All Of It with Alison Stewart

Today is the birthday of a man who gave our city one of its finest institutions: Arturo Alfonso Schomburg. His life's work led to the creation of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. In order to learn more about the man behind the National Landmark, we are joined by Interim Dean at Macaulay Honors College Dr. Vanessa K. Valdés, author of Diasporic Blackness: the Life and Times of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg.

One of the most anticipated books of the year is the English translation of Nobel winner Olga Tokarczuk’s magnum opus, The Books of Jacob. Jennifer Croft, her longtime translator, joins us to discuss the novel, her career, and the art of translation. Croft was awarded the 2018 Man Booker International Prize, alongside Tokarczuk, for her translation of Flights.

Keb' Mo' released a breakthrough album in 1994, often called his debut, though he'd been recording and releasing music for decades beforehand. In late 2021, he received the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance. Now he's out with a new album titled Good To Be, written between Nashville and his childhood home of Compton, California. Mo' joins us for a release day Listening Party.

Why are big name artists such as John Legend, Bruce Springsteen and Shakira cashing in on their catalogs? Variety senior music editor Jem Aswad breaks down this trend and its implications for the music industry.

Ludovico Einaudi's music draws on many different influences and has at times alienated classical critics, but it has earned him many more fans and made him one of the most-streamed classical musicians in the world. He has also composed scores for films including "Nomadland" and "The Father." His new album is a minimalist collection of piano compositions titled Underwater. Einaudi joins us for a release day Listening Party.

This year's New York Jewish Film Festival, which is presented by The Jewish Museum and Film at Lincoln Center, started on January 12, and is running through January 25. To help us preview the final weekend of the 31st edition of the festival, and recap what has screened so far, we are joined by Aviva Weintraub, director of the NYJFF.

[REBROADCAST FROM December 8, 2021] The Stephen Sondheim musical “Assassins,” about those who have attempted to assassinate American presidents, feels incredibly of-the-moment, even though it premiered in 1990. The 2021 revival was delayed due to COVID, but is now running at the Classic Stage Company. Director John Doyle, no stranger to Sondheim’s work, joins us to discuss the show. He will be joined by actor Steven Pasquale, who plays John Wilkes Booth.

“Assassins” is running at Classic Stage Company through January 29.

The new Broadway revival of the 1970 Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Tony Award-winning musical "Company" switches the gender of many of the characters, including main character Bobbie, played by Tony Award-winner Katrina Lenk, and her best friend Jamie, now a gay man played by Matt Doyle. Lenk and Doyle join us to discuss the revival, which tells the story of a single woman turning 35, and contemplating whether it's time to get married.

"Company" is running now at the Bernard Jacobs Theater.

Karen Brooks Hopkins joined the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1979 and became its president in 1999, until 2015. She reflects on her tenure in the memoir BAM. . . and Then It Hit Me. Hopkins joins us to discuss the institutions and her career.

Frida is a dedicated mother who had one very, very bad day. And that one day leads to the removal of her child and Frida's induction into a new government reform program for "bad mothers." This is the plot of a new debut novel from Jessamine Chan, titled The School for Good Mothers. We speak with Chan as part of our new series highlighting first-time authors, '2022 Debuts.'