All Of It with Alison Stewart

On November 12th, Abbey Road Studios in London officially turned 90 years old. The studio was made famous by The Beatles 1969 album, Abbey Road, named after the studio, but also for other projects, from major motion picture film scores, to orchestral recordings, to projects ranging from Kanye West, Elton John, and Frank Ocean. To learn more about this sacred recording space, Britain-based music journalist Alistair Lawrence, author of the 2014 book, Abbey Road: The Best Studio in the World, gives us a history lesson.

Before Facebook decided to rebrand the company as Metaverse, that term was coined by science fiction writer Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel, Snow Crash. Stephenson joins us to discuss the co-opting of his invented term and his latest novel, Termination Shock, which tells the story of one billionaire’s attempts to solve climate change.

Neal will be at The Strand on Wednesday at 7pm. Advance registration is required. Tickets can be found here.

We’ve been hearing for years about the impact of e-commerce and of big-box stores on homegrown local businesses. Factor in the pandemic economy, and the supply chain issues we’ve discussed on the show adds up to a rough time to run a small, local business. Joining us to help take calls from mom-and-pop business owners is Nicholas Heller, better known as New York Nico. Last year, Nico amassed a thread of Instagram stories highlighting over 60 local businesses that needed the support. He’s doing it again this year, and now, we’re gonna do a version of that on the air.

*If you own a small business, visit wnyc.org/shoplistenersignup or text "shop2021" to 70101, fill out some information and we’ll put you into our 2021 Shop Listener Gift Guide. And if you want to keep your holiday dollars in the WNYC community, start your gift search at wnyc.org/shoplistener2021.*

Now that the holidays are upon us, Caroline Schiff, the pastry chef at Brooklyn's Gage & Tollner and woman behind the Instagram account, Pastry Schiff, joins us to discuss her new cookbook, The Sweet Side of Sourdough.

Honey-Glazed Pull-Apart Bread

Let’s talk about the pure tactile joy of a pull-apart bread: Layer upon layer of enriched dough, with warm, soft and fluffy insides. This sweet brioche-style loaf is a blast to eat, as you get to peel away the sweet, buttery sheets one by one. The honey glaze adds that perfect amount of sweetness that seeps between each sheet of dough. Its flavors are simple, warm and comforting, and you won’t mind having a loaf of this around to snack on. For a mellow sourdough flavor, it relies on a levain build (see page 17). And with the not-insignificant amount of fat in the dough, it requires a long, slow fermentation and proofing. I recommend building the levain as early in the day as possible, then you can mix the dough in the afternoon or evening and shape and bake the following day. It’s gonna be worth every soft, buttery, warm layer.

Makes one 9-inch (23-cm) loaf

Dough 1 levain build, doubled in size (page 17)

325 g (21⁄2 cups plus 11⁄2 tbsp) all-purpose flour

114 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

50 g (1⁄4 cup) granulated sugar

2 large whole eggs

1 large egg yolk

24 ml (1 tbsp plus 2 tsp) whole milk, at room temperature

1 tsp kosher salt

Filling 57 g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

39 g (3 tbsp) granulated sugar

Pinch of kosher salt

Glaze

30 ml (2 tbsp) honey 30 ml (2 tbsp) whole milk 24 g (3 tbsp) powdered sugar

Flaky sea salt, to garnish

To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook, combine the levain, flour, soft butter, sugar, whole eggs, egg yolk, milk and salt. Knead on low speed for 25 to 30 minutes, stopping the mixer and scraping it down every 10 minutes or so to make sure everything is getting incorporated, until the dough comes together in a smooth ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The long kneading time is necessary for proper gluten development. It’ll start off looking very shaggy and messy, but resist the urge to add additional flour before it magically smooths itself out!

Transfer the dough to a large bowl coated very lightly with neutral nonstick cooking spray. Cover and set in a warm spot, letting the dough proof for 4 hours at room temperature. It may not rise much this first proofing; that’s OK! Gently fold the dough over itself, cover and transfer to the fridge to ferment overnight, 12 to 14 hours.

Spray a 9 x 4 x 4-inch (23 x 10 x 10-cm) loaf pan with neutral nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Remove the dough from the fridge and gently turn it out onto a floured work surface. Dust the top of the dough lightly with flour and gently roll it out into an 8 x 18-inch (20 x 46-cm) rectangle.

To make the filling: Spread the soft butter all over the dough in a thin, even layer. Combine the sugar and salt in a small bowl; evenly dust the mixture over the butter. Using a pizza cutter or large knife, cut the rectangle into 24 small squares. I do this by cutting it 3 x 8, first dividing it into three 18-inch (46-cm)-long strips, and then slicing those each into eight even pieces. Stack the pieces of dough, a few at a time, and line them up in the bottom of the prepared pan, so they’re all standing on edge. Once all the dough is stacked in the pan, cover it loosely with a piece of plastic. Place the loaf in a warm spot and proof until the rectangles have increased in size by about a third and appear light and puffy, 3 to 4 hours.

Heat the oven to 350F (177C) with a rack in the center. When fully proofed, uncover and transfer the loaf to the oven and bake until it’s a deep golden brown on top, 45 to 55 minutes. Remove the loaf from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature in the pan.

To make the glaze: In a small saucepan, bring the honey and milk to a boil. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth.

After the loaf has cooled slightly but is still warm to the touch, gently remove it from the pan and place on a cutting board or platter. With a pastry brush, gently brush the top of the loaf with about half the honey glaze. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then add a second coat of glaze and garnish with the flaky sea salt. Pull apart and enjoy while still warm.

[REBROADCAST FROM July 2, 2021] Wine consultant Amy Ezrin joins us to recommend a few affordable and eco-friendly boxed wine options for the winter season, and to talk about developing her own wine-in-a box project.

Amanda Dell, Jewish Food Society's program director and host of the podcast, Schmaltzy, joins us to discuss Hanukkah recipes and traditions and shares her compilation of Jewish recipes from all over the world. We'll also take calls from listeners sharing their own family recipes and stories. You can find more information about the Jewish Food Society's upcoming events here.

Vulture podcast critic Nick Quah checks in to give us his picks for what podcasts to listen to now, and a few he’s looking forward to.

Actress, writer, and director Adrienne Shelly was tragically murdered just before her hit musical, "Waitress," premiered on Broadway. Now, her husband Andy Ostroy has captured and celebrated her life in the new documentary, "Adrienne," which premieres on HBO and HBO Max on December 1. He joins us to discuss.

We take a moment to remember Steven Sondheim with New York Times chief theater critic Jesse Green.

For the last two decades, “Cowboy Bebop,” has been a favorite of anime fans, lauded for its striking visuals, complex characters, and genre-hopping soundtrack. Now it’s gotten the live-action treatment from Netflix, with actor John Cho starring as its ultra-cool protagonist, Spike Spiegel. Cho joins us to talk about the series.