When “Sopranos� star James Gandolfini died this past summer, I knew I wanted to hear from one television critic immediately - Emily Nussbaum.

Nussbaum, who writes for The New Yorker, didn’t have as much experience covering Gandolfiniand “The Sopranos� as other television critics, even other writers for The New Yorker, but her insight, as it is with so many shows, was pitch perfect.

In her opening paragraph, she told the readers out that Gandolfini was the first television star to be taken seriously as an actor, not just a performer - a point that made her “This guy changed the television� argument so much clearer than those of other critics. She explained Gandolfini’s strange sex appeal as Tony Soprano, something that most other writers either didn’t notice or found too off-putting to address in their own recollections.

It's All Journalism Producer Julia O'Donoghue talks to Emily Nussbaum about the challenges of being a TV critic.

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