The New Yorker Radio Hour
Episodes
At the Brink with North Korea
22 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump mocked Kim Jong Un by calling him “rocket man,” and threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if the U.S. or its allies were at...
For Teen Activists, What Good Is a Protest Song?
19 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Since the Inauguration, in January, there’s been a kind of protest renaissance for those on the left and some in the center of American politics; at...
Hillary Clinton on the “Clear and Present Danger” of Collusion with Russia
13 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Hillary Clinton harbors no doubts, she tells David Remnick in a long interview, that political allies of Donald Trump astutely “guided” the releas...
What Was It Like Before the Internet?
12 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A magical time of unfettered creativity but zero productivity, the days before the Internet were so strange that it’s hard to believe they were real...
After Charlottesville, the Limits of Free Speech
08 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When is speech no longer just speech? David Remnick looks at how leftist protests at Berkeley, right-wing violence in Charlottesville, and open-carry ...
Neil Gorsuch and the Uses of History
05 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We have yet to learn just how closely the views of the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch resemble those of the late Justice Antonin...
A Visit with Harry Belafonte, and an Isolated Tribe Emerges
01 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We take for granted that popular entertainers can and should advocate for causes they believe in. But until Harry Belafonte pioneered that kind of act...
Nick Lowe Gets Better with Age
29 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Lowe made it big as a pioneer of what the English called “pub rock” and Americans usually call power-pop. Lowe had his biggest successes in t...
John Ridley on Charlottesville and the Legacy of Racism
25 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
John Ridley has been active in in film and television since the nineteen-nineties; he also has seven novels under his belt, as well as a play and seve...
Why Men Should Read Romance Novels
22 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The New Yorker’s Josh Rothman explains why men are missing out on romance novels, and Sherman Alexie reads a new story about a motel maid confrontin...
Russian Spies Never Go Out of Style
18 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A former C.I.A. operative writes about the struggle between East and West, and Annie Dillard describes the awesome, frightening experience of a total ...
Foraging for a Salad in Central Park
15 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Patricia Marx goes foraging in Central Park, and Kathryn Schulz recommends a country music album, a poet, and a movie about magicians.
Building a War-Crimes Case Against Bashar al-Assad
11 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Taub shares his reporting on a group that’s building a war-crimes case against Bashar al-Assad, and a war-crimes expert explains how to run a fa...
Senator Al Franken Really Is Senatorial
08 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Senator Franken and David Remnick discuss the health-care vote, the Russia investigation, and how his sense of humor has been a liability
The Scaramucci Call
03 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
David Remnick and Ryan Lizza listen back to the phone call from Anthony Scaramucci that ended his brief term as White House communications director. ...
An Irish Novelist’s Début Explores Friendship and Adultery in the Digital Age
01 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
An Irish writer explores friendship and adultery in the digital age in her début novel.
George Strait, on the Record with Kelefa Sanneh
28 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Country superstar George Strait’s search for the next hit, and Lawrence Wright’s exploration of how Texas is our future.
A Rookie Reporter in Vietnam Captures the War’s Futility
25 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In 1967, a rookie reporter’s eyewitness account of the futility of the Vietnam War shocked readers.
Maggie Haberman: Gang War in the White House
21 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Maggie Haberman and Donald Trump go way back.
The Man Who Would Be King (of Mars)
18 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Phil Davies, a country doctor in England, says that he owns Mars. What if he’s right?
Trumpcare Revisited
14 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
An Obamacare veteran keeps fighting the fight—even into the White House. And Jill Lepore explains the century-long battle for universal coverage.
Lucinda Williams Talks with Ariel Levy
11 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Lucinda Williams talks with Ariel Levy about God, Flannery O’Connor, and her long and twisting path through the music industry.
James Taylor Will Teach you Guitar
07 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Gopnik talks with James Taylor and tries not to go all Chris Farley Show: “Remember when you wrote ‘Fire and Rain’? That was great.” ...
My Night at Mar-a-Lago
03 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Taking the political temperature of Palm Beach at a swinging party at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s palace away from home.
"Okja" and Other Strange Stories by Jon Ronson
30 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jon Ronson’s nonfiction has often seemed too strange to be true; in the screenplay for “Okja,” he goes all in for surreal fiction. Plus, Poet La...
Ai Weiwei, and Doing Business with China
23 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ai Weiwei reflects on censorship and the refugee crisis, a congressman asks us to reconsider trade with China, and Chinese students explain the countr...
Virtual Reality, and the Politics of Genetics
16 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Siddhartha Mukherjee discusses the intimate and global implications of genetic science, and we look for the Orson Wells of VR.
Merchant Ivory’s Gay Love Story, and a Visit with Noriega
09 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
James Ivory talks about E. M. Forster’s “Maurice,” a gay love story with a happy ending. Plus, Jon Lee Anderson talks about the rise and fall o...
Wedding Hair on Fire, and William Barber’s Religious Politics
02 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Kristen Wiig plays a bride whose idea for her wedding hair is out of control. And the Reverend William Barber tells David Remnick that politics needs ...
Jerrod Carmichael, and the Truth About Impeachment
26 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The comedian Jerrod Carmichael explains why he simply will not give back to the community. And a former lawyer for Bill Clinton explains what it reall...
Fear and the N.R.A., and Lena Dunham on the end of "Girls"
19 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, a gun blogger critiques the N.R.A., and Lena Dunham bids goodbye to “Girls.”
Podcast Extra: A Hundred Days of the Trump Presidency
18 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Lydia Polgreen, Eli Lake, Joy Reid, and David Fahrenthold talk about the challenges the press faces in covering Trump.
The Sequel to “A Doll’s House,” and a President Abroad
12 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The official line on Trump’s foreign policy; Jeffrey Toobin on the firing of James Comey; and a brand-new sequel to a century-old play, Henrik Ibsen...
Roger Corman’s Monsters, and a Roomful of Spies
05 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This week: Roger Corman, master of monsters; experts in espionage talk shop; and Toni Collette, who’s never played a boring character.
CNN’s Jeff Zucker, the Man Who Made Trump
28 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump’s TV years; Steve Bannon’s Hollywood years; and Bruce Eric Kaplan on New York Street, a set in Los Angeles.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, and How to Pick a Great Cartoon
21 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Elizabeth Warren on the future of the Democratic Party, the pianist Chilly Gonzales, and the cartoon editor Bob Mankoff.
Margaret Atwood, Evangelizing Against Climate Change, and Greek Tragedy
14 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Margaret Atwood’s realism, an evangelical climate scientist, and the dangers of working from home.
Jon Stewart’s Children, and Trolling the Press Corps
07 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Trevor Noah, Bassem Youssef, the founders of Reductress, and Andy Borowitz talk satire; a far-right blogger in the White House looks for a fight.
Terrific, Tremendous New Health Plans, and Lynn Nottage on her play “Sweat”
31 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ideas to replace Obamacare that will blow your mind; Lynn Nottage’s new play about racial tension in the Rust Belt; and Jessica Lange’s foray into...
Goodbye to “Elephant and Piggie,” and Getting to Know Gorsuch
24 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Jill Lepore takes a look at history and the Supreme Court. Plus, we hear stories about life in prison and learn why Mo Willems retired his enormousl...
High-Fashion Hijabs, Jill Soloway, and Bluesman Blind Joe Death
17 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Jill Soloway, the creator of “Transparent,” goes after the patriarchy; a Muslim designer unveils high-fashion hijabs; and we lo...
Podcast Extra: The Stuff of Fiction
15 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Salman Rushdie, Tony Kushner, and Claudia Rankine talk about culture and politics in the age of Trump.
Refugees in Limbo, and a Conservative in Washington
10 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
At a safe house for refugees in Buffalo, New York, the difficult process of seeking asylum becomes even harder. And an establishment conservative asse...
Goonswarm Takes Over, Trump/Nixon, and Birding with Jonathan Franzen
03 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A populist uprising in an online multiplayer video game, and Jonathan Franzen’s favorite place to spot birds.
Podcast Extra: The "Remarkable Parallels" Between Nixon and Trump
02 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In 1987, Richard Nixon wrote to Donald Trump, expressing his optimism about Trump’s future political prospects. Was it a bad omen for Trump?
Lily Tomlin on Love, and News from Moscow
24 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Lily Tomlin reflects on falling in love and breaking taboos, and reporters in Washington and Moscow look at Trump’s vexed relationship with Russia.
John Goodman, Jeremy Irons, and Keegan-Michael Key
17 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Three actors in conversation at The New Yorker Festival.
Bun Cha With Obama, and Trump’s New World Disorder
10 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony Bourdain talks writing, travel, and President Obama’s eating habits, and Robin Wright looks at the dangers of foreign policy conducted by tw...
Politics at the Oscars, and a Doctor’s-Eye View of Trump
03 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Two doctors describe how Trump’s policies may affect patient care, and a brief history of entertainers making political statements on Oscar night.
How to Cover Trump’s Presidency, and Football’s Concussion Crisis
27 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
An N.F.L. pro, whose son now plays football, struggles to balance safety against a certain necessary brutality, and BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith on why he b...
The Two-State Solution, and a Standing Desk Problem
20 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We take the temperature of the Middle East peace process. Plus, Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry, Run the Jewels’ oldster rap, and the lifesaving ben...
Episode 65: High-Rise Lettuce Farms, and the First Woman President
13 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Ian Frazier explores indoor farming; Dan Savage tells David Remnick a thing or two about sex; and Amy Davidson asks, Why Angela Merkel but not Hillary...
Episode 64: Self-Esteem for Owls, and Newt Gingrich on the Heroin Problem
06 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Newt Gingrich talks about the opioid epidemic and Donald Trump’s Twitter habit; Patricia Marx tries to relax, and fails.
Episode 63: Late-Night Icon David Letterman and Songwriter Jason Isbell
30 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
David Letterman discusses life after late night and songwriter Jason Isbell talks about songwriting while sober.
Episode 62: Laura Poitras, David Bowie’s Last Band, and the Poet Brenda Shaughnessy
23 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Laura Poitras turns surveillance into art, David Bowie’s jazz band, and more.
Episode 61: Jeanette Winterson’s Christmas and Obama’s Legacy
16 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The New Yorker’s political reporters assess the successes and failures of Barack Obama’s Presidency; Jeanette Winterson celebrates Christmas; and ...
Episode 60: What Is Trumpism?
09 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A populist candidate hires an economic team from Goldman Sachs, and an English professor delivers a Hegelian analysis of Trump the disrupter. Plus, M...
Episode 59: The Koch Brothers and Boxing Champion Heather Hardy
02 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Mayer gets pushback after she investigates the Koch brothers; Heather Hardy prepares for a big fight; and an astronomer makes his case for the ex...
Episode 58: Bruce Springsteen Talks with David Remnick
25 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Bruce Springsteen tells David Remnick why he waited decades to put out a memoir.
Episode 57: Zadie Smith and Conservatives Strike Back
18 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A conservative keeps the faith in the age of Trump; Zadie Smith discusses the death of the novel; and a Thanksgiving side dish speaks out.
Episode 56: Leonard Cohen’s Last Days and Donald Trump’s First Term
11 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
David Remnick’s conversation with Leonard Cohen in the last months of the musician’s life, and Amy Davidson and George Packer grapple with the Tru...
Podcast Extra: Looking Back with Leonard Cohen
10 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In Leonard Cohen’s last interview, he discusses his career, his spiritual influences, and what he is doing to prepare for death.
Episode 55: Final Notes on the 2016 Election
04 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The 2016 election gets the Hollywood treatment, and an evangelical minister contemplates the decline of the Christian G.O.P.
Podcast Extra: The State of The Union Songbook Live
03 Nov 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Friedman performs his State of The Union Songbook live — songs that capture the confusion, hope, and despair of the strangest presidential...
Episode 54: Syria, the World’s Nightmare
28 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This special hour examines the effects of Syria’s civil war, the worst humanitarian crisis of the twenty-first century, from both inside the White H...
Episode 53: Putting Trump in the White House, Playing Andrew Bird in the O.R.
21 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, the surgeon Atul Gawande talks with the musician Andrew Bird, and a panel of experts discusses what a Trump Presidency would look lik...
Episode 52: Mikhail Baryshnikov, T.C. Boyle, and Germany's Kriegskinder
14 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Mikhail Baryshnikov talks about the playing the revolutionary choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky, and T.C. Boyle shares a blues musician he discovered on a...
Episode 51: David Axelrod on the Cubs and the Candidates, and Kenya Barris on “Black-ish”
07 Oct 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Obama’s former campaign strategist talks Clinton and the Cubs, a mathematician rocks out, and the “Black-ish” creator Kenya Bar...
Episode 49: The State of Debate and Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad
23 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Colson Whitehead reimagines the Underground Railroad, Jill Lepore assesses the sorry state of political debate,and Sharon Horgan find...
Episode 48: High-Fashion Hijabs, Jill Soloway, and Bluesman Blind Joe Death
16 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Jill Soloway, the creator of “Transparent,” goes after the patriarchy; a Muslim designer unveils high-fashion hijabs; and we look...
Episode 47: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Ups and Downs of Ayahuasca
09 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Ariel Levy investigates ayahuasca, an ancient Amazonian hallucinogen, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talks with David Remnick about the mort...
Episode 46: Gary Johnson, Angel Olsen, and a Bee Stylist
02 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Libertarian Presidential nominee Gary Johnson talks guns and marijuana, dead bees are beautified, and actor Reed Birney reads Donald ...
Special Preview: Gary Johnson’s Bid for the White House
30 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The Libertarian Gary Johnson is an E.P.A.-supporting gun-rights advocate who appreciates a good edible, and he wants your vote for President.
Episode 45: Father Pfleger, Larry David, and the History of Autism
26 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Larry David vents, and a Chicago priest delivers a sermon to gang members.
Episode 44: Russia Then and Now, and the Bard of Katonah
19 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, a Nobel Prize winner talks about the pain of the fall of the Soviet Union, David Remnick remembers the coup the failed, and Hillary C...
Episode 43: Summer in the City
12 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, F. Murray Abraham reads Arthur Miller’s essay about the sweltering summers of Miller’s youth; two writers talk fish and fiction; ...
Episode 42: The Honorable John Lewis, and the Inimitable Paul Simon
05 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, two living legends—the civil-rights leader John Lewis and the singer-songwriter Paul Simon—reflect on how far they’ve come. ...
Episode 41: Hillary Makes History, and Archery Makes a Comeback
29 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Andy Borowitz explains how the D.N.C. is like a Phil Collins music video from the eighties, and Patricia Marx practices archery at ho...
Episode 40: Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter and a Poet Fighting Cancer
22 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, the ghostwriter behind “The Art of the Deal” tells all, and Andy Borowitz reviews highlights of the Republican National Conventio...
Special Preview: Trump’s Remorseful Ghostwriter
18 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Tony Schwartz spent more than a year with Trump back in 1986, ghostwriting his memoir. He hasn’t ever talked publicly about the experience of wor...
Episode 39: The Gawker Sex-Tape Blowup, and George Saunders on Trump
15 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The founder of Gawker on the “karmic justice” of the Hulk Hogan lawsuit; George Saunders on what makes Trump supporters tick; and Parker Posey on ...
Episode 38: The Wisdom of John McPhee, and the Agony of an iPod Lockout
08 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, John McPhee reflects on a lifetime of writing; we explore the future of Brexit; and a reporter nearly loses everything after forgetti...
Special Preview: George Saunders on the Trump Campaign
05 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Fiction writer George Saunders takes to the Trump campaign trail, and a new understanding of America emerges.
Episode 37: El Chapo v. Flores Brothers, and Jack Handey’s Santa Fe
01 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Patrick Radden Keefe on the drug dealers who may help bring El Chapo to justice, and David Remnick talks to Black Lives Matter co-f...
Episode 36: Fear and the NRA, and a Hymn for Orlando
24 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, a gun blogger critiques the N.R.A., and a Presbyterian minister rewrites old hymns for new crises.
Special Preview: How the N.R.A. Uses Fear to Sell Guns
22 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A prominent gun blogger and lifelong NRA member explains how the organization uses fear to get its way.
Episode 35: Samantha Bee’s Fury, and Staffing the Supreme Court
17 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Could Citizens United be overturned? Jeffrey Toobin and Pamela Karlan, a Stanford law professor, discuss what a Supreme Court dominated by Democratic ...
Episode 34: Cats vs. Dogs and the Late Zaha Hadid
10 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to the war on terror, bomb-sniffing dogs are essential companions. When it comes to your sex life, no animal provides blissful privacy l...
Episode 33: Awkward Dog Banter, and the Marxist Who Brought Us “Hamilton”
03 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In 2014, the New Yorker staff writer Jennifer Gonnerman wrote about Kalief Browder, a teen-ager from the Bronx who spent three years jailed at Rikers ...
Episode 32: Lena Dunham Turns Thirty, and Memorial Day Malaise
27 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Lena Dunham talks about turning thirty and backing Hillary Clinton when her peers are feeling the Bern; and Amy Davidson gives us a history lesson on ...
Episode 31: Larry Wilmore on Presidential Comedians, and James O’Keefe’s Blunder
20 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
David Remnick speaks to the comedian Larry Wilmore about performing at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where he now-infamously ref...
Episode 30: The Politics of Genetics, Virtual Reality, and a Sound Castle in New Jersey
13 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
As scientists learn more about how genes affect everything from hair color to sexual orientation and mental health, we’re faced with moral and polit...
Episode 29: The Missing Boater, and Robert Glasper
06 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
On shows as varied as “Jessica Jones,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and “Game of Thrones,” characters are confronting sexual violence in w...
Episode 28: Annie Dillard, Anohni’s New Sound, and Torture in a Florida Prison
29 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
A former prison counsellor discusses the abuse and torture of mentally ill inmates she suspected inside a Florida correctional institution—and the e...
Episode 27: Who Will Care for Our Parents, and the Election According to Teens
22 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s episode, the activist Ai-jen Poo envisions a happier, more affordable alternative to nursing homes, and we meet a home health aide wh...
Episode 26: Syrian War Crimes, Country Music, and a Central Park Salad
15 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s show, Ben Taub shares his reporting on a group that’s gathering top-secret documents tying Bashar al-Assad’s regime to mass tortu...
Episode 25: The Ballad of a Trump Fan, and the Little Mermaid Gets Dumped
08 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we look into the lives and careers of two giants of soul—Aretha Franklin and the late James Brown. From the campaign trail, Michael Fried...
Episode 24: Larry David, Amy Poehler, and Randy Newman
01 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This week, three highlights from The New Yorker Festival: Larry David explains why he envies his sociopathic alter ego on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” ...
Episode 23: The Birth of Instagram, and Tunisia’s Jihadis
25 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This week: Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger talks about how Instagram took over the world; the New Yorker’s cartoon editor, Bob Mankoff, shares his...
Episode 22: Nate Silver on Trump Versus Cruz, and Roz Chast’s Horses
18 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
This week: Three great political minds talk to David Remnick about the 2016 election, Roz Chast is visited by a young cartoonist who is following in h...