All Of It with Alison Stewart

Singer-songwriter Janis Ian released her self-titled debut album in 1967. Its single, "Society's Child," written by Ian when she was fourteen, would be one of her most lasting. In the next decade, she released the hit song, "At Seventeen." Now, she has said that her new album, The Light at the End of the Line, will be her last. Ian joins us for a Listening Party, and we open the lines up for listeners to share their experiences with her music.

[REBROADCAST FROM February 2, 2022] The subject of book banning has been in the news after a Tennessee school board voted to remove the graphic book Maus from the curriculum. The discussion has shed new light on the kinds of books being banned from schools around the country. One of the novels that has often been cited on the American Library Associations list of Top 10 Most Challenged books is Laurie Halse Anderson's 1999 novel Speak, which tells the story of a high school girl dealing with trauma after she is sexually assaulted. Halse Anderson has been an outspoken advocate for intellectual freedom, and has been honored for her work by the National Coalition Against Censorship and the National Council of Teachers of English. She joins us to discuss this new wave of book banning.

[REBROADCAST FROM January 27, 2022] In 2018, the famous comedian and television star Bill Cosby was convicted of sexual assault, and has been accused by up to sixty women. However, in 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the conviction on a legal technicality, and Cosby was released. But what should we take away from the cultural legacy of Bill Cosby? Comedian and activist W. Kamau Bell takes on this question in a new four-part series called, "We Need to Talk About Cosby," which will air on Showtime on January 30. Bell comes on the show to chat the new series.

Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is known best for playing the nice guy, but his latest role shakes things up. He plays Uber CEO Travis Kalanick in the new Showtime series "Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber," which chronicles his epic rise and desperate attempts to stay in control of the company. He joins us to discuss. "Super Pumped" premiers on Showtime on February 27.

[REBROADCAST FROM September 18, 2019] Mike Isaac joins us to discuss his book, Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber.

A debut novel is a page-turning story of an elite Black violinist whose rare and expensive instrument is being held hostage on the eve of the most prestigious music competition in the world. Author Brendan Slocumb, himself a classical musician and a music educator, joins us to discuss the novel, titled The Violin Conspiracy. We're featuring it as part of our ongoing series highlighting debut authors, "2022 Debuts."

This month, the multimedia artist Suchitra Mattai's first solo show in New York City is on display. Working with mixed-media paintings, fiber sculptures, and installations, Mattai uses her work as a means to criticize how society views "others", be it immigrants, or those dealing with mental illness. Her Indo-Caribbean descent informs how she thinks about the connection between history, labor, and colonialism in her work, and we see these themes present in the show, which is called, Herself As Another. The show will be on display at Hollis Taggart Gallery in Chelsea until March 12. Mattai is with us to talk about her work.

For the past couple of months, comedian and host Hasan Minhaj has been on the road, performing his live comedy show, "The King's Jester," on tour around the United States. This is his first one-man show after his Peabody award-winning show, "Homecoming King." From February 25 to 27, Minhaj will be in New York at Radio City Music Hall for five performances, and he joins us to talk about the show as well as other projects he's got going on.

Why does it feel, as we get older, making friends and keeping friends is harder? Jennifer Senior, staff writer for The Atlantic, recently wrote about this phenomenon for the magazine, in a piece called, "It's Your Friends Who Break Your Heart." She joins us to discuss the article and take your calls about your experiences making friends in adulthood.

The Clotilda was the last known ship to carry enslaved people from Africa to the United States, landing near Mobile, Alabama, in 1860. For decades, the location of its remains were a mystery, until 2019, when they were discovered by journalist Ben Raines. Raines joins us to discuss his new book, The Last Slave Ship: The True Story of How Clotilda Was Found, Her Descendants, and an Extraordinary Reckoning.