Brooke Baldwin had the career of her dreams. She'd been a CNN anchor for more than a decade and one day she was let go. Her TED TALK and substack titled "UNRAVELING" talks about how to handle a shift in your life, and how sometimes you have to unravel what exists. She tells her story and takes listeners calls.

Peter Mendelsund is an author, graphic designer, artist, and the creative director of The Atlantic. And this year he has two new books out about human emotion. Exhibitionist: 1 Journal, 1 Depression, 100 Paintings is personal memoir, diary, and showcase of the art he created during a serious bout of depression in 2020. And his new novel Weepers is about a group of professional mourners living in a world gone numb. Mendelsund joins to discuss both books.

Musician and vocalist UMI returns to the show, this time for a Listening Party of her new album, people stories, which features songs about people in her life, from friends, fans, and her own self-reflection. She recorded a majority of the album in her home studio, and UMI reflects on her creative process and her recent album release show in Brooklyn.

Cookbook author Yasmin Khan discusses her latest cookbook, Sabzi: Vibrant Vegetarian Recipes, which features vegetarian dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean, and South Asia.

Comedian Jeff Ross discusses his new one-man show, "Take a Banana For the Ride." It is running now on Broadway at the Nederlander Theater through September 28.

Audiences at the latest production of the Public Theater's Free Shakespeare in the Park this summer have been treated to a Delacorte Theater with an 85 million dollar makeover. The renovations mark the end of an era of the original Delacorte Theater, graced by both famous actors and raccoons over the years. Greg Young, co-host of the Bowery Boys podcast, discusses the history of the Delacorte Theater, and how the Free Shakespeare in the Park program first began with an unlikely friendship between founder Joe Papp and New York power broker Robert Moses. Plus, listeners share their memories of seeing shows at the old Delacorte.

The US Open is underway in Queens! Caitlin Thompson, founder of Racquet Magazine, previews the most exciting matchups of the Grand Slam, shares who she thinks might win, and talk about what it will take to beat Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. 

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Born to Run, one of the seminal albums from Bruce Springsteen. Peter Ames Carlin discusses the album and his new book, Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run. 
 

Singer, songwriter, and actor Moses Sumney discusses making his theatrical stage debut in "Twelfth Night" as part of Shakespeare in the Park. Sumney plays Feste, a jester who becomes involved in a mean-spirited prank. "Twelfth Night" is running at the Delacorte Theater through September 13. 
 

[REBROADCAST FROM April 21, 2025] Paste Magazine calls Valerie June "casually masterful, deceptively mellow." Her latest album Owls, Omens and Oracles is a celebration of joy and positivity in the face of adversity. June performs live in WNYC's studio five.