All Of It with Alison Stewart

[REBROADCAST FROM MAY 26, 2020] Former Vogue creative director André Leon Talley discusses his new memoir, The Chiffon Trenches. Talley, who worked closely with Anna Wintour, passed away in January at the age of 73.

For the latest installment of our ongoing Full Bio series, we speak with Amy Odell, author of a new biography about Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, called, Anna: The Biography. On day three, we discuss Anna Wintour's route to becoming Vogue editor-in-chief and her leadership style.

A new play at the Vineyard Theatre dramatizes a 1971 interview between Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin. Before hearing about that play, we wanted to first discuss the influence of both writer's works, including a reading list to those who may not be familiar. Lynn Lobash, assistant director of Reader Services at New York Public Library, joins us to discuss.

"Lessons in Survival: 1971," is a play based on a 1971 interview between poet Nikki Giovanni and author James Baldwin, which took place on the public television show, "Soul!" Director Tyler Thomas and stars Carl Clemons-Hopkins and Crystal Dickinson talk about the play and production process. "Lessons in Survival: 1971" is playing at Vineyard Theatre through June 30.

The new musical, "Bedwetter," is an adaptation of comedian Sarah Silverman's memoir of the same name, and focuses on a transitional period in Sarah's life. As Sarah turns 10, her parents are divorced, she's struggling to make friends at a new school, and is trying to hide from her classmates that she still wets the bed. Silverman wrote the music with the late Adam Schlesinger. We're joined by Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth, who stars as Silverman's grandmother, and director Annie Kauffman to discuss the show, which is running at the Linda Gross Theater through July 3.

For the latest installment of our ongoing Full Bio series, we speak with Amy Odell, author of a new biography about Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, called, Anna: The Biography. On day two, we discuss Anna Wintour's entry into the magazine business, early successes and failures, and her path to New York.

NOTE: This segment has been edited. The original version, which aired on the radio, stated that Anna Wintour became Vogue's editor-in-chief in 1998. The correct year was 1988.

In honor of Pride Month, a new photography project from SAGE called, Trans Aging: A Legacy of Visibility, seeks to celebrate one of the most marginalized populations within the LGBTQ+ community: transgender elders. The photo gallery is available virtually, and had a live in-person showing on June 3 at SAGE Center Brooklyn at Stonewall House. Photographer viento izquierdo ugaz and Kylie Madhav, SAGE's senior director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, join us to discuss the project.

We continue our series highlighting debut authors, with a novel written when the author was just 17. Nightcrawling tells the story of a teenage girl Kiara struggling to support her family in Oakland. When a turn of events leads her into the world of nightcrawling, Kiara accidentally becomes a witness in a scandal within the Oakland Police Department. Author Leila Mottley, who is the former Youth Poet Laureate of Oakland, joins us to discuss.

According to Dan Pfeiffer, co-host of Pod Save America, the past few years, and frankly the news today, make it clear that conservative issues in the United States are becoming more and more extreme. Whether it's book banning, gun control, or abortion rights, the Republican Party's political agenda seems to be aimed at fanning culture wars to create more division, amplified by Fox News, Facebook, and what Pfeiffer calls "MAGA media." Pfeiffer joins us to discuss his new book, Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media are Destroying America, to trace the political history of how the core of the Republican Party became so extreme, and how certain media outlets share some of the blame.

For our Good Vibes today, we honor those in the Class of 2020 who missed their graduations two years ago and who've recently finally had their commencement ceremonies. We present to you two of the speakers from Wesleyan’s graduation season: the great feminist & writer Gloria Steinem and University of Maryland Baltimore County president, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski III, once named by TIME as one of America’s best college presidents. This weekend, the most recent member to join team All Of It was a member of the Wesleyan Class of 2020, and Luke returned this weekend and got to put on his cap and gown and graduate...again. We have photo evidence!