Author Dinaw Mengestu joins us for a preview conversation ahead of our October Get Lit with All Of It event. We're spending the month reading his new book, Someone Like Us, about a journalist who returns home to his Ethiopian community in D.C. to uncover family secrets and examine his father's sudden death. To borrow your e-copy, and grab your tickets to our October 30 event, click here.

In the latest novel from author Garth Greenwell, a poet's life is upended when he is struck suddenly by serious and intense pain. Greenwell joins us to discuss Small Rain.

Habibi Festival, the annual celebration of music from the Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) region, returns to Joe's Pub this week. Organizers Meera Dugal and Alex Knowlton give some highlights alongside Algerian percussionist Karim Ziad, who performs live in our studio. Habibi Festival runs October 8-12.

Grammy-award winning and Bronx born-and-raised vocalist Samara Joy returns with a new album, Portrait, out this Friday. Joy discusses her whirlwind of a last two years, her approach to this new album, and we get an exclusive listen to some unreleased tracks.

Samora Pinderhughes releases the first part of his new two-part album, Venus Smiles Not in the House of Tears on October 18, but this week he performs live at Blue Note on Oct. 7-8th. He joins us before his performance to preview the project and to discuss his career as a multidisciplinary artist.

James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Kristina Cho discusses her latest cookbook, Chinese Enough: Homestyle Recipes for Noodles, Dumplings, Stir-Fries, and More, which combines her Cantonese roots with her American upbringing. Cho will be speaking at Farm to People with Books Are Magic tonight.

This week, we're spotlighting local New Jersey artists who are showing work at the Montclair Art Museum as part of the 2024 New Jersey Arts Annual now on view through January 5. We continue with Copie Rodriguez, who discusses his piece in the show, "Mom," and how he captures neighbors and community members in his work.

From Marla Mindelle, creator and star of "Titanique,"  comes a new comedy that sees its protagonist, Stacey, trapped inside a musical. Will she find (or sing) her way out? Mindelle joins us to discuss "The Big Gay Jamboree,"  which she co-wrote and stars in. The show is running at the Orpheum Theater through January 19.

Daniel Dae Kim stars in David Henry Hwang's farcical play "Yellowface," about an Asian American playwright who mistakenly casts a white actor in an Asian role in his own production. Kim and Hwang join us to discuss the production, which runs through November 24.

Author Charles Bock didn't have being a father on his list of high priorities. But when his wife dies of cancer, leaving him a single father to a three-year-old daughter, he realizes it's time to step up. He recounts his experience with single fatherhood in the new memoir, I Will Do Better: A Father’s Memoir of Heartbreak, Parenting, and Love. We discuss with Bock, and take calls from our listeners, as part of our series Mental Health Mondays.