Podcasts by Category
- 917 - Georgiaâs Brad Raffensperger, Who Refused to âFindâ Votes for Donald Trump, Prepares for Another Election
Amid threats, Georgiaâs secretary of state describes how he convinces Republican voters that elections are fair.
Tue, 30 Apr 2024 - 15min - 916 - Jerry Seinfeld on Making a Life in Comedy (and Also, Pop-Tarts)
The comedian could have retired decades ago, but he continues to hone his craft onstage, and at age seventy heâs directed his first feature film, âUnfrosted.â
Fri, 26 Apr 2024 - 35min - 915 - Judi Dench on Bond and Shakespeare
The acclaimed actor talks with David Remnick about her new book, and a lifetime of performing Shakespeare.
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 - 21min - 914 - Jonathan Haidt on the Plague of Anxiety Affecting Young People
The evidence implicating social-media apps, the social psychologist says, is not another moral panic over technology. âActually, this time is different,â he insists. âHereâs why."
Fri, 19 Apr 2024 - 30min - 913 - Maya Hawke on the Fear of âMissing Out,â and Jen Silverman on âThereâs Going to Be Troubleâ
The popular actor and songwriter speaks with Rachel Syme about not going to collegeâthe subject of her new single. And a novelist discusses the excitement and uncertainty of protests.
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 - 31min - 912 - How a Republican and a Democrat Carved out Exemptions to Texasâs Abortion Ban
Rare across-the-aisle coöperation in Austin aims to protect the lives of some women who need abortionsâand protect their doctors from prosecution.
Fri, 12 Apr 2024 - 19min - 911 - The Film Critic Justin Chang on What to See in 2024Mon, 8 Apr 2024 - 13min
- 910 - The Attack on Black History, with Nikole Hannah-Jones and Jelani Cobb
Why are so many states restricting what schools can teach about racism? Two leading journalist-historians discuss the efforts to ban or rewrite the teaching of Black history.
Fri, 5 Apr 2024 - 36min - 909 - Rhiannon Giddens, Americanaâs Queen, on Cultivating the Black Roots of Country Music
The singer, banjo player, music scholar, and opera composer talks with David Remnick about the legacy of Black string musicâand how not to be limited by genre.
Tue, 2 Apr 2024 - 15min - 908 - Alicia Keys Returns to Her Roots with Her New Musical, âHellâs Kitchenâ
In her musical opening on Broadway, Keys tells a story very much like her own life, using her own hit songsâbut donât call it autobiographical.
Fri, 29 Mar 2024 - 34min - 907 - Percival Everett and the Reinvention of Mark Twainâs JimTue, 26 Mar 2024 - 19min
- 906 - Trumpâs Authoritarian Pronouncements Recall a Dark HistoryFri, 22 Mar 2024 - 29min
- 905 - March Madness 2024: College Basketball at a Crossroads
The staff writer Louisa Thomas talks with the former sportswriter David Remnick about why menâs college basketball suffers a state of malaise, while the womenâs game is electrifying.
Tue, 19 Mar 2024 - 15min - 904 - Judith Butler Canât âTake Credit or Blameâ for Gender Furor
The philosopher popularized new ideas about genderâand has been burned in effigy. They talk with David Remnick about âWhoâs Afraid of Gender?â Plus, Erin Reed on anti-trans legislation.
Fri, 15 Mar 2024 - 34min - 903 - In âGreat Expectations,â Vinson Cunningham Watches Barack Obamaâs Rise Up Close
The journalistâs autobiographical novel reflects his time working on Barackâs Obamaâs campaign, and in his White House. Has the former President lived up to his expectations?
Tue, 12 Mar 2024 - 19min - 902 - Bradley Cooper Contends for Best Actor in âMaestroâ
The writer-director tells David Remnick that conducting an actual orchestra, in the role of Leonard Bernstein, was âthe scariest thing Iâve ever done, hands down.â
Fri, 8 Mar 2024 - 30min - 901 - What Biden Is Thinking About the 2024 Election
The staff writer Evan Osnos went to the White House for a rare, frank talk with the President about his reëlection battle. Can he persuade voters that his accomplishments outweigh his age?
Sat, 2 Mar 2024 - 22min - 900 - Kara Swisher on Tech Billionaires: âI Donât Think They Like Peopleâ
One of the most influential Silicon Valley reporters chronicles the rise of an industry, and moguls like Elon Musk, in âBurn Book.â
Fri, 1 Mar 2024 - 27min - 899 - Lily Gladstone on Holding the Door Open for More Native Actors in Hollywood. Plus, the Brody Awards
âThe Killers of the Flower Moonâ star reflects on the challenges faced by Native actors. Plus, New Yorker film critic Richard Brodyâs unique awards for the best of 2023.
Tue, 27 Feb 2024 - 34min - 898 - Ty Cobb on Trump, Putin, and the Death of Alexey Navalny
The former Trump White House attorney is sounding the alarm on the consequences of ignoring the ex-Presidentâs rhetoric on Russia, and his actions on January 6th.
Fri, 23 Feb 2024 - 14min - 897 - For Brontez Purnell, âMemoir Is FictionâI Donât Care What Anyone Saysâ
The author of âTen Bridges Iâve Burntâ and other books talks with Jeffrey Masters about his journey from go-go boy to Renaissance man.
Tue, 20 Feb 2024 - 18min - 896 - âPod Save Americaâ âs Jon Lovett on Trump: âThe Threat of Jail Time Sharpens the Mindâ
The co-host of the popular show explains how the withering of the media and the threat of political violence are warping the Presidential campaign, and what Bidenâs team needs to do.
Fri, 16 Feb 2024 - 31min - 895 - Jacqueline Novak Is Giving Audiences âEverything Sheâs Gotâ
In her Netflix special, the comedian uses an act of oral sex as a springboard for a rapid-fire rant about the human condition, along with human anatomy.
Tue, 13 Feb 2024 - 19min - 894 - Can Memes Swing the 2024 Election? Plus, Michelle Zauner on âCrying in H Martâ
In a Presidential race with two leading candidates who are broadly unpopular, any small perceived edge can make a tremendous difference. According to Clare Malone, more and more people will have their judgments formed by memesâvisual jokes about the candidates floating on social media. Republican memes capitalize on widespread discomfort with President Bidenâs age, by highlighting his stumbles, verbal or otherwise. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is a master of turning bad press to his advantage: he propagated his own mug shot on social media, feeding his outlaw image. Malone says that conservatives also have a leg up here because their beliefs suit the medium. âThe right wing can âgo thereââthey can say the thing everyone thinks, but doesnât actually say out loud.â Now the partisan fight on social media has roped in a relatively innocent bystander, Taylor Swift. The pop star, who has endorsed Biden in the past, and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, have been labeled a âpsy opâ by right-wingers online. âMy theory about American politics, especially in the past decade, is basically none of itâs really policy,â Malone argues. âItâs all political pheromones.âÂ
Plus, Michelle Zauner, the front woman for the indie band Japanese Breakfast, talks about her memoir, âCrying in H Mart,â with The New Yorkerâs Hua Hsu, author of âStay True.âÂ
Fri, 9 Feb 2024 - 30min - 893 - Sheila Heti Talks with Parul Sehgal About âAlphabetical Diariesâ
The author of the influential novel âHow Should a Person Be?â culled decades of material from her own journals to take a radical approach to her new book.
Tue, 6 Feb 2024 - 15min - 892 - Jonathan Blitzer on the Battle over Immigration; and Olivia Rodrigo Talks with David Remnick
As the border crisis escalates, the President is changing his rhetoric on immigration. Plus, Olivia Rodrigo embraces being the voice of Gen Z.
Fri, 2 Feb 2024 - 55min - 891 - From In the Dark: The Runaway Princesses
An excerpt from âThe Runaway Princesses,â a miniseries based on Heidi Blakeâs reporting on Dubaiâs royal family, and the women who risked their lives to escape it.
Wed, 31 Jan 2024 - 14min - 890 - For Journalists, âGaza Is Unprecedented,â and Deadly
The president of the Committee to Protect Journalists discusses whether Israel is targeting Palestinian reporters, and looks at threats to the safety of journalists around the world.
Mon, 29 Jan 2024 - 23min - 889 - The Oscar Nominee Cord Jefferson on Why Race Is so âFertileâ for Comedy
âAmerican Fiction,â nominated for five Academy Awards, satirizes the literary world, and upends Hollywood conventions about Blackness.
Fri, 26 Jan 2024 - 26min - 888 - Pramila Jayapal: Bidenâs âCoalition Has Fracturedâ
The chair of the powerful Congressional Progressive Caucus looks at whether Joe Biden can put the Democratic Party back together again in time to achieve victory in the 2024 election.
Tue, 23 Jan 2024 - 30min - 887 - E. Jean Carroll on Trump Defamation Cases: âMoney Is Precious to Himâ
David Remnick talks to the writer about her successful lawsuit against Donald Trump. Plus, a Profile of Walt Disney from the archives, as Mickey Mouse enters the public domain.
Fri, 19 Jan 2024 - 20min - 886 - Danielle Brooks Comes Full Circle in âThe Color Purpleâ
In a new film, the actress is attracting Oscar buzz for a role first made famous by Oprah Winfrey almost forty years ago.
Tue, 16 Jan 2024 - 28min - 885 - How Donald Trump Broke the Iowa Caucuses and Owns the G.O.P.
Whether he wins as expected or somehow underperforms, Donald Trump has upended the Republican primary without participating in a single debate and barely campaigning on the ground.
Fri, 12 Jan 2024 - 21min - 884 - From âTalk Easyâ: Sam Fragoso Interviews David Remnick
On the other side of the microphone, the host of The New Yorker Radio Hour sits for a lengthy interview about his reporting in Israel, his recent book, âHolding the Note,â and more.
Wed, 10 Jan 2024 - 1h 15min - 883 - Ava DuVernay Wants Her Film âOriginâ to Influence the 2024 Election
The celebrated filmmaker is back with a challenging new movie intended to provoke a political response.
Mon, 8 Jan 2024 - 33min - 882 - How the Journalist John Nichols Became Another January 6th Conspiracy-Theory Target
The Wisconsin-based Nation reporter was not at the Capitol when it was attacked. That hasnât stopped Donald Trumpâs attorneys from holding him responsible.
Fri, 5 Jan 2024 - 16min - 881 - The Poet John Lee Clarkâs âHow to Communicateâ Brings DeafBlind Experience to the Page
Clarkâs collection, a finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry, is a meditation on language and communication.
Tue, 2 Jan 2024 - 26min - 880 - Dexter Filkins Reports on the Border Crisis
The last major overhaul of the immigration system was in 1986. Changing conditions and a political impasse have created a state of chaos that the Biden Administration can no longer deny.
Fri, 29 Dec 2023 - 24min - 879 - From Critics at Large: The Year of the Doll
From âBarbieâ to âPriscilla,â narratives about cloistered women contending with a new political reality have dominated the cultural landscape. Why do these stories hit so hard?
Tue, 26 Dec 2023 - 44min - 878 - Bruce Springsteen Has a Gift He Keeps on Giving
After nearly half a century, the singer-songwriter has cemented his status as a rock-and-roll legend. But, true to form, he hasnât rested on his laurels.
Fri, 22 Dec 2023 - 49min - 877 - Christmas in Tehran: Bringing the Holidays to Hostages
In 1979, a minister received a telegram from Iranian militants who had taken hostages in the American embassy, inviting him to perform Christmas services. Two days later, he was inside.
Tue, 19 Dec 2023 - 28min - 876 - A Harrowing Detention in Gaza
A Palestinian writer is detained by Israeli forces while he tries to flee Gaza with his family. Plus, a story of Christmas at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
Fri, 15 Dec 2023 - 21min - 875 - Brandy Clark: Grammy-Nominated Album Is âAuthentically Meâ
The singer-songwriter reflects on her sexuality, playing country music for Democrats, and how Kim Kardashian and Kanye West inadvertently influenced her most recent album.
Tue, 12 Dec 2023 - 27min - 874 - Liz Cheney: Donald Trump Should Go to Jail if Convicted
Once a top Republican, Cheney is calling out her former colleagues in Congressâincluding Speaker Mike Johnsonâfor âenablingâ a would-be dictator.
Fri, 8 Dec 2023 - 24min - 873 - How Did Our Democracy Get so Fragile?
Jelani Cobb, Jill Lepore and Evan Osnos on the precarious state of American democracy and whyâyet againâwe risk losing it in the upcoming Presidential election.
Tue, 5 Dec 2023 - 26min - 872 - Dolly Parton âBusted a Gutâ Reaching for the High Notes on âRockstarâ
When Dolly Parton was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, she decided to prove that she belonged there.
Fri, 1 Dec 2023 - 24min - 871 - âMaestroâ is the âScariest Thing Iâve Ever Doneâ
Bradley Cooper tells David Remnick that he has spent his life preparing for a role like the iconic conductor Leonard Bernsteinâand it shows.
Fri, 24 Nov 2023 - 49min - 870 - Geoffrey Hinton: âItâs Far Too Lateâ to Stop Artificial Intelligence
The so-called godfather of A.I. believes we need to put constraints on the technology so it wonât free itself from human control. But heâs not sure whether thatâs possible.
Tue, 21 Nov 2023 - 32min - 869 - A Rise in Antisemitism, at Home and Abroad
Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt talks about antisemitism âfrom all ends of the political spectrum, and in between.â It threatens not only Jews, she says, but the stability of democracies.
Fri, 17 Nov 2023 - 17min - 868 - Emerald Fennellâs Anatomy of Desire
The new film from the director of âPromising Young Womanâ isnât just a class satireâwe are all affected by our love of wealth, beauty, and power.
Tue, 14 Nov 2023 - 29min - 867 - Will the Government Put the Reins on Amazon?
The Federal Trade Commission is suing the company. Lina Khan, the chair of the F.T.C., tells David Remnick that Amazon exploits its position as a monopoly to invisibly drive up costs.
Fri, 10 Nov 2023 - 21min - 866 - From âOn the Mediaâ: David Remnick Talks with Brooke Gladstone About Reporting in Israel
The New Yorker Radio Hour host joins Gladstone for a conversation about the war between Israel and Hamas, and its substantial human costs.
Wed, 8 Nov 2023 - 21min - 865 - Is a âWin-Winâ Still Possible in Policing?
Kai Wright leads a roundtable discussion about the attempts to reform policing in the wake of Black Lives Matter and whether those efforts have had a positive impact.
Tue, 7 Nov 2023 - 36min - 864 - Sybrina Fulton: âTrayvon Martin Could Have Been Anybodyâs Sonâ
The killing of an unarmed teenager turned a mother into an activist. Plus, poet Nicole Sealey on erasing the Ferguson Report to find a lyric within a tragedy.
Fri, 3 Nov 2023 - 24min - 863 - From On the Media: We Donât Talk About Leonard LeoTue, 31 Oct 2023 - 50min
- 862 - Is there a Path Forward for Gaza and Israel?
David Remnick hears from two sources about how Israelis and Palestinians feel about the October 7th attacks, and what the future may hold for the region.
Fri, 27 Oct 2023 - 50min - 861 - âFellow Travelersâ: A Showtime Series Explores a Forgotten Witch Hunt
The Red Scare, though focussed on Communists, also targeted gay government employees, who were fired by the thousands. A TV series based on the Thomas Mallon novel tells their story.
Tue, 24 Oct 2023 - 18min - 860 - Spike Lee on His âDream Project,â a Joe Louis Bio-Pic
The iconic filmmaker tells David Remnick how he got his start, how to direct Denzel Washington, and when he wants to retire. Plus, Louisa Thomas on the new N.B.A. season.
Fri, 20 Oct 2023 - 31min - 859 - Rodrigo Duterteâs Deadly Promise
When an outrageous yet charismatic candidate for president promises to kill suspected criminals, reporter Patricia Evangelista says, we should listen: it may not be just a talking point.
Tue, 17 Oct 2023 - 23min - 858 - Werner Herzog Defends His âEcstaticâ Approach to the Truth
The German filmmaking legend says the New York Times is simply âdazed and confusedâ when it comes to the veracity of his new memoir.
Fri, 13 Oct 2023 - 26min - 857 - RubĂ©n Blades Wasnât Supposed to Be a Salsa Star
Rubén Blades recounts his unpredictable journey from a record-company mailroom to the top of the salsa charts.
Tue, 10 Oct 2023 - 28min - 856 - Al Gore on the Climate Crisis: âWe Have a Switch We Can Flipâ
The self-described ârecovering politicianâ Al Gore explains the stakes and the clear and present solution to our ongoing climate crisis.
Fri, 6 Oct 2023 - 21min - 855 - Introducing Critics at Large: The Myth-Making of Elon Musk
In a preview of The New Yorkerâs new culture podcast, three criticsâVinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartzâdissect the biography of the tech founder.
Wed, 4 Oct 2023 - 12min - 849 - Should Biden Push for Regime Change in Russia?
Throughout the Russian invasion of Ukraine, David Remnick has talked with Stephen Kotkin, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution who is deeply informed on U.S.-Russia relations, and a biographer of Stalin. With the Ukrainian counter-offensive proceeding very slowly, Kotkin says that Ukraine is unlikely to âwin the peaceâ on the battlefield; an armistice on Zelenskyâs termsâalthough they may be morally correctâwould require the defeat of Russia itself. Realistically, he thinks, Ukraine must come to accept some loss of territory in exchange for security guarantees. And, without heavy political pressure from the U.S., Kotkin tells David Remnick, no amount of military aid would be sufficient. âWe took regime change off the table,â Kotkin notes regretfully. âThatâs so much bigger than the F-16s or the tanks or the long-range missiles because thatâs the variable . . . . When heâs scared that his regime could go down, heâll cut and run. And if heâs not scared about his regime, he'll do the sanctions busting. Heâll do everything heâs doing because itâs with impunity.â Share your thoughts on The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast.
Tue, 3 Oct 2023 - 23min - 848 - Olivia Rodrigo Talks with David Remnick
Being called the voice of a generation might seem a little off to someone born after the millennium. But Olivia Rodrigoâs songs clearly hit home for Gen Z. She turned twenty this year, and has already been one of the biggest stars since 2021, when âDrivers Licenseâ became the No. 1 song on the planet. She won three Grammy Awards that year, including Best New Artist. One of her first public performances was on âSaturday Night Live.â Rodrigoâs second album, âGuts,â came out this month, and she remains proud to channel the frustrations of young people. âMy favorite songs to sing are the really angry ones,â she told David Remnick. âEspecially on tour, Iâll look out at the audience and sometimes see these very young girls, seven or eight, screaming these angry songs, so hyped and so enraged . . . . Thatâs not something you see on the street, but itâs just so cool that people get to express all those emotions through music.â Rodrigo talked with David Remnick about the lineage of singer-songwriters like Carole King, and dealing with social media as a young celebrity. Share your thoughts on The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast.
Fri, 29 Sep 2023 - 27min - 847 - Hernan Diazâs âTrust,â a Novel of High Finance
The daughter of eccentric aristocrats marries a Wall Street tycoon of dubious ethics during the Roaring Twenties. That sounds like a plot that F. Scott Fitzgerald might have written, or Edith Wharton. But âTrust,â by the writer Hernan Diaz, is very much of our time. The novel is told by four people in four different formats, which offer conflicting accounts of the coupleâs life, the tycoon Andrew Bevelâs misdeeds, and his role in the crash of 1929. And though a book like âThe Great Gatsbyâ tends to skirt around the question of how the rich make their money, Hernan Diaz puts that question at the heart of âTrust.â âWhat I was interested in, and this is why I chose finance capital, I wanted a realm of pure abstraction,â he tells David Remnick. Diaz was nearly unknown when âTrust,â his second novel, won the Pulitzer Prize this year.
Tue, 26 Sep 2023 - 20min - 846 - Kelly Clarkson on Writing About Divorce
Twenty years after her breakout on âAmerican Idol,â Kelly Clarkson released an album called âChemistryâ that deals with the long arc of a relationship and her recent divorce. She sat down to talk with Hanif Abdurraqib, a music writer passionate about the craft of songwriting. âThis literally was written in real time,â Clarkson reflects. âThat was me being indecisive. Man, I have kids. Do I want to do this? Can I try again?â But writing about divorce as one of the best-known celebrities in America is very different from a young artistâs heartbreak anthem. âItâs easy to hide in metaphors when itâs not the biggest thing thatâs ever happened,â she says. âEveryoneâs going to know. Unfortunately my life is very public, especially in the rough times.â Plus, Robert Samuels, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer on politics and race, shares his secret indulgence: watching classic figure-skating routines on YouTube.
Fri, 22 Sep 2023 - 30min - 845 - Naomi Klein Speaks with Jia Tolentino about âDoppelgangerâ
For twenty-some years, Naomi Klein has been a leading thinker on the left. Sheâs especially known for the idea of disaster capitalism: an analysis that the forces of big business will exploit any severe disruption to take over more space in our lives. She was often confused with another prominent political writer, Naomi Wolfâonce a feminist on the left who has, in recent years, embraced conspiracy theories on the right and is now on good terms with Steve Bannon. Kleinâs new book, âDoppelganger,â starts with this simple case of mistaken identity and broadens into an analysis of our political moment, which she describes as âuncannyâ in the psychological sense. âFreud described the uncanny as that species of frightening that changes what was once familiar to something unfamiliar,â she tells the staff writer Jia Tolentino. âItâs that weirdness of âI think I know what this is, but itâs not what I think.â â Klein argues that the left and the right have become doppelgangers of one anotherâand that denialism regarding climate change has widened to any number of topics, including the claim that Joe Biden is dead and is being played by an actor. âWhenever you donât like reality, you can just say that itâs not real,â she says.
Tue, 19 Sep 2023 - 20min - 844 - A Solution For the Chronically Homeless, and Listening to Taylor Swift in Prison
About 1.2 million people in the United States experience homelessness in a given yearâyou could nearly fill the city of Dallas with the unhoused. But there are proven solutions. For the chronically homeless, a key strategy is supportive housingâproviding not only a stable apartment, but also services like psychiatric and medical care on-site. The New Yorker contributor Jennifer Egan spent the past year following several individuals as they transitioned into a new supportive-housing building in Brooklyn. She found that this housing model works and argues that it could be scaled up nationally for less than the cost of emergency services for the homeless. But âno one,â Egan notes ruefully, âwants to see that line item in their budget.â Plus, Joe Garcia, an inmate serving a life sentence for murder in Californiaâs High Desert State Prison, reads from his essay âListening to Taylor Swift in Prison,â recently published by The New Yorker.
Fri, 15 Sep 2023 - 29min - 843 - Richard Brody Makes the Case for Keeping Your DVDs
At the end of this month, after more than two decades, Netflix is phasing out its DVD-rental business. While that may not come as a surprise given the predominance of streaming platforms, itâs a great loss to cinephiles, according to the New Yorkerâs Richard Brody. Streaming services routinely drop titles from circulation, and amazing films may be lost to moviegoers. âPhysical media is what protects us from being at the mercy of streaming services for our movies and our music,â Brody says. âItâs like a library at home.â Brody gives the producer Adam Howard a peek into his own personal stash of films, and picks a few DVDs of films he would take with him in a fire: Godardâs âKing Learâ (âthe greatest film ever made â literallyâ); âChameleon Street,â by Wendell B. Harris, Jr.; âStrandedâ and âThe Plastic Dome of Norma Jean,â by Juleen Compton; and a box set of five films by John Cassavetes.
Tue, 12 Sep 2023 - 13min - 842 - A Master Class with David Grann
David Grann is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of two nonfiction books that topped the best-seller list this summer: âThe Wagerâ and âKillers of the Flower Moon,â from 2017, which Martin Scorsese has adapted into a film opening in October. Grann is among the most lauded nonfiction writers at The New Yorker; David Remnick says that âhis urge to find unique stories and tell them with rigor and style is rare to the vanishing point.â Grann talks with Remnick about his beginnings as a writer, and about his almost obsessive research and writing process. âThe trick is how can you tell a true story using these literary techniques and remain completely factually based,â Grann says. âWhat I realized as I did this more is that you are an excavator. You arenât imagining the storyâyou are excavating the story.â Grann recounts travelling in rough seas to the desolate site of the eighteenth-century shipwreck at the heart of âThe Wager,â his most recent book, so that he could convey the sailorsâ despair more accurately. That book is also being made into a film by Scorcese. âItâs a learning curve because Iâve never been in the world of Hollywood,â Grann says. âYouâre a historical resource. ⊠Once they asked me, âWhat was the lighting in the room?â I thought about it for a long time. Thatâs something I would not need to know, writing a book.â But Grann is glad to be in the hands of an expert, and keep his distance from the process. âIâm not actually interested in making a film,â he admits. âIâm really interested in these stories, and so I love that somebody else with their own vision and intellect is going to draw on these stories and add to our understanding of whatever this work is.â
Fri, 8 Sep 2023 - 34min - 841 - Alone and on Foot in Antarctica
Henry Worsley was a husband, father, and an officer of an Ă©lite British commando unit; also a tapestry weaver, amateur boxer, photographer, and collector of rare books, maps, and fossils. But his true obsession was exploration. Worsley revered the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton and he had led a 2009 expedition to the South Pole. But Worsley planned an even greater challenge. At fifty-five, he set out to trek alone to ski from one side of the Antarctic continent to the other, hauling more than three hundred pounds of gear and posting an audio diary by satellite phone. The New Yorker staff writer David Grann wrote about Worsleyâs quest, and spoke with his widow, Joanna Worsley, about the painful choice she made to support her husband in a mortally dangerous endeavor. This segment originally aired March 2, 2018.
Tue, 5 Sep 2023 - 25min - 840 - No More Souters
David Souter is one of the most private, low-profile Justices ever to have served on the Supreme Court. He rarely gave interviews or speeches. Yet his tenure was anything but low profile. Deemed a âhome runâ nominee by the George H. W. Bush Administration, Souter refused to answer questions during his confirmation hearing about pressing issuesâmost critically, about abortion rights and Roe v. Wade, which Republicans were seeking to overturn. He was confirmed overwhelmingly. Then, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey and other decisions, he defied the expectations of the Party that had nominated him. Why? This episode, produced by WNYC Studiosâ âMore Perfectâ and hosted by Julia Longoria, explains how âNo More Soutersâ became a rallying cry for Republicans and how Souterâs tenure on the bench inspired a backlash that would change the Court forever. You can listen to more episodes of âMore Perfectâ here.
Fri, 1 Sep 2023 - 49min - 839 - How Does Extreme Heat Affect the Body?
The Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut was named after an N.F.L. player who died of exertional heatstroke. The labâs main research subjects have been athletes, members of the military, and laborers. But, with climate change, even mild exertion under extreme heat will affect more and more of us; in many parts of the United States, a heat wave and power outage could cause a substantial number of fatalities. Dhruv Khullar, a New Yorker contributor and practicing physician, visited the Stringer Institute to undergo a heat testâwalking uphill for ninety minutes in a hundred-and-four-degree temperatureâto better understand whatâs happening. âI just feel puffy everywhere,â Khullar sighed. âYouâd have to cut my finger off just to get my wedding ring off.â By the end of the test, Khullar spoke of cramps, dizziness, and a headache. He discussed the dangers of heatstroke with Douglas Casa, the labâs head (who himself nearly died of it as a young athlete). âClimate change has taken this into the everyday world for the everyday American citizen. You donât have to be a laborer working for twelve hours, you donât have to be a soldier in training,â Casa tells him. âThis is making it affect so many people even just during daily living.â Although the treatment for heat-related illness is straightforward, Casa says that implementation of simple measures remains challengingâand there is much we need to do to better prepare for the global rise in temperature.
Tue, 29 Aug 2023 - 16min - 838 - The Origins of âBraiding Sweetgrassâ
Robin Wall Kimmerer is an unlikely literary star. A botanist by trainingâa specialist in mossâshe spent much of her career at the State University of New Yorkâs College of Environmental Science and Forestry. But, when she was well established in her academic work, having âdone the things you need to do to get tenure,â she launched into a different kind of writing; her new style sought to bridge the divide between Western science and Indigenous teachings she had learned, as a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, about the connections between people, the land, plants, and animals. The result was âBraiding Sweetgrass,â a series of essays about the natural world and our relationship to it. The book was published by Milkweed Editions, a small literary press, and it grew only by word of mouth. Several years later, it landed on the Times best-seller list, and has remained there for more than three years; fans have described reading the essays as a spiritual experience. Kimmerer herself was recently recognized with a MacArthur Fellowship. Parul Sehgal, who writes about literature for The New Yorker, went to visit Kimmerer on the land she writes about so movingly, to talk about the bookâs origin and its impact on its tenth anniversary. âI wanted to see what would happen if you imbue science with values,â Kimmerer told her. She is an environmentalist, but not an activist per se; her ambition for her work is actually larger. âSo much of the environmental movement to me is grounded in fear,â she explains. âAnd we have a lot to be afraid aboutâletâs not ignore thatâbut what I really wanted to do was to help people really love the land again. Because I think thatâs why we are where we are: that we havenât loved the land enough.â
Fri, 25 Aug 2023 - 27min - 837 - Tessa Hadley on What Decades of Failure Taught Her About Writing
The New Yorker first published a short story by Tessa Hadley in 2002. Titled âLost and Found,â it described a friendship between two women who had been close since childhood. Hadleyâs fiction is often consumed with relationships at this scale: tight dramas close to home. She captures, within these relationships, an extraordinary depth and complexity of emotion. The New Yorker recently published its thirtieth story from Hadleyâa higher count than any other fiction writer in recent times. That figure is particularly remarkable because Hadley had such a late start to her career, publishing her first work of fiction in her forties. She talks with the New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman about her long struggle to stop imitating the writing of others, instead telling stories authentic to her own experience and voice. âI was just a late developer, and I was trying to write other peopleâs novels for all that time,â she says. Treisman also asks Hadley about why her work has been labelled âdomestic fictionâ by many critics. The term is disproportionately applied to female writers, and âtends to have a bit of condescension to it,â Hadley says. But she is willing to at least consider whether her work is too focussed on certain kinds of bourgeois-family relationships. âI almost completely accept the challenge,â she tells Treisman. âI think one should feel perpetually slightly on edge as to whether your subject matter justifies the art.â
Tue, 22 Aug 2023 - 19min - 836 - Talking to Conservatives about Climate Change
Even in a summer of record-breaking heat and disasters, Republican Presidential candidates have ignored or mocked climate change. But some conservative legislators in Congress recognize that action is necessary. David Remnick talks with a leader of the Conservative Climate Caucus about her partyâs stance on climate change, her belief that fossil fuels cannot be rapidly phased out, and the problems she sees with the Inflation Reduction Act. Then, the authoritative climate reporter Elizabeth Kolbert talks with Ben Jealous, who was recently named executive director of the Sierra Club, about his strategy for building support in Republican-led states.
Fri, 18 Aug 2023 - 31min - 835 - The Novelist Esmeralda Santiago on Learning to Write After a Stroke
The author Esmeralda Santiago has been writing about Puerto Rico and questions of immigration and identity since the early nineties. But, in 2008, she suffered a stroke that left her unable to decipher words on a page. In the months that followed, she relied on some of the same strategies sheâd used to teach herself English after moving to the United States as a young teen-agerâchecking out childrenâs books from the library, for example, to learn basic vocabulary. Santiagoâs latest book, âLas Madres,â includes a character named Luz who goes through a similar experience after a traumatic brain injury. âThat sense stayed with me long after I was over that situationâthat feeling between knowledge and ignorance,â she tells the staff writer Vinson Cunningham. âFor me, Luz is almost representative of Puerto Rico itself. We have this very long history that we donât necessarily have access to. . . . Those of us who live outside of the island, we live the history but we donât really know it.â
Tue, 15 Aug 2023 - 19min - 834 - Will the End of Affirmative Action Lead to the End of Legacy Admissions?
The practice of legacy admissionsâpreferential consideration of the children of alumniâhas emerged as a national flash point since the Supreme Court banned affirmative action in June. Even some prominent Republicans are joining the Biden Administration in calling for its end. David Remnick speaks with the U.S. Education Secretary, Miguel Cardona, about the politics behind college admissions. Cardona sees legacy preference as part of a pattern that discourages many students from applying to selective schools, but notes that it is not the whole problem. How can access to higher education, he asks, be more equitable when the quality of K-12 education is so inequitable?   Plus, Jeannie Suk Gersen, a professor at Harvard Law School, looks at the problems facing admissions officers now that race cannot be a consideration in maintaining diversity. Gersen has been reporting for The New Yorker on the legal fight over affirmative action and the movement to end legacy admissions. She speaks with the dean of admissions at Wesleyan University, one of the schools that voluntarily announced an end to legacy preference after the Supreme Courtâs decision on affirmative action. âSo far, the responses have been overwhelmingly positive,â Amin Abdul-Malik Gonzalez tells her. âBut weâre obviously some time removed from the results of the decision. . . . I think itâs both symbolic and potentially substantive in terms of signalling our value to not have individually unearned benefits.â
Fri, 11 Aug 2023 - 30min - 833 - James McBride on His New Novel, âThe Heaven & Earth Grocery Storeâ
James McBrideâs new novel, âThe Heaven & Earth Grocery Store,â centers on the discovery of a skeleton at the bottom of a well in a small town in Pennsylvania. What unfolds is the story of a young Black boy raised by a Jewish woman decades earlier, a story that has been closely held secret among the communities that call the area home. McBride has been writing at the intersection of race, Blackness, whiteness, and Judaism in America since his 1995 memoir âThe Color of Water,â a tribute to his own Jewish mother. He speaks with the staff writer Julian Lucas. âI want to read a book that makes me feel good about being alive,â McBride says. âIf I want the bad things to happen, Iâll just read the New York Times. I want a book to take me to a place that I like to be.â
Tue, 8 Aug 2023 - 14min - 832 - Emily Nussbaum on the Culture Wars in Country Music
Last month, the country singer Jason Aldean released a music video for âTry That in a Small Town,â a song that initially received little attention. But the video cast the songâs lyrics in a new light. While Aldean sings, âTry that in a small town / See how far ya make it down the road / âRound here, we take care of our own,â images of protests against police brutality are interspersed with Aldean singing outside a county courthouse where a lynching once took place. Aldeanâs defendersâand there are manyâsay the song praises small-town values and respect for the law, rather than promoting violence and vigilantism. The controversy eventually pushed the song to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The staff writer Emily Nussbaum has been reporting from Nashville throughout the past few months on the very complicated politics of country music. On the one hand, she found a self-perpetuating culture war, fuelled by outrage; on the other, thereâs a music scene thatâs diversifying, with increasing numbers of women, Black artists, and L.G.B.T.Q. performers claiming country music as their own. âI set out to talk about music, but politics are inseparable from it,â Nussbaum tells David Remnick. âThe narrowing of commercial country music to a form of pop country dominated by white guys singing a certain kind of clichĂ©-ridden bro country songâitâs not like I donât like every song like that, but the absolute domination of that keeps out all sorts of other musicians.â Nussbaum also speaks with Adeem the Artist, a nonbinary country singer and songwriter based in East Tennessee, who has found success with audiences but has not broken through on mainstream country radio. âI think that itâs important that people walk into a music experience where they expect to feel comforted in their bigotry and they are instead challenged on it and made to imagine a world where different people exist,â Adeem says. âBut, as a general rule, I try really hard to connect with people even if Iâm making them uncomfortable.â
Fri, 4 Aug 2023 - 36min - 831 - A Trip to the Boundary Waters
Alex Kotlowitz is known as a chronicler of Chicago, and of lives marred by urban poverty and violence. His books set in the city include âAn American Summer,â âThere Are No Children Here,â and âNever a City So Real.â Nevertheless, for some 40 years he has returned to a remote stretch of woods, summer after summer. At a young age, he found himself navigating a canoe through a series of lakes, deep in the woods along Minnesotaâs border with Canada. This stretch of country is known as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Larger than Rhode Island, it is a patchwork of more than a thousand lakes, so pristine you can drink directly from the surface. Now in his late sixties, Kotlowitz finds the days of paddling, the leaky tents, the long portages, and the schlepping of food (and alcohol) harder than before, but he will return to the Boundary Waters as long as he can. Last summer, he took a recorder with him on his annual canoe trip, capturing what has kept him coming back year after year. This segment originally aired on August 6, 2022.
Tue, 1 Aug 2023 - 17min - 830 - Regina Spektor on âHome, Before and Afterâ
Twenty years ago, Regina Spektor was yet another aspiring musician in New York, lugging around a backpack full of self-produced CDs and playing at little clubs in the East Villageâanywhere that had a piano, basically. But anonymity didnât last long. She toured with the Strokes in 2003, and, once she had a record deal, her ambitions grew beyond indie music: she began writing pop-inflected anthems about love and heartbreak, loneliness and death, belief and doubt. Her 2006 album âBegin to Hopeâ went gold.  âHome, Before and Afterâ was released in 2022, six years after her previous studio album. To mark the occasion, Spektor sat down at a grand piano with Amanda Petrusich to play songs from the record and talk about the role of imagination in her songwriting and vocals. âI think that life pushes youâespecially as an adult and especially when youâre responsible for other little humansâto be present in this logistical sort of way,â she says. âI try as much as possible to integrate fun, because I love fun. And I love beauty. And I love magic. . . . I will not have anybody take that away.â Spektor performed âLoveology,â âBecoming All Alone,â and the older âAprŃs Moi,â accompanying herself on piano. The podcast episode for this segment also features a bonus track, âSpacetime Fairytale.â This segment originally aired on June 10, 2022.
Fri, 28 Jul 2023 - 43min - 829 - Colson Whitehead on âCrook Manifestoâ
Colson Whitehead is one of the most lauded writers working today. His 2016 novel âThe Underground Railroadâ won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction; he won the Pulitzer again for his next novel, âThe Nickel Boys,â in 2020. His career is notable for hopping from genre to genre. As an artist, he tells David Remnick, âit seemed like, if you knew how to do something, why do it again?â Whitehead is again trying something new: a sequel. Heâs following up âHarlem Shuffle,â his 2021 heist novel, bringing back the furniture salesman and stolen-goods fence Ray Carney. He talks to David Remnick about how he mined the language of mid-century furniture catalogues, and his interest in teasing out the nuance in his characters. âIâm exploring different ways of being a criminal and trying to think about who actually is bad,â Whitehead says. âCarney has this secret self, this criminal self. But I think all of us have these different uncivilized impulses in us that we have to tame in order to function in society.â
Tue, 25 Jul 2023 - 23min - 828 - Adapting Robert Oppenheimerâs Story to Film, Plus Greta Gerwig on Becoming a Director
In making âOppenheimer,â which opens in theatres this weekend, the director Christopher Nolan relied on a Pulitzer Prize-winning 2005 biography of the father of the atomic bomb, âAmerican Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer,â by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. Bird is credited as a writer of Nolanâs movie, and he spoke with David Remnick about the ambivalence that the scientist expressed publicly about the use of the bomb, which led to a McCarthyist show trial that destroyed his career and reputation. âWhat happened to him in 1954 sent a message to several generations of scientists, here in America but [also] abroad, that scientists should keep in their narrow lane. They shouldnât become public intellectuals, and if they dared to do this, they could be tarred and feathered,â Bird notes. âThe same thing that happened to Oppenheimer in a sense happened to Tony Fauci.â Plus, Greta Gerwig talks about her path to directing. Like âBarbie,â Gerwigâs two previous films as a director and writer are concerned with coming of age as a woman. Once criticized as a âbossy girl,â Gerwig recalls, she tamped down her instinct to direct, focusing early in her career on acting and then screenwriting. She told David Remnick how she finally gave herself permission to be a filmmaker.
Fri, 21 Jul 2023 - 27min - 827 - Donovan Ramsey on âWhen Crack Was Kingâ
âWhen people think of the crack epidemic, they think of crime,â the journalist Donovan X. Ramsey tells David Remnick. âBut they donât necessarily know the ways that it impacted the most vulnerableâthe ways that it changed the lives of people who sold it, who were addicted to it, who loved people who sold it or were addicted to it.â Ramseyâs new book, âWhen Crack Was King: A Peopleâs History of a Misunderstood Era,â weaves the stories of four people who survived the epidemic into a historical analysis of how crack led to the erosion of dozens of American citiesâbut also of how the crack epidemic eventually ended. âI didn't know what life was like before crack,â Ramsey, who was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1987, says. âI wanted to understand the ways that it shaped our society.â
Tue, 18 Jul 2023 - 23min - 826 - A Mysterious Third Party Enters the Presidential Race
No Labels, which pitches itself as a centrist movement to appeal to disaffected voters, has secured a considerable amount of funding and is working behind the scenes to get on Presidential ballots across the country. The group has yet to announce a candidate, but âmost likely weâll have both a Republican and Democrat on the ticket,â Pat McCrory, the former governor of North Carolina and one of the leaders of No Labels, tells David Remnick. Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are reportedly under consideration, but McCrory will not name names, nor offer any specifics on the groupâs platform, including regarding critical issues such as abortion and gun rights. That opacity is by design, Sue Halpern, who has covered the group, says. âThe one reason why I think they havenât put forward a candidate is once they do that, then they are required to do all the things that political parties do,â she says. âAt the moment, theyâre operating like a PAC, essentially. They donât have to say who their donors are.â Third-party campaigns have had significant consequences in American elections, and, with both Donald Trump and Joe Biden historically unpopular, a third-party candidate could peel a decisive number of moderate voters away from the Democratic Party. Plus, three New Yorker criticsâDoreen St. FĂ©lix, Alexandra Schwartz, and Inkoo Kangâdiscuss why so many scripted and reality shows use psychotherapy as a central plotline.
Fri, 14 Jul 2023 - 27min - 825 - How to Buy Forgiveness from Medical Debt
Nearly one in ten Americans owe significant medical debt, a burden that can become crippling as living costs and interest rates rise. Over the past decade, a nonprofit called RIP Medical Debt has designed a novel approach to chip away at this problem. The organization solicits donations to purchase portfolios of medical debt on the debt market, where the debt trades at steeply discounted prices. Then, instead of attempting to collect on it as a normal buyer would, they forgive the debt. The staff writer Sheelah Kolhatkar reports on one North Carolina church that partnered with RIP Medical Debt as part of its charitable mission. Trinity Moravian Church collected around fifteen thousand dollars in contributions to acquire and forgive over four million dollars of debt in their community. âWe have undertaken a number of projects in the past but thereâs never been anything quite like this,â the Reverend John Jackman tells Kolhatkar. âFor families that we know cannot deal with these things, weâre taking the weight off of them.â Kolhatkar also speaks with Allison Sesso, the C.E.O. of RIP Medical Debt, about the strange economics of debt that make this possible.
Tue, 11 Jul 2023 - 14min - 824 - The Conspiracies of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the son of a former Attorney General and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, has announced that heâs running for the Democratic Presidential nomination. He is nearly seventy years old, and has never held public office. âThereâs nothing in the United States Constitution that says that you have to go to Congress first and then Senate second,or be a governor before youâre elected to the Presidency,â he tells David Remnick. With no prominent elected Democrat challenging President Biden, Kennedy is polling around ten to twenty per cent among Democratic primary votersâenough to cause at least some alarm for Biden. He is best known as an influential purveyor of disinformation: that vaccines cause autism; that SSRIs and common anxiety medication might be causing the increase in school shootings; that âtoxic chemicalsâ in the water supply might contribute to âsexual dysphoriaâ in children. He wrote a book accusing Anthony Fauci of helping to âorchestrate and execute 2020âs historic coup dâĂ©tat against Western democracy.â He seems not at all concerned that Donald Trump, Roger Stone, Tucker Carlson, and Alex Jonesâall of whom would like to see Biden bruised in a primary challengeâhave praised him. âI'm trying to unite the country,â he says to Remnick. âYou keep wanting to focus on why don't I hate this guy more? Why don't I hate on this person more?â Kennedy, who regularly attends recovery meetings for addiction to drugs including heroin, says that âthe recovery program is an important part of my life, is an important part of keeping me mentally and physically and spiritually fit. . . . And my program tells me not to do that. Iâm not supposed to be doing that.â
Fri, 7 Jul 2023 - 32min - 823 - Beyoncé Takes the Stage
This summer, the most anticipated tour (in close contest with Taylor Swift) is BeyoncĂ©âs tour for her seventh studio album, âRenaissance,â which came out in 2022. Her previous record âwas about the turbulence of [her] marriage and was in some ways a monument to marriage as an institution,â The New Yorkerâs music critic Carrie Battan tells David Remnick. âRenaissanceââa homage to club music and queer cultureââis about breaking free of all of those chains. Itâs about going to the club, and quitting your job and dancing and experiencing the ultimate freedom.â Battan talks through her favorite tracks on the record.
Tue, 4 Jul 2023 - 09min - 822 - Russiaâs No-Good, Very Failed Coup, and Jill Lepore on Amending the Constitution
Yevgeny Prigozhinâs march on Moscow last weekend, which killed more than a dozen Russian soldiers, fizzled as quickly as it began, but its repercussions are just beginning. The Wagner Group commander issued a video from Belarus claiming that he did not attempt a coup against Putin but a protest against the Defense Ministry. David Remnick talks with Masha Gessen and the contributor Joshua Yaffa, who has written on the Wagner Group, about what lies ahead in Russia. Both feel that by revealing the reality of the war to his own followingâa Putin-loyal, nationalist audienceâPrigozhin has seriously damaged the regimeâs credibility. If an uprising removes Putin from power, âthere will be chaos,â Gessen notes. âNobody knows what happens next. Thereâs no succession plan.â Plus, Jill Lepore on amending the Constitution: suggesting a constitutional amendment these days is so far-fetched, itâs almost a punch line, but the Framers intended the document to be regularly amended, the historian Jill Lepore tells David Remnick. She argues that the failure to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment sank the country into a political quagmire from which it has not arisen, and her latest historial project brings awareness to the problem of amendability.
Fri, 30 Jun 2023 - 41min - 821 - Jonathan Mitchell, a Prominent Anti-Abortion Lawyer, on Restraining the Power of the Supreme Court
In recent years, the attorney Jonathan Mitchell has become a crucial figure in the anti-abortion movement. Advising a Texas state senator, Mitchell developed Texasâs S.B. 8 legislation, which allows for civil lawsuits against individuals who have helped facilitate an abortionâacts like driving a patient to an appointment. The law was crafted to evade review by the Supreme Court in the period before Dobbs ended the precedent of Roe v. Wade. Opponents of the law have called it state-sponsored vigilantism. Mitchell is now representing a man seeking millions of dollars in civil damages from friends of his ex-wifeâwho helped her access abortion medicationâin a wrongful death lawsuit. And yet, despite his conservative politics, Mitchell has something in common with some legal thinkers on the left: a critique of the Supreme Court and its extraordinary power. As an opponent of the belief in judicial supremacy, Mitchell asks, âWhy should it be the Supreme Court and not Congress?â to have the last word on what the Constitution means. âWhy should it be the Supreme Court and not a state legislature that might have a different view?â Mitchell rarely gives interviews, but he agreed to speak with The New Yorkerâs contributor, Jeannie Suk Gersen, a professor at Harvard Law School who clerked for the former Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
Tue, 27 Jun 2023 - 17min - 820 - A Year of Change for a North Dakota Abortion Clinic, and the Composer John Williams
A year ago, the staff writer Emily Witt visited Fargo, North Dakota, to report on the Red River Womenâs Clinicâthe only abortion provider in the state. The Supreme Courtâs Dobbs decision had just come down, and the clinic was scrambling to move across state lines, to the adjacent city of Moorhead, Minnesota. This spring, Witt returned to talk with Tammi Kromenaker, the clinicâs director. Kromenaker says the clinicâs new home has had some notable upsidesâa parking lot that shields patients from protestors, for exampleâbut North Dakota patients are increasingly fearful as they reach out for care, afraid even to cross the state line for an abortion. Plus, The New Yorkerâs Alex Ross discusses John Williams, who has written scores for generations of blockbusters, including âJaws,â âStar Wars,â âHarry Potter,â and many films of Steven Spielberg. Ross considers him the last practitioner of Hollywoodâs grand orchestral tradition, and his retirement will mark the end of an era in music: at ninety-one years old, Williams has said that his score for âIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destinyâ may be his last.
Fri, 23 Jun 2023 - 31min - 819 - Singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun, Plus Bryan Washington
The singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun recently released her fourth album, called âProof of Life.â Raised near Phoenix, Oladokun had aspirations of becoming a preacher before turning to music in earnest. Like many of the great songwriters, she has a way of staring down the hardest parts of life with an offbeat sort of wit. The New Yorkerâs Hanif Abdurraqib calls her a âwriterâs writer,â someone âinterested in the lyric as an opportunity to build narrative worlds.â Oladokun talked with him about seeing a video of Tracy Chapman performing in a Nelson Mandela tribute concert: âI was ten years old, watching someone who looked like me play the guitar,â she recalls. âI asked my parents for a guitar that Christmas.â Chapman remained a lasting influence on her as an artist. âYou could just tell that what drove her to open her mouth in the first place was conviction. Belief in her values and belief that if people would only think about this, it would change the world.â While in New York on tour, Oladokun performed âTryingâ and âKeeping the Light Onââboth from her new recordâlive at WNYC. Plus, the fiction writer Bryan Washington on the joys of a Houston ice house.
Tue, 20 Jun 2023 - 26min - 818 - Dexter Filkins on the Dilemma at the Border
Dexter Filkins has reported on conflict situations around the world, and recently spent months reporting on the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. In a recent piece, Filkins tries to untangle how conditions around the globe, an abrupt change in executive direction from Trump to Biden, and an antiquated immigration system have created a chaotic situation. âItâs difficult to appreciate the scale and the magnitude of whatâs happening there unless you see it,â Filkins tells David Remnick. Last year, during a surge at the border, local jurisdictions struggled to provide humanitarian support for thousands of migrants, leading Democratic politicians to openly criticize the Administration. While hardliners dream of a wall across the two-thousand-mile border, âthey canât build a border wall in the middle of a river,â Filkins notes. âSo if you can get across the river, and you can get your foot on American soil, thatâs all you need to do.â Migrants surrendering to Border Patrol and requesting asylum then enter a yearslong limbo as their claims work through an overburdened system. The last major overhaul of the immigration system took place in 1986, Filkins explains, and with Republicans and Democrats perpetually at loggerheads, there is no will to fix a system that both sides acknowledge as broken.
Fri, 16 Jun 2023 - 23min - 817 - From âOn the Mediaâ: Seditious Conspiracy
On January 6th, 2021, âOn the Mediaâ reporter Micah Loewinger recorded the secret communications of the Oath Keepers on a walkie-talkie app called Zello. After reporting on the findings, Loewinger received a subpoena calling on him to testify in the first Oath Keepers criminal trial last year. In conversations with âOn the Mediaâ host Brooke Gladstone, âDeath, Sex & Moneyâ host Anna Sale, and Roger Parloff, a senior editor at Lawfare, Loewinger grapples with the consequences of his reporting, and explores what happens when a journalist is forced to testify in court. Plus, Loewinger looks at the nineteen-seventies Supreme Court case United States v. Caldwell to understand the legal precedents for journalists being called on to testify in federal investigations, the limits of First Amendment privileges for the press, and the sometimes tenuous relationship between journalists and the government. This episode originally aired on âOn the Mediaâ on May 26, 2023.
Tue, 13 Jun 2023 - 35min - 816 - The New York Timesâ Publisher on the Future of Journalism, and the Poet Paul Tran
Over the past several years, as more democratic institutions and norms have come under attack, many journalists have raised the question of whether it is ethical to adhere to journalismâs traditional principles of non-bias, objectivity, and political neutrality. In May, A. G. Sulzberger, the publisher of the New York Times, staked out his position in the traditionalist camp in an essay for the Columbia Journalism Review. âThe traditionalists in the ranks have long believed that their long-standing view speaks for itself. I became increasingly convinced that the argument doesnât make itself,â he tells David Remnick. Sulzberger shies away from the term objectivity, instead describing the âposture of independenceâ as one that prizes âan open mind, a skeptical mind,â and a clear-eyed pursuit of truthââeven if it leads to uncomfortable conclusions. Sulzberger, whose family has owned the paper since 1896, says he wants to push back on a culture of âcertitudeâ in journalism. âIn this hyper-politicized, hyper-polarized moment, is society benefiting from every single player getting deeper and deeper, and louder and louder, about declaring their personal allegiances and loyalties and preferences?â he asks. Plus, this weekâs issue of The New Yorker features a new poem by Paul Tran, a young writer whose dĂ©but collection was named one of the best books of 2022. The poem, âThe Three Graces,â takes its name from a rock formation near Colorado Springs. âI was curious: what would these three rocks have to say about the nature of love,â Tran tells the producer Jeffrey Masters. Tranâs poetry explores their personal historyâtheir family immigrated to the United States from Vietnamâas well as their trans identity.
Fri, 9 Jun 2023 - 50min - 815 - A Gay Russian, Exiled in Ireland
Evgeny Shtorn and Alexander Kondakov were living together in St. Petersburg when Vladimir Putin began his crackdown on the L.G.B.T.Q. movement in Russia, passing laws that prevented gay âpropaganda.â Kondakov is a scholar of the movement, and Shtorn has studied the sociology of hate crimes against gay men. The couple also worked for an N.G.O. that received foreign funding, which made them appear particularly suspicious to Russian authorities. After Shtornâs citizenship was rescinded, he became vulnerable to pressure from the F.S.B., the Russian security agency, which tried to make him an informant. Finally Shtorn decided to flee, seeking refuge as a stateless person in Ireland, where Masha Gessen spoke with him. Gessen says that Putinâs recent targeting of L.G.B.T. people is perfectly in line with his methods. â[We] make the perfect scapegoat, because we stand in for everything,â she says. âWe stand in for the West. We stand in all the things that have changed in the last quarter century that make you uncomfortable. And, of course, no Russian thinks theyâve ever met a gay person in personâso that makes it really easy to create that image of âthe villainous queer people.â â This segment originally aired June 10, 2019. Since that time, Shtorn received refugee status, and was reunited with Kondakov in Ireland. They married in 2023.
Tue, 6 Jun 2023 - 18min - 814 - Should We, and Can We, Put the Brakes on Artificial Intelligence?
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, which created ChatGPT, says that AI is a powerful tool that will streamline human work and quicken the pace of scientific advancement But ChatGPT has both enthralled and terrified us, and even some of AIâs pioneers are freaked out by it â by how quickly the technology has advanced. David Remnick talks with Altman, and with computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, who won the prestigious Turing Award for his work in 2018, but recently signed an open letter calling for a moratorium on some AI research until regulation can be implemented. The stakes, Bengio says, are high. âI believe there is a non-negligible risk that this kind of technology, in the short term, could disrupt democracies.â
Fri, 2 Jun 2023 - 32min - 813 - The Director Rob Marshall on Halle Bailey as âThe Little Mermaidâ
The live-action remake of Disneyâs classic âThe Little Mermaidâ is out this weekend. The performance of Halle Bailey as Princess Ariel has been widely praised, but some on the right lambasted the casting of a Black actress in the role as an example ofâof courseâwokeness on the part of Disney. The filmâs director, Rob Marshall, dismisses the notion as quickly as he can. âIt was never: âLetâs do a woke version of âLittle Mermaid,â â he tells Naomi Fry. âIt was: âLetâs just do the best version.â â Marshall took an unusual path toward directing: he began his career as a dancer on Broadway, moving to film only after becoming injured while performing in âCats.â Since then, he has directed âChicago,â âMemoirs of a Geisha,â and âMary Poppins Returns.â For âThe Little Mermaid,â he drew inspiration from the original Hans Christian Andersen text, which he says is a coming-of-age story about a young girl who breaks down barriers to understand herself and the world around her. âI just felt, wow, isnât that the world we live in?,â he says. âI mean for me, the whole time I was doing this movie, it felt really like an antidote to the times weâre living in, the divisive world we live in.â
Tue, 30 May 2023 - 16min
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