For this month's installment of Full Bio, we learn about the life of Senator Charles Sumner with Zaakir Tameez, author of the new biography, Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation. Sumner was a fierce abolitionist and statesman from Massachusetts who was a pivotal advisor to President Lincoln and an influential force during the Civil War. You can listen to all three parts of our series in full.

• Charles Sumner, Part 1: Sumner's upbringing in a diverse neighborhood in Boston, and how that experience led him to become an abolitionist.
• Charles Sumner, Part 2: Sumner's experiences as a statesman during the Civil War, the caning incident, and questions about his sexuality.
• Charles Sumner, Part 3: Sumner's relationship with the Lincolns, and life after the Civil War. 

Today for the Fourth of July, we learn about the life of Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist born into slavery who famously asked, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"

We present our Full Bio conversation with Yale historian David Blight, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.

• Frederick Douglass, Part 1: Douglass’s early life as an enslaved person and how he learned to read
• Frederick Douglass, Part 2: How Douglass escaped slavery and fled to the North
• Frederick Douglass, Part 3: How Douglass's views on slavery evolved in the 1830’s and 1840’s
• Frederick Douglass, Part 4: Douglass’s first wife, Anna, their five children (four of whom lived to adulthood), and his long and turbulent friendship with German feminist and abolitionist Otillie Assing
• Frederick Douglass, Part 5: His allegiance to the Republican Party, including his working relationship with Abraham Lincoln, and why Andrew Johnson was so dismissive of Douglass
• Frederick Douglass, Part 6: The reaction to Frederick Douglass’s death in February of 1895 as well as why Douglass’s second marriage to a woman named Helen Pitts became one of the biggest scandals in 19th century America

[REBROADCAST FROM April 14, 2025] Curator Aimee Ng discusses the reopening and renovations of the venerable Frick Collection, including what exhibits to check out.

[REBROADCAST FROM May 28, 2025] Artist Nanette Carter grew up in Montclair, the daughter of the city's first Black mayor, Matthew G. Carter. The Montclair Art Museum has organized a new homecoming solo exhibition of Carter's work, "Nanette Carter: A Question of Balance," on view through July 6. Carter discusses revisiting her art from throughout her career for this show, which is her first major museum survey.

[REBROADCAST FROM April 9, 2025] New York-based artist Amy Sherald is best recognized for her famous portraits of First Lady Michelle Obama and Breonna Taylor. Today is the opening of “Amy Sherald: American Sublime,” the artist's first solo exhibition at a major New York museum. She discusses her practice, the stories of some of her most iconic portraits and the fifty paintings dating back to 2007 that comprise the exhibition, which is on view at the Whitney through August 10.

[REBROADCAST FROM April 16, 2025] A new exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art explores the earliest days of photography and the daguerreotype. Curator Jeff Rosenheim discusses the new exhibition "The New Art: American Photography, 1839–1910," on view at the Met through July 20. 

[REBROADCAST FROM May 5, 2025] Jesse Krimes was interested in art at an early age, but got caught up in the criminal justice system in his early 20's. He spent 6 years in prison, including some time in solitary confinement. Since his release, he has pursued his own art career, and worked to help incarcerated people use art as a tool for self-expression and rehabilitation. Now he has his own exhibition at The Met. His solo show is called "Corrections," and runs through July 13. He'll discuss his work and his Brooklyn-based organization, The Center for Art and Advocacy, which provides resources for formerly incarcerated artists. 

[REBROADCAST FROM April 18, 2025] Today is the opening of the Guggenheim's major survey of artist Rashid Johnson, who was born in Chicago in the late 1970s. "Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers," displays almost 90 pieces, including paintings, films, sculptures, and a site-specific installation at the top of the museum's rotunda. Johnson discusses his practice alongside Naomi Beckwith, Guggenheim deputy director and chief curator.

As summer kicks off, a fresh wave of films is hitting screens big and small. Vulture film critic Alison Willmore joins us to break down her list of films to see in the next few weeks, from "Superman" to "The Naked Gun."

For this month's installment of Full Bio, we learn about the life of Senator Charles Sumner with Zaakir Tameez, author of the new biography Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation. Sumner was a fierce abolitionist and statesman from Massachusetts who was a pivotal advisor to President Lincoln and an influential force during the Civil War. In today's installment, we learn about Sumner's life after the Civil War.