection of stories from the BBC's Witness History program, telling extraordinary stories of women in history. We hear about the female poet who defied a regime, meet the Australian politician who made a ground-breaking attack on misogyny, and hear the story of a woman who was arrested in Sudan – for wearing trousers.
WNYC is celebrating Black History Month with a week of special programming dedicated to the African American experience, including a live, two-hour special national broadcast of Notes from America with Kai Wright called Plague from the Shadows, which will explore the early history of the HIV and AIDS epidemic and will feature voices from Kai’s new podcast series Blindspot.
Making Belafonte: An Appreciation with Terrance McKnight from WQXRMonday, Feb. 19, 2024, 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. ETWNYC AM + FM + NJPR
Harry Belafonte is known as one of history’s most successful and iconic pop stars. The “King of Calypso” brought us the Banana Boat Song (Day-O), Matilda, and his album Calypso was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. While his career in film, television and personal appearances brought him universal acclaim, his passion for civil rights was at the core of everything he did. In Making Belafonte, host Terrance McKnight takes us through his recently discovered personal connection to the iconic artist, and Belafonte introduces us to the people and experiences that helped shape his character and artistic aspirations.
Witness History: Black History MonthTuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. ETWNYC AM + FM + NJPR
An all-new, hour-long edition of Witness History from the BBC World Service. We hear incredible interviews looking at the African-American experience, told by the people who were there. We’ll learn about an image that captured the Golden Age of jazz, the Black Jesus movement and a photographer who documented the Kamoinge Workshop in NYC.
Notes from America: Reclaiming Woke: Celebrating The Legacy Of Martin Luther King Jr. Live At The ApolloWednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. ETWNYC AM + FM + NJPR
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final Sunday sermon was titled, “Remaining Awake Through A Great Revolution.” In other words, he was advising us to stay woke. Today, that term has become a political slur. “Woke” is at the very center of our culture wars – especially as we enter a contentious election year. But like a lot of slang words, woke has an origin story that’s got little to do with how it’s used now. Join Notes from America host Kai Wright and special guests for a conversation about the current sociopolitical landscape and the true motivations behind the co-opting of “wokeness.” Plus, a live audience at the Apollo Theater contributes ideas on what we need to “stay woke” today.
Echoes of a CoupThursday, Feb. 22, 2024, 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. ETWNYC AM + FM + NJPR
In November 1898, an armed white supremacist mob – supported by most white elites in North Carolina – murdered untold Black Wilmington residents and drove the city’s elected government from power. The attack was explicitly white supremacist; politicians and establishment journalists had called for the overthrow of what they called “negro rule.” Wilmington’s Black community would never be the same. Echoes of a Coup tells the story of 1898 and puts these events in historical context, at a time when the United States is once again facing threats of political violence, amid orchestrated attacks on democracy – from within.
Bayard Rustin: Who Was This Man?Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. ETWNYC AM + FM + NJPR
August 28th, 1963 will forever be tied to Martin Luther King Jr.’s hallowed “I Have a Dream Speech.” This historic moment would probably have never come to fruition if it weren’t for a man standing in King’s shadow, Mr. Bayard Rustin. Bayard Rustin was a man with a number of seemingly incompatible labels: black, gay, Quaker… identifications that served to earn him as many detractors as admirers. Although he had numerous passions and pursuits, his most transformative act, one that certainly changed the course of American history, was to counsel MLK on the use of non-violent resistance. Hosted by Al Letson as part of his State of the Re:Union series.
Notes From America: Plague in the ShadowsSunday, Feb. 25, 2024, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. ETWNYC AM + FM + NJPR
The fight to break down the stigma of HIV and AIDS starts in the communities that have been disproportionately impacted, and on Sunday, February 25th from 6-8 pm ET, Notes From America with Kai Wright will invite stories and voices from those communities to look back at the mistakes made in understanding the full breadth of the epidemic.
Listeners in New York and around the nation can call in to add their questions and experiences about what it's like to live with HIV and AIDS, helping to remind us all that this is a vital conversation we have to keep having. This special two hour program features reporting from the new Blindspot: The Plague In The Shadows, a podcast partnership between The History Channel and WNYC Studios.
From Marketplace, host Reema Khrais helps listeners get their financial life together in time for the new year. She unpacks some practical tips, shares a personal money story that is sure to captivate, and interviews a financial therapist to get some useful tips for understanding our relationships with money. This is an hour that will make you laugh, gasp and think about money in a whole new way.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Get in the spirit and celebrate the season with special holiday programming all month long on WNYC.
Tune in to 93.9 FM, AM820, or livestream us anytime.
Hanukkah Lights 2023Saturday, Dec. 9 at 3:00 p.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPRThis NPR favorite returns with the best of the best Hanukkah Lights stories plus a special musical performance by The LeeVees. Hosted by Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.
A Paul Winter Solstice 2023, hosted by John SchaeferThursday, Dec. 21 at 10 p.m.WNYC-FMCelebrate the return of the sun with an encore performance recorded in New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Musicians include Noel Paul Stookey, also known as Paul from the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. The Paul Winter Consort Winter Solstice Celebration (its official full title) also features old friends like gospel singer Theresa Thomason and the Forces of Nature dance and drumming troupe from Harlem.
New Standards Christmas Eve-eve with Paul CavalconteSaturday, Dec. 23 at 8 p.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPR'Twas The Night Before The Night Before Christmas, and New Standards is your evening holiday soundtrack. Join us for some holiday classics and excerpts from our Greene Space holiday show with Veronica Swift and Benny Benack III. Plus studio performances by Laufey, Samara Joy, and quartet Kings Return. Saturday, Dec. 23, 8-11 p.m.
Ford's Theatre Presents: A Christmas CarolChristmas Eve, Sunday, Dec. 24 at 9 p.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPRWAMU public radio and Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. present a new radio play adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," featuring acclaimed Washington actor Craig Wallace as Ebenezer Scrooge and public radio broadcaster Murray Horwitz as the narrator. This adaptation of the popular holiday tradition captures the magic of Dickens' Yuletide classic. Join the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future as they lead Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey of transformation and redemption.
Selected Shorts: Holiday Hurdles with David SedarisChristmas Eve, Sunday, Dec. 24 at 10 p.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPRBased in New York City, Selected Shorts takes great stories by well-known and emerging writers and brings them to life by terrific actors of stage and screen. On this special holiday episode, hosted by David Sedaris, we’ll hear "Powder," by Tobias Wolff, performed by Isaiah Sheffer; "Gifts of the Jewish Magi," by Allegra Goodman, performed by Michael Cerveris and Dana Ivey; and "Christmas in New York," by Jeanette Winterson, performed by Richard Masur.
A Christmas Carol from WAMU and Ford’s TheatreChristmas Day, Monday, Dec. 25 at 10 a.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPRWAMU public radio and Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. present a new radio play adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," featuring acclaimed Washington actor Craig Wallace as Ebenezer Scrooge and public radio broadcaster Murray Horwitz as the narrator. This adaptation of the popular holiday tradition captures the magic of Dickens' Yuletide classic. Join the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future as they lead Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey of transformation and redemption.
A Swinging Holiday Jazz Party with Wynton MarsalisChristmas Day, Monday, Dec. 25 at 11 a.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPRProduced by our colleagues at WQXR, musician Wynton Marsalis hosts an hour of holiday jazz favorites by Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Gregory Porter, René Marie and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.Jazz Night in America Holiday 2023, hosted by Christian McBrideChristmas Day, Monday, Dec. 25 at 12 p.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPROn this special episode, pianist Christian Sands shares music and memories from his new holiday record Christmas Stories. Plus, we’ll hear tales of his childhood in snowy New England, the ultimate Christmas party music, and a Jazz Night exclusive track. From WBGO and NPR.Selected Shorts: Unwrapping the HolidaysChristmas Day, Monday, Dec. 25 at 1 p.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPRFrom Symphony Space in New York City, host Meg Wolitzer presents three unexpected stories that let us see the holidays’ associations—family, friends, food, gifts, and goodwill—in different ways. Selections from Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Sherrie Flick, and John Cheever will be read by Jayne Atkinson, James Naughton, Adina Verson and Teagle F. Bougere.
Marketplace's Get Your Money Life in OrderWednesday, Dec. 27 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPR
From Marketplace, host Reema Khrais helps listeners get their financial life together in time for the new year. She unpacks some practical tips, shares a personal money story that is sure to captivate, and interviews a financial therapist to get some useful tips for understanding our relationships with money. This is an hour that will make you laugh, gasp and think about money in a whole new way.
Best of the Soundcheck Podcast 2023Friday, Dec. 29 at 3 p.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPRThe team behind the Soundcheck podcast series offers their favorite live performances from the WNYC studios this year: including Mercury Prize-winning London Afrobeat-jazz-hip hop quintet Ezra Collective; drummer Allison Miller’s chamber jazz ensemble; and rising Irish punk band Sprints. Plus, music by Indigenous two-spirit song carrier and activist Jeremy Dutcher; Mexican singer Magos Herrera with members of Brooklyn’s own The Knights; and the duo Grandbrothers, who turn our piano into an electronic music machine.
A New Standards New Year’s Eve LIVE with Paul CavalconteNew Year’s Eve, Sunday, Dec. 31 at 8 p.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPRJoin New Standards host Paul Cavalconte for a musical champagne toast! Featuring American Songbook Classics, Dance Band Standards, the best of '23's new releases and in-studio live performances, all for a festive backdrop to your ball drop! '23 will Skidoo in style, and we'll ring in '24! Requests and shout outs to your party are welcome. Arrive early, stay late! 8 p.m. to just past midnight on WNYC.
BBC Correspondents’ Look Ahead 2024New Year’s Day, Monday, Jan. 1 at 10 a.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPR2024 will see nearly half of the world’s population going to the polls. Elections will be held in the USA, UK, South Africa, India, Russia, Pakistan, Mexico and Venezuela. How will the results of some of those elections shift the geopolitical tectonic plates? And will the economic picture improve? Big questions, but luckily we have some of the BBC’s best minds on hand to provide plenty of answers.
On the Media’s 2023 Year in ReviewNew Year’s Day, Monday, Jan. 1 at 11 a.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPRAnd just like that, 2023 is coming to a close. On this episode of On the Media, a look back at one of the deadliest years for journalists in recent memory, in large part due to the Israel-Hamas war. Plus, how Twitter became X; what reporters uncovered about our courts this year; and the challenges that await media outlets in the upcoming election in 2024. Tune in to hear about the fights, fictions, and things we’re still figuring out.
Best of the Soundcheck Podcast 2023New Year’s Day, Monday, Jan. 1 at 12 p.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPRThe team behind the Soundcheck podcast series offers their favorite live performances from the WNYC studios this year: including Mercury Prize-winning London Afrobeat-jazz-hip hop quintet Ezra Collective; drummer Allison Miller’s chamber jazz ensemble; and rising Irish punk band Sprints. Plus, music by Indigenous two-spirit song carrier and activist Jeremy Dutcher; Mexican singer Magos Herrera with members of Brooklyn’s own The Knights; and the duo Grandbrothers, who turn our piano into an electronic music machine.
Call to Mind: Substance Use and New Paths to RecoveryNew Year’s Day, Monday, Jan. 1 at 1 p.m.WNYC AM/FM + NJPRAddiction is at an all-time high in the United States and the results are deadly. Join Call to Mind for a special exploring substance use disorders in the US. We’ll hear firsthand from individuals who have recovered from substance use disorders, clinicians leading research and transforming the treatment field, and experts as they work to decriminalize substance use disorders.
This NPR favorite returns with the best of the best Hanukkah Lights stories plus a special musical performance by The LeeVees. Hosted by Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.
This Saturday, December 9, at 3 p.m. on 93.9 FM and AM 820 WNYC.
A Bigfoot story from Pawnee Nation. A tale from a traditional-Filipino-tattoo practitioner who rids people of ancestral spirits during tattoo sessions. A quirky haunting from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. And a tale from a girl who escapes a ghostly force through astral projection. Some spirits move on with no problem... others don't want to leave. Snap Judgment presents 'Spooked,' two special hours featuring supernatural stories told by people who can barely believe it happened themselves.
Airs Halloween night -- Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023 from 9:00-11:00 p.m.
The law protects creators' original work against copycats, but it also leaves the door open for some kinds of copying. When a photographer sues the Andy Warhol Foundation for using her work without permission, the justices struggle not to play art critics as they decide the case. More Perfect explores how this star-studded case offers a look at how this Court actually makes decisions.
More than thirty years ago, a Native American man named Al Smith was fired for ingesting peyote at a religious ceremony. When his battle made it to the Supreme Court, the decision set off a thorny debate over when religious people get to sidestep the law — a debate we’re still having today.
David Souter is one the most private, low profile Justices ever to have served on the Supreme Court. He rarely gives interviews or speeches. Yet his tenure was anything but low profile. Deemed a "home run" nominee by Republicans, Souter defied partisan expectations on the bench and ultimately ceded his seat to a Democratic president. In this episode, the story of how "No More Souters" became a rallying cry for Republicans and inspired a backlash that would change the Court forever.
When the justices heard oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the landmark abortion case, one word came up more than any other: viability. The viability line was at the core of Roe v. Wade, and it’s been entrenched in the abortion rights movement ever since. But no one seems to remember how this idea made its way into the abortion debate in the first place. This week on More Perfect, we trace it back to the source and discover how a clerk and a couple of judges turned a fuzzy medical concept into a hard legal line.
To many Americans, Clarence Thomas makes no sense. For more than 30 years on the Court, he seems to have been on a mission – to take away rights that benefit Black people. As a young man, though, Thomas listened to records of Malcolm X speeches and strongly identified with the tenets of Black Nationalism. This week on More Perfect, we dig into his writings and lectures, talk to scholars and confidants, and explore his past, all in an attempt to answer: what does Clarence Thomas think Clarence Thomas is doing?
A special hour-long edition of Witness History from the BBC World Service. Remarkable stories told by the people who were there. This specially-curated hour brings first-hand accounts of significant moments in the labor movement in the US and other countries around the world.
Hip hop is turning 50, and host Juana Summers takes us back to the Bronx community room where it all got started – where DJ Kool Herc became known for spinning records focusing on percussive “breaks” in the music (hence “break dancing”). With his friend “Coke La Rock” shouting out rhymes on the microphone over the beat, their parties gave way to rap.
Interviews in this special include DJ Kool Herc who was at the center of the first party where hip hop was born. Also featured: Debora Hooper, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Moses Edinborough, director and producer of Yo! MTV Raps. Interviews also feature authors and music historians Jeff Chang, Jay Quan, Nelson George and Dan Charnas.
Airs Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. on WNYC.
In honor of Pride Month, the acclaimed podcast Ear Hustle serves up some of its best stories about the LGBTQ community inside prison, including:
A love story set in the most unlikely place, out on the yard at San Quentin State Prison; two trans women on their journey from a men’s prison to a women’s prison thanks to a new California law. And the first ever pride parade held inside a Norwegian prison.
Jeff Schmalz was a prodigiously talented, fast-rising editor at the New York Times. He stayed closeted from the newsroom management, especially Abe Rosenthal, a brilliant but homophobic executive editor. In late December 1990, Jeff had a seizure at his desk. He was soon diagnosed with AIDS -- his T-cell count was two, and he had PML, a AIDS related brain infection usually fatal within months. Astonishingly, Jeff responded well to AZT and was able to return to work within the year. When he did, he returned on a mission: to report and write a series of deeply felt articles about the human toll of the AIDS epidemic. He pushed the Times' boundaries and changed journalism.
Dying Words is about Jeff Schmalz and the groundbreaking reporting he did on AIDS for the New York Times even as he was dying of the disease in the early '90s. Through the lens of Jeff's story, hear the experiences of gay and lesbian journalists during a much less tolerant time in major news organizations.
A special hour-long edition of Witness History from the BBC World Service. Remarkable stories of LGBTQ+ rights, told by the people who were there.
We meet the first openly gay political candidate in the US, revisit the first Pride March in the UK, and hear about the diaries of the woman commonly referred to as “the first modern lesbian.”
Every day, queer teens and young adults are challenged by the politicization of gender identity and sexual orientation and the rise in anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. And the mental health consequences are alarming. A staggering 45 percent of LGBTQ+ youth 13 through 24 report to have seriously considered suicide, and 14 percent have tried to hurt themselves, according to a 2022 report from The Trevor Project. Considering LGBTQ+ youth face continued fights around their identity, what are mental health concerns specific to queer youth? And what support is necessary for LGBTQ+ teens and young adults to best take care of their well-being amid a national political climate that’s working against them?
Expecting parents are told to prepare for the highest highs, but how about the lowest lows? Or the moments of uncertainty in between? The postpartum period is filled with mental and physical challenges that are sidelined in many public conversations about parenthood. In the two-episode special “Delivered,” Embodied opens up conversations about the under-discussed parts of pregnancy and childbirth, from the stigma around postpartum bodies to the mental health challenges experienced by non-birthing parents.
In Postpartum Mental Health, host Anita Rao explores the cultural silence around postpartum mental health. She talks with A’Driane Nieves, an artist whose postpartum depression catalyzed a mental health journey and Bipolar II diagnosis, and married couple Shannon Purdy Jones and Darren Jones. The Joneses share how they’ve navigated their sex life and relationship postpartum and why they firmly believe that the mental health of non-birthing partners should be a more prominent part of the postpartum conversation.
For some eight years now thirty-four Black women have gathered monthly around a big dining room table in the orange house on Orange Street in Oakland, CA—meeting, cooking, dancing, strategizing—grappling with the issues of eviction, erasure, gentrification, inadequate health care, and the sex trafficking of Black women and girls that are overwhelming their community.
Spearheaded by dancer/choreographer Amara Tabor-Smith and theater director Ellen Sebastian Chang, this House/Full of Black Women—artists, scholars, healers, nurses, midwives, an ice cream maker, a donut maker, an architect, a theater director, a choreographer, sex trafficking abolitionists and survivors—have come together to creatively address and bring their mission and visions to the streets. Over the years they have created performances, rituals, pop-up processions in the storefronts, galleries, warehouses, museums and streets of Oakland.
This hour-long special features sound-rich “episodes” of performances and rituals, interviews with sex trafficking abolitionists, personal stories of growing up in the Bay Area, music, Black women dreaming, resisting, insisting.
Produced by Ellen Sebastian Change, Sital Muktari and The Kitchen Sisters, narrated by Sital Muktari, mixed by Jim McKee, in collaboration with an evolving House/Full of Black Women collective, Nathan Dalton and Brandi Howell.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and by all accounts, we are not okay. We know there’s a mental health crisis happening and that a lot of us aren’t getting the help we and our families need. We don’t know how to get help, we don’t have access to help, or really know what it would feel like or how it goes. Then there’s those of us who know it well, and those of us who are the helpers. So let’s all talk. Anna Sale hosts with expert guests and listener calls.
Episode One airs Thursday, May 4 from 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. ET
Harry Belafonte is known as one of history’s most successful and iconic pop stars. The “King of Calypso” brought us the Banana Boat Song (Day-O), Matilda, and his album Calypso was the first million-selling LP by a single artist.
While his career in film, television and personal appearances brought him universal acclaim, his passion for civil rights was still at the core of everything he did.
In Making Belafonte, host Terrance McKnight takes us through his recently discovered personal connection to the iconic artist, and introduces us to the people and experiences that helped shape Belafonte's character and artistic aspirations.
“Making Belafonte” was written and produced by Terrance McKnight and Curtis Macdonald, who also directed, edited and did sound design. Special thanks to Michael Shobe, script editor Merrin Lazyan, The Smithsonian Institute, WNYC’s archivist Andy Lanset, and WQXR interns Sapir Rosenblatt and Greta Rainbow. Also thanks to Esther Adler, curator at the Museum of Modern Art and to Pamela and Harry Belafonte.
In the Postpartum Body, host Anita Rao interviews folks about the physicality of birth and meeting their new postpartum bodies. Doula Lydia-Carlie Tilus talks about her trauma-informed approach to postpartum care; photographer ash luna shares how they’ve used the 4th Trimester Bodies Project to diversify the images people associate with postpartum bodies; and former active duty Marine Letticia Solomon talks about navigating the pressures of a highly physical job postpartum.
A Prayer for Salmon tells the story of the Winnemem Wintu people and their clash with Shasta Dam — the country’s 8th tallest dam and one of California’s most important infrastructure sites. Environmental issues, indigenous rights, spirituality, climate change and human impact on our surroundings are all woven into this documentary narrative.
20 years on from the start of the US-led invasion, we debate the big issues facing today’s Iraq. BBC World Questions is in the northern city of Erbil, the longest continually inhabited city on the planet, for a free, open, public debate on the state of civilization in Iraq.
Venezuelan professional dancer Karen Hauer presents a centenary celebration of percussionist and bandleader Tito Puente; the man also known as 'The King of Latin Music.'
This one hour special is about how women overcome economic barriers to empower themselves and their communities. hosted by Reena Ninan. You’ll hear about justice for domestic migrant workers in Gulf states, the financial factors behind female genital mutilation and a program in the Congo working to overcome longstanding cultural barriers to women owning land.
March 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the departure of the last American troops from Vietnam. This program tells the surprising story of US veterans who've since returned to Vietnam and made the country their home. We meet both US and Vietnamese vets and learn about the legacy of the war in the country today.
The 95th Academy Awards is coming up and the crew from NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour are bringing their pre-Oscar party to the radio. It has been another tumultuous, existential and divisive year in Hollywood so there is a lot to talk about. Linda Holmes, together with co-hosts Aisha Harris, Stephen Thompson and Glen Weldon break down this year’s nominations in key categories.
The BBC World Service presents remarkable stories of women's history, told by the women who were there. Selected from its Witness program, audiences will hear moving, inspiring and even outrageous stories about a few of the most important women in living memory.
It’s been one year since Russia invaded Ukraine, starting a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions of Ukrainians.
This special report from NPR News reflects back on the early days of Russia’s attacks, checks in with Ukrainians NPR staff met early in the war, and asks how those who committed war crimes will be held accountable. Featuring new interviews with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and others.
Listen Sunday Feb. 26, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. on 93.9-FM WNYC.
The climate crisis is here. Time is slipping away to stop the worst effects of global warming, and the world is looking for solutions. In “How We Survive: The Rising Sea,” Marketplace's Amy Scott follows the money to the end of the world. In this case, South Florida. Miami is one of the most vulnerable coastal cities in the world because of climate change. Billions of dollars are pouring into the region to help it adapt to hotter temperatures, fierce storms and rising waters. But will it be enough?
Afropop traces the history of this most American of instruments from its ancestors in West Africa through the Caribbean and American South and into the present, as a new generation of Black women artists reclaim the banjo as their own. Rhiannon Giddens, Bassekou Kouyate, Bela Fleck and more talk claw-hammers, trad jazz, Appalachian folk, African ancestors, and the on-going story of American music, which would be woefully incomplete without a Black history of the banjo.
A BBC Black History Month special, bringing together some incredible interviews looking at the African American experience. Told by people who were there, we hear stories that are fascinating, harrowing, and inspiring. Hear about the mother who created a "little black book" to give her son tools to protect his survival when dealing with the police; after the US officially made lynching a federal crime, we meet the great granddaughter of Ida B. Wells who campaigned for the change. And, we hear about the Hollywood practice of "painting down" white stunt actors to portray African Americans – and the campaign to stop it.
The 17th annual Apollo Uptown Hall MLK celebration MLK: Blueprint For The Culture focuses on Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement of the 60's as the template for modern social and civil justice movements. This year, we celebrate young people impacting society through activism, engagement, and a commitment to justice. Host Kai Wright is joined by historian and National Book Award winner Imani Perry and Chelsea Miller, activist and the co-founder of Freedom March NYC. They discuss King’s legacy in the context of the Nina Simone song, “To Be Young, Gifted and Black.”
WQXR host Terrance McKnight presents a portrait of Hazel Scott (1920-1981), the wife of late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and a Juilliard-trained pianist who performed in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls.
August 28th, 1963 will forever be tied to Martin Luther King Jr.’s hallowed “I Have a Dream Speech.” This historic moment would probably have never come to fruition if it weren’t for a man standing in King’s shadow, Mr. Bayard Rustin. Bayard Rustin was a man with a number of seemingly incompatible labels: black, gay, Quaker… identifications that served to earn him as many detractors as admirers. Although he had numerous passions and pursuits, his most transformative act, one that certainly changed the course of American history, was to counsel MLK on the use of non-violent resistance. Hosted by Al Letson as part of his State of the Re:Union series.
For World Radio Day on Feb 13 we celebrate the power of radio to change lives through profiles of small community radio stations around the world – from northern Malawi to northern Canada.
During World War Two, approximately 1.6 million Soviet, Polish and Romanian Jews survived by escaping to Soviet Central Asia and Siberia, avoiding imminent death. Many of them wrote music about the horrors as the Holocaust unfolded. A miraculous discovery in the Vernadsky National Library in Kyiv revealed a collection of Yiddish music created during the 1940s that documented their numerous traumas. These songs were collected by amateur and professional poets, and then organized by the Ukrainian folklorist Moisei Beregovsky. However, the archive was confiscated by the KGB after the end of the war. The songs were never performed since, in public or in private.
Climate change is the greatest persistent threat to the way of life in coastal cities. Higher Ground puts the microphone in the hands of a classroom of student scientists as they come to grips with the global crisis in one of Connecticut’s largest cities. The students think they know something about global warming, but, together from the classroom to the outdoors, they will brainstorm changes to improve their community.
J Edgar Hoover built then ran the FBI for almost five decades. He turned it from a bureaucratic backwater into a premier crime fighting and counterintelligence force. In the process, he arguably became America’s most powerful man. Today’s fears of a "deep state" - often expressed by Donald Trump and his supporters - of unaccountable government officials working against the public in their own interest – can be traced back to J Edgar Hoover. His job was to enforce the law... but he would not always be bound by it.
For thousands of years we have gazed up at the stars and wondered: is anybody out there? But today, thinking about meeting life on, or from, other planets is no longer dismissed as pure make-believe – it’s the focus of political consideration and cutting-edge space science. Farrah Jarral presents the story of the fantasy and the reality of preparing for first contact with extra-terrestrials.
NPR Music’s AltLatino presents a special holiday concert featuring the 20 piece choral ensemble Choral Cantigas. This musical performance also includes stories about holiday traditions and cultures. Hear a traditional Peruvian Christmas carol, folk music from Brazil, Spain and Mexico plus Parrandas from Venezuela and Puerto Rico. The many rich styles of Latino choral music will unite listeners through the joyful and trans-formative power of music. Hosted by Felix Contreras.
Celebrate the return of the sun - and the warming of the heart - with Paul Winter's Winter Solstice Celebration. On the darkest night of the year, we head back to New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine to hear a performance of The Paul Winter Consort and the glorious Cathedral Pipe Organ. An NPR production with our own John Schaefer hosting.
Airs on the Winter Solstice, Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 10 p.m. on 93.9 WNYC-FM
This NPR favorite returns with the best of the best Hanukkah Lights stories from the last 30 years. Hosted by Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.
Celebrate the holidays with WNYC! Get in the spirit with our special programs on the Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and many more.
Hanukkah Lights 2022
This NPR favorite returns with the best Hanukkah Lights stories from the last 30 years. Hosted by Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz.
Airs on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. on WNYC-AM/FM & NJPR Chanukah Memories and Melodies
From our colleagues at WQXR. Humorous, poignant, tasty and tuneful reminiscences of family, food and music by artists and other personalities, including Broadway star Tovah Feldshuh; cellist Alisa Weilerstein; Sephardic music expert and recorder player Daphna Mor; producer, performer and Yiddish scholar Henry Sapoznik; poet, musician and author Aaron Dworkin; and Eric Jacobsen, Artistic Director of The Knights orchestra. Elliott Forrest hosts.
Airs Sunday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. on WNYC-AM/FM & NJPR A Paul Winter Solstice Celebration
Celebrate the return of the sun - and the warming of the heart - with Paul Winter's Winter Solstice Celebration. On the darkest night of the year, we head back to New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine to hear a performance of The Paul Winter Consort and the glorious Cathedral Pipe Organ. An NPR production with our own John Schaefer hosting.
Airs on the Winter Solstice, Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 10 p.m. on 93.9 WNYC-FM Festivo AltLatino
NPR Music’s AltLatino presents a special holiday concert featuring the 20 piece choral ensemble Choral Cantigas. This musical performance also includes stories about holiday traditions and cultures. Hear a traditional Peruvian Christmas carol, folk music from Brazil, Spain, and Mexico plus Parrandas from Venezuela and Puerto Rico. The many rich styles of Latino choral music will unite listeners through the joyful and trans-formative power of music. Hosted by Felix Contreras.
Airs Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24 at 6 p.m. on WNYC-AM/FM & NJPR Jazz Night in America: A Holiday Celebration
This year's 2022 Jazz Night in America holiday special will feature drummer Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O; a ruckus band recorded at Jazz at Lincoln Center that flip seasonal songs on their head while inserting humor and joyful swing. and new takes on classics in this special episode. Christian McBride hosts. Distributed by NPR, produced by WBGO.
Airs Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24 at 7pm on WNYC-AM/FM & NJPR The New Standards Christmas Eve Radio Show
This evening’s radio broadcast will include the live New Standards Greene Space show Paul Cavalconte will host on December 19th (event details here). He’ll welcome the renowned Emmet Cohen Trio with pianist Emmet Cohen, singers Samara Joy, Anaïs Reno, J Hoard and saxophonist Tivon Pennicott. Add a little joy to your world with some of the very best the American Christmas songbook has to offer. Hear this New Standards show on both WNYC FM & AM.
Airs Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24, 8-11 p.m. on WNYC AM/FM & NJPR Tinsel Tales 2: More NPR Christmas Favorites
NPR fills millions of homes each holiday with humor, warmth and a host of festive voices. Continuing with the tradition of the first Tinsel Tales program, this is another collection of the best and most requested holiday stories. Joy, hope and childhood memories overflow as NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
Airs Christmas Day, Sunday, Dec. 25 at 11 a.m. on WNYC AM/FM & NJPR Jazz Night in America: A Holiday Celebration
This year's 2022 Jazz Night in America holiday special will feature drummer Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O; a ruckus band recorded at Jazz at Lincoln Center that flip seasonal songs on their head while inserting humor and joyful swing. and new takes on classics in this special episode. Christian McBride hosts. Distributed by NPR, produced by WBGO.
Airs Christmas Day, Sunday, Dec. 25 at 12 p.m. on WNYC AM/FM & NJPR The Big Tiny Desk Holiday Special
Celebrate the season with amazing holiday performances from The Tiny Desk Concert series including Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Steve Martin, Hanson, The Polyphonic Spree and more! Hosted by NPR Music’s Bob Boilen and Stephen Thompson.
Airs Christmas Day, Sunday, Dec. 25 at 1 p.m. on WNYC-AM/FM & NJPR Tinsel Tales 4: NPR Christmas Stories Told Through Song
NPR revisits interviews with musicians about their Christmas albums. Some, like Katie Melua and Sting, celebrate tradition and winter mystery in their Christmas songs. Others, like Kenny Rogers and Amy Grant, find spirituality and stability in holiday music. Jon Batiste and Anthony Hamilton bring new energy to old favorites on their Christmas albums. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
Airs Christmas Day, Sunday, Dec. 25 at 7 p.m. on WNYC-AM/FM & NJPR A Season's Griot 2022
Hosted by acclaimed storyteller Madafo Lloyd Wilson, "A Season's Griot" is an annual Kwanzaa special that captures the tales and traditions of African American and African peoples. The show's poet laureate, Beverly Fields Burnette, and other members of the Season's Griot family return with familiar and favorite elements of Griot.
Airs on the first day of Kwanzaa, Monday, Dec. 26 at 2 p.m. on WNYC-AM/FM & NJPR Soundcheck Live: The Best of 2022
John Schaefer host this year’s best Soundcheck live performances and conversations of 2022 in which artists talk about their work, their process, and themselves. Genre-blind but open-eared.
Airs on Friday, Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. on 93.9 WNYC-FM All Of It Presents: 100 Years of the BBC
In November of 1922, BBC radio first crackled into the homes of Londoners, who heard a brief news and weather report - read twice so listeners could take notes. Over the next century, the BBC would expand far beyond news and become one of the world’s preeminent forces in arts and cultural programming. It’s now the world’s largest broadcaster, beloved by listeners and carried in countries around the world. Tune in for a sound-rich conversation about the history of a media organization that half a billion listeners around the world depend on.
Airs on New Year's Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31 at 3 p.m. on WNYC-AM/FM & NJPR A New Standards New Year’s Eve LIVE Broadcast
Join host Paul Cavalconte for a rare, live broadcast of New Standards on New Year’s Eve. This special extended New Year’s Eve broadcast will air until just after midnight on both WNYC FM & AM.
Airs on New Year's Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31 from 8 p.m. to 12:06 a.m. on WNYC-AM/FM & NJPR Soundcheck Live: The Best of 2022
John Schaefer host this year’s best Soundcheck live performances and conversations of 2022 in which artists talk about their work, their process, and themselves. Genre-blind but open-eared.
Airs on Sunday, Jan. 1 at 7 p.m. on 93.9 WNYC-FM
The mental health treatment field is disproportionately white. What barriers do people of color face while trying to find care? And how important is it to find a provider that can identify with a person’s race, culture and experiences?
“Searching for Providers of Color” explores the BIPOC mental health provider workforce shortage and examines the impact on people of color looking for appropriate care.
Through in-depth interviews and reported stories host Kimberly Adams guides this critical hour-long program to examine the barriers to diversify the mental health treatment field and how communities of color are getting the care they need.
Producer DJ Cashmere spent seven years teaching Black and brown students at a Noble Street charter high school in Chicago. At the time, Noble followed a popular model called "no excuses." Its schools required strict discipline but promised low-income students a better shot at college.
After DJ left the classroom to become a journalist, Noble disavowed its own policies — calling them "assimilationist, patriarchal, white supremacist and anti-Black."
In this hour, DJ, who is white, revisits his old school as it tries to reinvent itself as an anti-racist institution. And he seeks out his former students to ask them how they felt about being on the receiving end of all that education reform, and what they think now about the time they spent in his classroom.
Native American students are just a tiny fraction of all the college students in the United States. They come with different histories, confronting an education system once used to erase their languages and cultures. In this project, four Indigenous college students tell how they are using higher education to strengthen ties to their Native roots and support their people.
In November of 1922, BBC radio first crackled into the homes of Londoners. Over the next century, the BBC would expand far beyond news and become one of the world’s preeminent forces in arts and cultural programming. It’s now the world’s largest broadcaster, beloved by NPR listeners and carried in countries around the world, where it provides programming in languages from Arabic to Yoruba. Its story is chronicled in the new book, “The BBC: A Century On Air,” by David Hendy, a media historian and former BBC producer.
Hendy joins us for a special hour-long program, 100 Years of the BBC, exploring the history of the BBC. Listeners will hear sound from reporters on the beaches during D-Day, Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, the rise of the Beatles, and popular BBC radio and television programs of the past – as well as a glimpse of the broadcaster behind the scenes.
"100 Years of the BBC" is produced by Luke Green and Kate Hinds.
For our final installment of Full Bio, we discuss Chuck Berry's final days, and his troubled history of sexual misconduct. RJ Smith, author of Chuck Berry: An American Life, joins us to discuss.
{REBROADCAST FROM September 30, 2021} For the first time in 17 years, Rolling Stone threw out their working list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and rebuilt the list from scratch. Rolling Stone reporter Jon Dolan joins us to discuss remaking the list, defend the rankings, and take calls from listeners on what they think are the greatest songs of all time.
To mark the 50th anniversary of Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie's iconic creation, a host of LGBTQ+ voices and campaigners explain how the character inspired a generation of people to celebrate their own self-actualization, redefining sexuality and setting the groundwork for activism that continues today.
Listen live this Friday, July 1, at 8 p.m.
A special hour of personal stories from the BBC’s Witness History program. We’ll hear about the fight for trans rights in Indonesia, the lesbian separatists in Washington D.C., and an activist who stormed the office of a Côte d’Ivoire newspaper to protest against their depiction of LGBTQ+ people.
June 24 at 9 p.m. on WNYC.
Most accounts of the collapse of Richard Nixon’s presidency begin with Watergate — the familiar tale of a bungled break-in and wiretap attempt at Democratic headquarters and the White House cover-up that followed. But what led to Watergate? How — and why — did one of the shrewdest, most gifted and consequential political figures of his time become embroiled in so manifestly lunatic an enterprise in the first place? And concerning the war, how did Nixon, with all his foreign policy savvy, allow himself to get trapped in the same quagmire he had watched disastrously engulf his predecessor, Lyndon Johnson?
Intrigued by these questions, acclaimed novelist and historian and Peabody Award-winning Studio 360 host Kurt Andersen takes a deep dive into the vast recorded archives at the Nixon Library and elsewhere, and emerges with an answer he wasn’t expecting: While Watergate was the proximate cause of Nixon’s spectacular fall, it was the Vietnam War, beginning four years before the break-in, that led inexorably to it, and in short order from there to the destruction of his presidency and legacy.
These questions are the central concerns of Nixon at War. How Vietnam Led to Watergate, an hour-long audio documentary distilled from the seven-part podcast that debuted this past summer, to considerable critical acclaim. In this stand-alone radio hour, Andersen rivetingly peels back the onion and emerges with a new and deeper understanding of both the man and the war, and of the profound linkage between them.
“I thought I knew the story of Richard Nixon’s downfall pretty well,” Andersen says. "Watergate burglary, criminal cover-up, investigation, resignation, the end. But now, after digging deep into this history for the podcast, I’ve come to a new and different understanding of Watergate. How it didn’t 'just happen,' in isolation, but grew directly out of the Vietnam War.”
Tune in this Friday, June 17 at 8 p.m. on WNYC and livestreaming at WNYC.org.
Climate change is already here in America’s first suburbs — Long Island. Higher Ground tells the stories of communities on Long Island preparing and adapting to extreme weather and rising tides. WSHU's J.D. Allen and Sabrina Garone venture across the region to explore the solutions that might give people the best chance at survival and help save the places millions of people call home. These perspectives from Long Island have implications far beyond the region in the search for solutions to survive climate change.
Over the past 40 years, the US prison population has increased 500%, making it the world’s leading jailer. Music producer Ryan Burvick runs a rejuvenation program on Rikers Island, America's most notorious jail. Those who have been through the prison system open up to him about their experiences, and their views on issues like cash for bail, the plea bargain, and why Black Americans are five times more likely to be incarcerated than White Americans.
A special edition of Witness from the BBC World Service presenting remarkable stories of women's history, told by the women who were there. Featuring the first female Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, stories of northern English women who protested against a serial killer in the 1970s, China's 'Kingdom of Women,' and more.
Guest host Tayari Jones (New York Times bestselling author) helps us celebrate Morrison, the American master who died in 2019. Morrison’s novels, including Beloved, Jazz and Song of Solomon, have become an indelible part of the American canon. Her fierce, poetic visions earned her the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was also an editor, advocate, teacher, and mother. This program features her essay “A Knowing So Deep,” read by Jones; an excerpt from The Bluest Eye, read by Tony Award-winner Anika Noni Rose; an excerpt from Jazz, read by Emmy and Golden Globe winner S. Epatha Merkerson; “Sweetness,” read by NAACP Image Award winner Phylicia Rashad, and a tribute by Morrison’s close friend Fran Lebowitz.
Mississippi occupies a distinct and dramatic place in the history of America's civil rights movement. No state in the South was more resistant to the struggle for black equality. No place was more violent. As historian David Oshinsky writes: "The codes of honor and vengeance, the effects of poverty, ignorance, and isolation had all left their bloody mark. Mississippians earned less, killed more, and died younger than other Americans."
Drawing on archival audio and groundbreaking research on the civil rights era, this special from American RadioWorks brings to light the extraordinary tactics whites in Mississippi used to battle integration and the lasting impact of that battle in American politics today.
A special edition of Witness from the BBC World Service, bringing together some incredible interviews looking at the African-American experience. Told by people who were there, we hear stories that are fascinating, harrowing, and inspiring.
Segments include: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, American news pioneer Dorothy Butler Gilliam, Nelson Mandela in Detroit, NASA's pioneering black women, The "Godfather of Gospel Music" and what the Confederate flag represents in America's battle over race.
For generations, African American orators have been demanding justice and equality, reminding America to make good on its founding principles of democracy. From Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey, to Fannie Lou Hamer and Malcolm X, to Shirley Chisholm and Julian Bond, hear the stirring words of African American figures as they call for action on civil rights and the unmet promise of democracy.
"Say It Plain" is a companion piece to American RadioWorks' special "Say It Loud," focusing on audio portraits of African-Americans who called on the nation to change its ideals through the power of speech.
Florence Beatrice Price wrote more than 300 musical compositions. Some of her works have been lost, others are unpublished, and some of piano and vocal music is still being heard in concert halls. When contralto Marian Anderson gave that historic concert at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, she concluded her recital with Price’s “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord.” And since the 1930s, Price’s art songs and spiritual settings have been favorites of artists who specialize in African American concert music.
Join Terrance McKnight, WQXR host and former Morehouse professor of music, for "The Price of Admission," a one-hour program that brings to light the music and legacy of one of America’s pioneering but nearly forgotten composers and takes a biographical look at Price’s symphonic music, songs, and works for piano and organ. The radio documentary includes archival interview tape of composer Margaret Bonds talking about her friendship with Price and Marian Anderson’s performances of Price’s music recorded during “The Bell Telephone Hour,” a popular musical showcase in the 1940-'60s.
Price was born in Little Rock, Ark., but spent her professional career in Chicago. Due to her musical talent and her family’s affluence, Price enrolled at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where she majored in organ and piano. After graduating with two degrees, Price worked as a college professor, a church organist and a theater accompanist. However, she is best remembered as the first woman of African descent to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra. In 1933, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra played her Symphony in E minor. That orchestra also premiered her Piano Concerto the following year.
Video: Florence B. Price "To My Little Son" Erin Flannery, Soprano and Terrance McKnight, Piano
Music heard within the program:
Florence Price: Concerto in One Movement
Florence B. Price Concerto in One Movement, Symphony in E Minor
Florence Price: "Dances in the Canebrakes: Silk Hat and Walking Cane"
Black Diamonds: Althea Waites plays music by African-American Composers
Blind Boone: "Sparks: Galop de Concert" (1894)
Marshfield Tornado: John Davis Plays Blind Boone
Florence Price: Symphony in E Minor
Florence B. Price Concerto in One Movement, Symphony in E Minor
Florence Price: "Hold Fast to Dreams"
Ah! Love, But a Day, Songs and Spirituals of American Women
Gioachino Rossini: Stabat Mater, "Inflammatus et accensus"
Wiener Philharmoniker; Myung-Whun Chung, conductor
Traditional: "Go Down, Moses"
Dvorak Discoveries
Carl Heinrich Reinecke: Concerto No. 2 op. 120 in E minor
Carl Heinrich Reinecke Piano Concertos 1-4
Alexandre Guilmant: Organ Sonata No. 1 in D Minor
Guilmant Organ Music
George Whitefield Chadwick: Symphonic Sketches I. Jubilee
Symphony No. 2; Symphonic Sketches
Florence Price: Symphony No. 3 in C minor Juba: Allegro
Florence Price: The Oak, Mississippi River Suite, Symphony No. 3
Florence Price: "The Oak"
Florence Price: The Oak, Mississippi River Suite, Symphony No. 3
Roland Hayes: "Beau Soir," "Alma del core," "Pity a Po' Boy," "Du bist die Ruh," "Orfeo Vi ricordo o bosch ombrosi"
The Art of Roland Hayes, Six Centuries of Songs
Alessandro Scarlatti: "Se Florindo e Fedele"
Marian Anderson Rare and Unpublished Recordings, 1936-1952
Florence Price: "Fantasie Negre"
Kaleidescope: Music by African American Women
Hector Berlioz: L'Enfance du Christ, Op. 25 - Partie 2: La fuite en Egypte: Le repos de la Sainte Famille - Les pèlerins étant venus
Florence Price: "Dances in the Canebrakes: Tropical Noon"
Black Diamonds: Althea Waites plays music by African-American Composers
Florence Price (arr.): "My Soul's Been Anchored in de Lord"
Marian Anderson: He's Got the Whole World in His Hand Spirituals
Florence Price: "Song to Dark Virgin"
American Classics Explore America Vol. 1
Florence Price: "Toccata"
Chicago Renaissance Woman, Florence B. Price Organ Works
Florence Price: "Mississippi River Suite"
Florence Price: The Oak, Mississippi River Suite, Symphony No. 3
"City Called Heaven"
Angela M. Brown, Mosaic: A Collection of African-American Spirituals with Piano and Guitar
Special thanks to Hatch Billops Collection, Helen Walker-Hill Collection at University of Colorado at Boulder, Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Center for Black Music Research and New York Public Radio Archivist Andy Lanset.
A musical portrait of the wife of late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. and Julliard-trained pianist who performed in the most prestigious concert halls in the world. Known as the “darling of Café Society,” Hazel Scott became a trailblazer in Hollywood; an outspoken civil rights activist which made her a political target; and ultimately, an outcast, ostracized by the Church community because of her music.
Governor Phil Murphy kicked off his second term with a pledge to make life in New Jersey more affordable for the middle class.
"I’m not going to be satisfied with just slowing property tax growth. I want to get us to a place where we can begin to see them go down," he said during his inaugural address.
We'll talk about Murphy's plans for his second term, and take your calls, live on Ask Governor Murphy. You can also submit your questions early here.
Airs Thursday, January 27, 2022 at 7 p.m. on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
In some ways it is impossible to fully celebrate MLK Day in a virtual environment, after all, the movement for racial justice and Civil Rights has always been about coming together. However, the decision to go digital does honor another aspect of the movement- its creativity and collective action.
Hosted by various WNYC radio hosts, this commemorative and uplifting special brings together scholars, cultural and community leaders, and activists to engage in conversations and performance, exploring the many ways the arts influenced the creative nonviolent resistance of Dr. King's activism and how his work is continued today.
You'll be hearing excerpts from the Uptown Hall: MLK- Activism And The Arts, our live celebration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. recorded on Apollo Digital Stage. Brian Lehrer sat down with award winning children’s book author Jacqueline Woodson; Kai Wright spoke with Rashaad Robinson from Color of Change; and WNYC’s Jami Floyd, spoke with Garrett McQueen, executive producer and co-host of the Trilluqoy podcast and president of trill werks media. WNYC’s host of “all of it”, Alison Stewart was joined by stage and film actress, writer and director, Trezana Beverly and Jonathan McCrory, the artistic director of the National Black Theater.
The Takeaway host Melissa Harris-Perry spoke with artist, collector, CEO and founder Of Black Art In America, Najee Dorsey and former executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, mayor of Atlanta, member of Congress, and US Ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young.
Graphic courtesy of WNYC (WNYC Studios )
For most of the year, the Soundcheck Podcast was remote, but we found some bright spots from this off-again-on-again year of live performances. Listen to the highlights for this year which include the Amsterdam-based Turkish psych band Altin Gün, London pianist and soundscape artist Neil Cowley, composer/vocalist/pianist Samora Pinderhughes’ art/protest songs, and Guatemalan cellist Mabe Fratti. Plus, singer and guitarist Torres and her band, live from The Greene Space.
Also, listen to London’s Afrofuturist jazz masters Sons of Kemet, New York-based poet, composer, and stutterer JJJJJerome Ellis, and the custom baritone guitar of South African Guy Buttery. AND you must see and hear the prepared guitar of Sardinian composer, ethnomusicologist, and instrument builder Paolo Angeli, who filmed a beautiful remote session on the shores of Sardinia. Grammy-winning diva Angélique Kidjo brings a super-charged performance to The Greene Space and puts an exclamation point on 2021.
Watch the Best of 2021 performances for the Soundcheck Podcast:
Program #4575, Best of Soundcheck Podcast 2021 (First aired 12/31/2021)
ARTIST: Torres
WORK: Thirstier [1:00]
RECORDING: Live from The Greene Space for the Soundcheck Podcast, Nov. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: A version appears on the 2021 record, Thirstier
ARTIST: Altin Gün
WORK: Ordunun Dereleri [2:50]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, Feb. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: A version appears on the 2021 record, Yol (Road)
ARTIST: Neil Cowley
WORK: String Think [5:12]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, April 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: A version appears on the 2020 record, Building BLocks, Pt. 1
ARTIST: Samora Pinderhughes
WORK: Stare Straight Ahead [4:09]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, June 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: Samora Pinderhughes' recordings are available at his Bandcamp.
ARTIST: Mabe Fratti
WORK: Nadie Sabe [5:35]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, July 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: Appears on Mabe Fratti's record Será Que Ahora Podremos Entendernos?
ARTIST: Torres
WORK: Thirstier [4:13]
RECORDING: Live from The Greene Space for the Soundcheck Podcast, Nov. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: A version appears on the 2021 record, Thirstier
ARTIST: Sons of Kemet
WORK: Hustle [5:10]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, July 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: A version appears on their 2021 record, Black to the Future
ARTIST: JJJJJerome Ellis
WORK: Bend Back The Bow & Let The Hymn Fly [3:17]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, Nov. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: A version appears on Ellis' 2021 record, The Clearing
ARTIST: Paolo Angeli
WORK: JAR'A Suite, excerpt [3:24]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, Nov. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: A version appears on Angeli's 2021 record, Jar'a
ARTIST: Guy Buttery
WORK: Kya Baat [4:03]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, Oct. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: A version appears on Buttery's 2021 record, One Morning In Gurgaon
ARTIST: Angélique Kidjo
WORK: Mother Nature [3:42]
RECORDING: Live from The Greene Space for the Soundcheck Podcast, Oct. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: A version appears on Kidjo's 2021 record, Mother Nature
A Season's Griot is public radio's only nationally syndicated Kwanzaa program. Hosted for 25 years by acclaimed storyteller Madafo Lloyd Wilson, this annual one-hour special captures the tales and traditions of African American and African peoples. The show’s poet laureate, Beverly Fields Burnette, and other members of the Season’s Griot family return with familiar and favorite elements of Griot.
This holiday, Jazz Night in America will present popular jazz artists sharing their seasonal music from forthcoming holiday albums. Enjoy first-person stories and memories from the musicians and hear festive originals and new takes on classics in this special episode. More details to come soon. Christian McBride hosts.
Wynton Marsalis hosts an hour of holiday jazz favorites by Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Gregory Porter, René Marie, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Musical Works
"Sleigh Ride"
Renee Fleming & Wynton Marsalis
Christmas in New York
"Jingle Bells"Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Big Band Holidays
"White Christmas"
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Big Band Holidays
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
Ella Fitzgerald Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas
"Christmas Night in Harlem"
Louis Armstrong What a Wonderful Christmas
"Zat You, Santa Claus?"
René Marie Big Band Holidays
"Toot Toot Tootie Toot (Dance of the Reed-Pipes)"
Duke Ellington Orchestra Nutcracker Suite
"Peanut Brittle Brigade (March)"Duke Ellington Orchestra Nutcracker Suite
"What Child Is This?"
Cécile McLorin Salvant Big Band Holidays
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
Ellis Marsalis New Orleans Christmas
"Carol of the Bells"
Warren Wolf Christmas on Mack Avenue
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Big Band Holidays
"Deck Us All With Boston Charlie"
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross Hipsters' Holiday: Vocal Jazz & R&B Classics
"Merry Christmas Baby"
Gregory Porter Big Band Holidays
"We Three Kings"
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Big Band Holidays
arts
In keeping with a well-loved NPR holiday tradition, hear the third collection of extraordinary Christmas stories that will transport you to unexpected places.
Audie Cornish, Ken Harbaugh, Nina Totenberg and other voices from NPR's past and present tell stories of the season in this hour-long special. Some tales are funny; some are touching; some are insightful or irreverent or nostalgic or surprising. You might recognize them from our broadcast archives — or you might fall in love with them for the first time. Hosted by Lynn Neary.
A public radio holiday tradition - stories from the NPR archives that touch on the meaning of Christmas. David Sedaris, Bailey White, John Henry Faulk--these and other NPR voices, past and present, tell stories of the season.
Hosted by WNYC's John Schaefer, celebrate the return of the sun - and the warming of the heart with Paul Winter's Winter Solstice Celebration. On the darkest night of the year, we head back to New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine to hear a new performance of The Paul Winter Consort and the glorious Cathedral Pipe Organ. (reprise of 2019 concert)
A perennial NPR favorite, Hanukkah Lights features Hanukkah stories read by hosts Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz. Murray and Susan looked back into the show's 30 year archive and picked their favorite stories: "Hanukkah Gelt" by Sholem Aleichem, "Gifts of the Last Night" by Rebecca Goldstein, "How To Spell The Name Of G-d" by Ellen Orleans, "Of Love and Latkes" by Lia Pripstein, and "Erev Christmas" by Clement Clarke Moore, translated by Marie Jaffe.
Artist, performer and host Helga Davis brings a soulful curiosity and love of people to her program Helga. In Season 4, she continues to draw the listener into her profound and intimate conversations with creative people, famous and lesser known. Artists, scholars, and cultural change-makers join her to share the steps they’ve taken along their paths. Where they started, where they are and where they’re going next. These inspiring conversations expand our world and our imaginations as we explore what we think we know about each other.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback, please write to us at helga@wync.org.
If you want to hear more from Helga Davis, subscribe to her podcast “Helga” for free wherever you get podcasts.
Helga airs August 9-13, 2021 at 9pm on WNYC, 93.9FM and AM 820. Helga Season 4 guests include:
Monday, August 9 - Liliana Maria Percy Ruiz | Nick Cave
Tuesday, August 10 - Marilee Talkington | Jason Reynolds
Wednesday, August 11 - Karen Finley | Davóne Tines
Thursday, August 12 - Jad Abumrad
Friday, August 13 - Antwaun Sargent | Tina Campt
Governor Phil Murphy is racing to get more residents vaccinated as the delta variant takes hold. If COVID cases continue to climb, then New Jersey may have to return to restrictions on businesses. On the next Ask Governor Murphy, COVID, his meeting with President Biden, and your questions.
These and other issues on Ask Governor Murphy -- a live call-in special – submit your questions now at: Ask Governor Murphy
Airs Thursday, July 22 at 7pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
Governor Phil Murphy is still frustrated that people are choosing not to get the coronavirus vaccine. On the next Ask Governor Murphy, the pandemic, the new state budget, and more.
These and other issues on Ask Governor Murphy -- a live call-in special – submit your questions now at: Ask Governor Murphy
Airs Wednesday, June 30 at 7pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
Between 1525 and 1866, more than 12 million Africans were shipped to the New World as slaves. After some 200 years, slavery was abolished, and yet another century of Jim Crow, coupled with discriminatory housing and lending policies, contributed to its legacy. Dealing with the relics of that stain on American history is part of the national dilemma. But exactly how to do it is our question; something lawmakers in Washington are also now debating.
A top aide to President Joe Biden said that the White House will ‘start acting now’ on reparations for African Americans. Some say it’s long over-due. Reparations, they say, are important to start to address the moral injury slavery inflicted. Others say direct payments to African Americans will divide the black community, exaggerate racial tensions and prove impossible to administer. Featuring Cornell William Brooks, Former President and CEO of the NAACP; Randall LeRoy Kennedy, Author and Law Professor at Harvard University; and Intelligence Squared U.S. host John Donvan.
Airs Saturday, June 19 at 3 pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
New York has dropped its indoor mask mandate, but New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy isn’t letting up. On the next Ask Governor Murphy, we’ll take your calls on this next stage of the pandemic, New Jersey politics, and more.
These and other issues on Ask Governor Murphy -- a live call-in special – submit your questions now at: Ask Governor Murphy
Airs Thursday, May 27 at 7pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
Tonight, from 7-9 PM EST, the Democratic candidates for mayor of New York City will square off on issues facing the city, and who would be the best choice to guide NYC through its next chapters.
Brian Lehrer will be asking some questions as a panelist, along with moderator Errol Louis from NY1, and THE CITY's Josefa Velasquez. To hear some of Brian's recent coverage of the mayoral candidates, including "Ask The Mayor 'Tryouts,'" and a series of interviews on economic recovery and equity in NYC, visit The Brian Lehrer Show's archive.
The mayoral hopefuls on the stage will be Eric Adams, Shaun Donovan, Kathryn Garcia, Ray McGuire, Dianne Morales, Scott Stringer, Maya Wiley and Andrew Yang.
This debate is sponsored by WNYC/Gothamist, NY1, THE CITY. This is the first debate sanctioned by the Campaign Finance Board, and is the result of a partnership that includes Citizens Union, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Social Work Votes.
Tune in from 7-9 PM EST. You can watch a video stream of the debate live on this page, or on NY1. Audio of the debate will be broadcast live on WNYC's air at 93.9 FM and AM820, and will be posted to this page afterward.
NPR grew up alongside a post-Watergate journalism ethos that shaped the media industry for decades. Hosted by Audie Cornish and featuring other NPR journalists, we'll unpack that ethos: how it developed in the newsroom and changed over time, through today. Analytical, critical and forward-thinking, this program tells the story of NPR's history in the context of the growth of modern media.
Airs Monday, May 3 at 2pm and 10pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
Airing LIVE Thursday, April 29th, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer of WNYC as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work. At the end of the First 100 Days, we check in on his stated priorities:
- COVID-19
- Economic Recovery
- Racial Equity
- Climate Change
First, Cecilia Rouse, economist and chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and former dean of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, talks about the president's proposals for the economy.
Then, Ruth Marcus columnist at the Washington Post and deputy editor of its editorial page and the author of Supreme Ambition: Brett Kavanaugh and the Conservative Takeover (Simon & Schuster, 2019), and the listeners weigh in on the full scope of the first 100 days.
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
With COVID-19 vaccines now widely available in New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy is turning his attention to other issues, including a call for national background checks for gun buyers. On the next Ask Governor Murphy, we’ll take your calls on vaccinations, gun control, and reopening the economy post-Covid.
These and other issues on Ask Governor Murphy -- a live call-in special – submit your questions now at: Ask Governor Murphy
Airs Wednesday, April 28 at 7pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
Airing LIVE Thursday, April 22nd, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer of WNYC as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work. As we approach the end of the First 100 Days, we check back in with the four priorities President Biden set:
- COVID-19
- Economic Recovery
- Racial Equity
- Climate Change
This week, it's Earth Day and President Biden hosts a virtual summit on combatting climate change. Paula DiPerna, a special advisor for CDP, the non-profit global environmental impact disclosure platform, talks about the actions take so far by the administration.
Plus, in the wake of the guilty verdict for the murder of George Floyd, Christina Greer, political science professor at Fordham University, host of the podcast FAQNYC, politics editor at The Grio and author of Black Ethnics (Oxford University Press, 2013), examines the Biden/Harris goal of racial equity.
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
When water comes rushing out of the tap, seemingly clear and perfect, it’s easy to think we’ve got it figured out. But in reality, the underground world of pipes and sewers are in trouble. For the past year, our reporters have been doing a deep dive into America’s water infrastructure. What we’ve found is disturbing.
Airs Wednesday, April 21 at 8pm on 93.9FM and AM 820.
Airing LIVE Thursday, April 15th, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer of WNYC as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work.
This week: Brian is joined by co-host Rose Scott of Atlanta's WABE to discuss voting rights following the 2020 elections.
First, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger talks about the new legislation there that critics characterize as a 'new Jim Crow',
Then, Myrna Pérez, director of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights and Elections Program, about the Georgia law and other state laws seemed aimed at restricting voting, as well as federal legislation to set voting rights guarantees.
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
Airing LIVE Thursday, April 8th, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work.
This week: With his 2-trillion-dollar infrastructure proposal, is President Biden aiming to be this generation’s FDR or LBJ -- using government to tackle systemic poverty, inequality, and environmental threat? Join the conversation on the plan which goes well beyond bridges, roads and tunnels.
First, Clarence Anthony , CEO and executive director of the National League of Cities (NLC), digs in on the infrastructure needs of cities;
Then, Jess Morales Rocketto, the civic engagement director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the executive director of Care in Action, talks about the "care infrastructure" components of the plan.
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
Airing LIVE Thursday, April 1st, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work.
This week: Former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D ND), a contributor for CNBC, and the founder of One Country Project, argues for reconnecting with rural voters.
What are the issues that cross the rural-urban divide?
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
Airing LIVE Thursday, March 25th, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work.
Today, President Biden holds his first press conference -- 64 days into his administration. To talk about the president's progress with his agenda and his administration's relationship with the press and public, we turn to:
Jonathan Lemire, White House reporter for the Associated Press and political analyst for MSNBC/NBC News, and
Francesca Chambers, White House correspondent for McClatchy and White House Correspondents Association board member
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
Airing LIVE Thursday, March 18th, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work.
"Restoring America’s global standing" is one of President Biden’s stated priorities and he rejoined the Paris climate accords and the World Health Organization on his first day in office, as well as changing U.S. policy toward Latin America.
What is America's place in the world?
This week, Brian is joined by:
Fareed Zakaria Washington Post columnist, host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, and the author of Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World (W. W. Norton & Company, 2020)
Susan Glasser, staff writer for The New Yorker, CNN global affairs analyst and the co-author, with Peter Baker, of The Man Who Ran Washington: the Life and Times of Jim Baker III (Doubleday, 2020)
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
Airing LIVE Thursday, March 11th, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work.
President Biden set four priorities for his administration:
- COVID-19
- Economic Recovery
- Racial Equity
- Climate Change
Halfway through the first "100 Days," President Biden addresses the nation to talk about the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill he will sign on Friday.
This week, live coverage of his speech with:
- Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and author of the forthcoming Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power (Twelve, 2021); and
- Kai Wright, host of The United States of Anxiety from WNYC Studios
Plus, your calls.
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
Airing LIVE Thursday, March 4th, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work.
President Biden’s nomination of Rep. Deb Haaland (D, NM) to be Secretary of the Interior would put a Native American (Laguna Pueblo) in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the first time ever and perhaps mark a new era for the relationship between the federal government and American Indians.
Is it time for a new relationship between the U.S. government and America's Indian nations?
This week, Brian is joined by:
- Joy Harjo (Muscogee Nation) U.S. Poet Laureate, performer and writer, editor of When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry (W. W. Norton & Company, 2020), who has a new album "I Pray For My Enemies" - out tomorrow.
- Julian Brave NoiseCat (Canim Lake Band) vice president of policy and strategy with Data for Progress; narrative change director of the Natural History Museum; and a fellow of the Type Media Center, NDN Collective, and the Center for Humans and Nature
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
Governor Phil Murphy has legalized marijuana in New Jersey, putting an end to the high number of arrests of people of color. On the next Ask Governor Murphy, we’ll take your calls on cannabis stores coming to the suburbs, and whether the state can spend its way out of a pandemic.
These and other issues on Ask Governor Murphy -- a live call-in special – submit your questions now at: Ask Governor Murphy
Airs Wednesday, March 3 at 7pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
In Making Belafonte, host Terrance McKnight takes us through his recently discovered personal connection to the iconic artist, and Harry Belafonte introduces us to the people and experiences that helped shape his character and artistic aspirations.
“Making Belafonte” was written and produced by Terrance McKnight and Curtis Macdonald, who also directed, edited and did sound design. Special thanks to WQXR’s Program Director Michael Shobe, our script editor Merrin Lazyan, The Smithsonian Institute, WNYC’s archivist Andy Lanset, and our WQXR interns Sapir Rosenblatt and Greta Rainbow. Also thanks to Esther Adler, curator at the Museum of Modern Art and to Pamela and Harry Belafonte.
Airs Friday, February 26 at 2pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
In collaboration with the Apollo Theater and March on Washington Film Festival, WNYC gathers luminaries and leaders in the fields of health, politics, journalism and more to address the implications of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election through the prisms of civil rights and modern day social justice movements.
Guests include James E. Clyburn, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Letitia James, among a distinguished roster of civil rights leaders, elected officials, activists, journalists, and artists to discuss the urgent priorities facing the incoming Biden-Harris administration, health equity for Black Americans, and what comes next in our nation’s ongoing reckoning around systemic racism.
Watch this year's MLK event here: "MLK and the Fierce Urgency of Now!"
Airing LIVE Thursday, February 25th, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work.
President Biden's plan for comprehensive immigration reform, The United States Citizenship Act of 2021, is in Congress for consideration and goes beyond the eight-year path to citizenship for Dreamers that has gotten the most attention.
Has the time come for immigration reform?
This week, Brian is joined by:
- U.S. Representative Linda Sanchez (D CA 38th, parts of LA and Orange Counties), House sponsor of the bill; then
- Sergio Gonzales, executive director Immigration Hub, former policy aide to then-Senator Kamala Harris, who helped draft the 2013 immigration reform package as a staffer for "Gang of Eight" member, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet.
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
When Billie Holiday was harassed by U.S. government agents and told to stop singing ‘Strange Fruit,’ she refused. When Shirley Chisholm ran for president and was ridiculed and told she shouldn’t aim that high politically, she refused. On this episode of Throughline, two pioneering Black women, Billie Holiday and Shirley Chisholm, who set their own sights and never backed down from a fight.
Airs, Wednesday February 24 at 2pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
Guest host LeVar Burton presents a program celebrating the author he calls “potent and polemical.” Christopher Jackson reads an excerpt from Baldwin’s famous letter The Fire Next Time: in “My Dungeon Shook,” he addresses internalized racism. Next, Anthony Rapp performs an excerpt from Giovanni's Room, in which an ex-pat comes to terms with his sexuality and loneliness in Paris. And Baldwin contemplates The Great Migration in his novel Go Tell It On The Mountain. We hear an excerpt performed by Charlayne Woodard.
Airs Tuesday, February 23 at 2pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
This is an American revolution set down on the page.
Studio 360
When Malcolm X was assassinated at 39, his life story nearly died with him. Today “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” — a favorite of President Obama and Justice Clarence Thomas alike — stands as a milestone in America’s struggle with race. The autobiography is also a Horatio Alger tale, following a man’s journey from poverty to crime to militancy to wisdom. Muslims look to Malcolm as a figure of tolerance; a tea party activist claims him for the political right; Public Enemy’s Chuck D tells us, “This book is like food. It ain’t McDonald's — it’s sit down at the table and say grace.”
Airs Monday, February 22 at 2pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820. (Originally aired September 24, 2010)
Passages from "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" were read by Dion Graham.
Bonus Track: Painting an Icon Artist Charles Lilly's painting of Malcolm X adorns the cover of the Ballantine Books edition of “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.” In this bonus cut, he explains his famous work.
Bonus Track: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar remembers Malcolm X
NBA Hall of Fame member Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talks about hearing Malcolm X speak as a teenager in Harlem and the profound impact “The Autobiography” had on him in college.
Video: A tour of Alex Haley's studio
Alex Haley wrote "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" based on a series of interviews. Haley and Malcolm initially had very different views on the type of book they would create. (Courtesy of Bill Haley)
Martin Luther King and Malcolm X waiting for a press conference. (Marion S. Trikosko, Courtesy of The Library of Congress)
From R to L: The first edition cover of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," followed by two later covers (Melvin Reeves, Permission courtesy of Barney Rosset/Kyle Pellett, Permission courtesy of Barney Rosset/Courtesy of Ballantine Books)
Alex Haley’s Hamilton College ID card where he was a writer-in-residence (Courtesy of Bill Haley)
Airing LIVE Thursday, February 18th, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work.
President Biden has said his administration's four priorities will be:
- COVID-19
- Economic Recovery
- Racial Equity
- Climate Change
President Biden has big plans for economic recovery, from the 1.9 trillion-dollar COVID relief package to green jobs creation, and polls show most Americans approve, but his plans face skepticism from deficit hawks and workers in the fossil fuel industry.
What do you need from Washington for your own economic recovery from the pandemic's disruptions?
This week, Brian is joined by:
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth (D KY 3rd, Louisville), chair of the House Budget Committee;
then William Spriggs, Howard University economics professor, chief economist to the AFL-CIO, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy (2009-2012) and Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
Airing LIVE Thursday, February 11th, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work. But before Congress can fully focus on the Biden agenda, there’s the matter of the impeachment trial of the former president. This week, Brian is joined by:
Jami Floyd, WNYC's senior editor for race and justice and legal analyst for the WNYC newsroom, and their guest
Adam Jentleson, public affairs director at Democracy Forward, former deputy chief of staff to Senator Harry Reid and the author of Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy (Liveright, 2021),
to weigh in on the proceedings, dip into live coverage as warranted, and hear from you about this piece of unfinished business from the Trump era.
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
Airing LIVE Thursday, February 4th, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work.
President Biden has said his administration's four priorities will be:
- COVID-19
- Economic Recovery
- Racial Equity
- Climate Change
This week:Host Brian Lehrer is joined by journalist Mark Hertsgaard, executive director of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism initiative, and the environment correspondent for The Nation, and activist Peggy Shepard, co-founder and executive director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice, to dig into the new administration's climate change agenda and ask how climate change -- and the policies to address it -- are affecting you and your neighborhood.
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
Airing LIVE Thursday, January 28th, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work.
This week: President Biden has said his administration's four priorities will be:
- COVID-19
- Economic Recovery
- Racial Equity
- Climate Change
President Biden's focus on COVID-19 includes distributing the vaccines more quickly and more equitably. Brian is joined by Rose Scott, host of WABE's midday news program “Closer Look” in Atlanta, and their guest, Jayne Morgan, M.D., cardiologist and clinical director of the Covid Task Force for Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta, to talk about the Biden plan for vaccine equity, how to stay healthy until you get your shots, the new variants, and more.
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is trying to address the crush of residents waiting for a vaccine appointment with a new hotline, but he says what the state needs most is more supply. On the next Ask Governor Murphy, we’ll take your calls on COVID vaccinations, the 11-billion-dollar tax break program and other issues facing the state.
These and other issues on Ask Governor Murphy -- a live call-in special – submit your questions now at: Ask Governor Murphy
Airs Wednesday, January 27 at 7pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
Airing LIVE Thursday, January 21st, 8-9pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer as the Biden/Harris administration starts its work.
This week: President Biden has said his administration's four priorities will be:
- COVID-19
- Economic Recovery
- Racial Equity
- Climate Change
What are yours?
Brian is joined by Kai Wright, host of The United States of Anxiety, and Mara Gay, New York Times editorial board member, to talk about the goal of racial equity and the inauguration theme of unity. Can President Biden produce both?
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
Hosts Brian Lehrer and Alison Stewart are joined by Jami Floyd, WNYC's Legal Editor and Senior Editor for Race & Justice Unit at New York Public Radio, to discuss the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and take listeners' calls reflecting on the day's ceremony.
The nation's capital is on lock down. The public's been urged to stay away. But millions watched - from home - as President-elect Joe Biden took the oath of office. Now, after all the ceremonies, we want to hear from you. Your hopes - and fears - as the country prepares to write a new chapter.
Airs Wednesday, January 20 at 9pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
On January 5, Georgia’s two Senate seats are on the line in a special runoff election, as Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler face off against Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. The election results could shift the balance of power on Capitol Hill. Join Rose Scott from WABE in Atlanta, along with reporters from WABE and the NPR Politics team, for election updates, analysis and special guests.
Airs Tuesday, January 5 at 8pm on 93.9 FM and AM 820.
Airing LIVE Wednesday, January 6th, 8-11pm ET.
Join the national conversation with host Brian Lehrer and his guests on the day Congress counts the electoral votes, a process disrupted by violence. With voters so engaged -- and divided -- can we come together as a country to face the challenges of 2021?
Hour 1:
Ross Douthat, New York Times columnist and the author of The Decadent Society: America Before and After the Pandemic (Avid Reader Press, 2020)
Heidi Heitkamp, former U.S. Senator (D ND), a contributor for CNBC, senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, and the founder of One Country Project, an organization aimed at helping Democrats nationally reconnect with rural voters;
Maria Hinojosa, anchor and executive producer of Latino USA, and the author of the Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America (Simon and Schuster, 2020)
Hour 2:
Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review and the author of The Case for Nationalism: How It Made Us Powerful, United, and Free (Broadside Books, 2019)
Susan Page, USA Today Washington bureau chief and the author of The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty (Twelve, 2019) and the forthcoming Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power (Twelve, April 2021)
Kai Wright, host of the WNYC's "The United States of Anxiety"
Hour 3:
David Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic
Christina Greer, political science professor at Fordham University, host of the podcast FAQNYC, politics editor at The Grio and author of Black Ethnics (Oxford University Press, 2013)
Join the conversation at 844-745-TALK (8255)!
Third Coast’s yearly ode to audio storytelling is back! Featuring the winners of the 20th annual Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition, the best audio stories of the year offer a beautiful, stirring portrait of 2020. This year's series has an overall upbeat & celebratory tone, while navigating emotional, challenging, and knotty topics over the course of each episode.
Hour I
The Great Indoors
In this episode, three winning stories of the 2020 Third Coast/RHDF Competition each paint a unique portrait of survival and hope in the time of coronavirus. It also features the podcast I served as Advisor on “In Those Genes”, along with a piece from Reveal.
Hour II
Towards a Better World (Hour II)
In this episode, we meet extraordinary people who are fighting the system, working to make transformative change and seeking a better world, for themselves and for others.
Hour III
Of Bodies & Minds (Hour III)
This hour features three intimate stories that grapple with the messiness and the triumph of existing as a person, from the outside body to the inside mind.
Airs Thursday, December 31 from 9pm - 12am on 93.9 FM and AM820.
Explore all of our 2020 holiday programming here.
The Keepers: Archiving the Now — a new hour-long special from The Kitchen Sisters and PRX with host, Academy Award-winner, Frances McDormand. Stories of can-do people. Must-do people. Get-it-done people. People who are grappling with the now, with where we are and where we’ve got to get to. As the world we all knew unravels and communities begin to re-shape themselves, The Kitchen Sisters have been gleaning, looking for those who have something to offer during these uncharted times. People who rebuild, restore, reinvent. Nobody showed them the path, they cut it themselves. Striking stories of grit, hope and possibility.
Airs Wednesday, December 30 at 8pm on 93.9 FM and AM820.
Explore all of our 2020 holiday programming here.
The internationally acclaimed "little orchestra" Pink Martini decks the airwaves with festive holiday songs from around the globe. From timeless classics to rarely heard gems, here is a multi-denominational, multicultural jubilee that overflows with enough holiday spirit to warm your entire family. Joy To The World: A Holiday Spectacular will air on NPR stations throughout the holiday season.
The hour-long program includes songs from Pink Martini's holiday album Joy To The World, as well as new holiday arrangements. The host of NPR's All Things Considered and longtime Pink Martini guest vocalist Ari Shapiro emcees and performs alongside bandleader Thomas Lauderdale and lead singers China Forbes and Storm Large. Additional guests include The von Trapps, Cantor Ida Rae Cahana and the Pacific Youth Choir.
Airs Friday, December 25 at 1pm on 93.9 FM and AM820.
Explore all of our 2020 holiday programming here.
SET LIST
China Forbes (vocals), "Little Drummer Boy"
"Shchedryk (Carol Of The Bells)" with the Pacific Youth Choir
Storm Large (vocals), "Santa Baby"
China Forbes (vocals), "A Snowglobe Christmas"
China Forbes, Ari Shapiro, and Ida Rae Cahana (vocals), "Elohai, N'tzor"
Ari Shapiro, China Forbes, Storm Large and Ida Rae Cahana (vocals),"Ocho Kandelikas"
Storm Large (vocals), "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
China Forbes (vocals) with the Pacific Youth Choir, "Talj Talj"
Storm Large (vocals), "We Three Kings"
China Forbes and Timothy Nishimoto (vocals), Dan Faehnle (guitar), "Congratulations — A Happy New Year Song"
The von Trapps (vocals), "Noël Nouvelet"
China Forbes (vocals) with the Pacific Youth Choir, "Gardens Of Sampson & Beasley"
China Forbes (vocals) with the Pacific Youth Choir, "O Holy Night"
Storm Large (vocals), "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
China Forbes, Storm Large, Ari Shapiro, Ida Rae Cahana and The von Trapps (vocals) with the Pacific Youth Choir, "Auld Lang Syne"
Personnel
Thomas M. Lauderdale, piano
China Forbes, vocals
Storm Large, vocals
Gavin Bondy, trumpet
Robert Taylor, trombone
Nicholas Crosa, violin
Maureen Love, harp
Phil Baker, upright bass
Dan Faehnle, guitar
Timothy Nishimoto, vocals and percussion
Brian Davis, congas and percussion
Anthony Jones, drums and percussion
Kyle Mustain, English horn
Featuring
Ari Shapiro
Pacific Youth Choir under the direction of Mia Hall Miller
The von Trapps; Sofia, Melanie, Amanda, and August
Cantor Ida Rae Cahana
Lions of Batucada
Harvey Rosencrantz Orchestra (Joy Fabos, Erin Furbee, Julie Coleman, Greg Ewer, violins; Kenji Bunch, Charles Noble, violas; Nancy Ives, Jinn Shin, cellos)
Copyright 2015 OPB. To see more, visit opb.org.
No one expected this year to look the way it did. The pandemic has upended our lives. Racial injustices continue to fill us with outrage and shame. Presidential politics are testing the strength of our democracy.
But in 2020 we also saw the resilience of essential workers, the resourcefulness of communities, the power of technology to keep us connected. The election turned out more voters than ever before, and a new generation of protesters confronted systematic racism. It was an extraordinary year full of stories that we'll tell for the rest of our lives, and to make sure we don't forget, we're putting together a 2020 Time Capsule that we'll pry open in 2030 and revisit those stories and lessons. Today, we'll talk to WNYC voices who played a role in telling those stories on the air, and hear stories from listeners about how they navigated this consequential year.
On Today's Program:
-
Zoe Azulay and Amina Srna, producers at the Brian Lehrer Show who have been taking your calls all year, reflect on what it's been like to talk to listeners. Zoe wrote a piece about how your voices helped her through 2020, and put together a montage of calls that paint a good picture of the year.
-
Brooke Gladstone, co-host of WNYC's On The Media, talks about how the news covered the pandemic, the election, and the intersection of the two.
-
WNYC's Gwynne Hogan and Kai Wright discuss the big ideas about racial justice sparked by the police killing of George Floyd and the groundswell of protests against police violence that moved the conversation.
-
Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theater, talks about what's next for the performing arts, an industry among the hardest hit by the pandemic.