All Of It with Alison Stewart

[REBROADCAST FROM FEBRUARY 24, 2021] In the third installment of our February “Full Bio” series, we look at Frederick Douglass’s family and friendships. Historian David W. Blight, author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, talks about Douglass’s first wife, Anna, their five children (four of whom lived to adulthood), and his long and turbulent friendship with German feminist and abolitionist Otillie Assing.

[REBROADCAST FROM FEBRUARY 25, 2021] For the fourth installment of February’s “Full Bio” series, David W. Blight discusses Frederick Douglass’s political work fighting for abolition and suffrage. We look at his allegiance to the Republican Party, including his working relationship with Abraham Lincoln, and why Andrew Johnson was so dismissive of Douglass. Blight’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography is titled, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.

We present our full conversation with John Birdsall, author of The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life Of James Beard.

Wine consultant Amy Ezrin joins us to recommend a few affordable and eco-friendly boxed wine options ahead of the holiday weekend and to talk about developing her own wine-in-a box project.

[REBROADCAST FROM NOVEMBER 13, 2020] Sommelier, restauranteur, and New York Magazine writer Vanessa Price joins us to discuss her new book, Big Macs & Burgundy: Wine Pairings for the Real World. Inspired by her popular Grub Street column, Price reveals why Sancerre and Cheetos go together like milk and cookies. She explains how to create your own pairings while proving you don’t necessarily need fancy foods to unlock the joys of wine.

Environmental author, Cynthia Barnett, joins us to discuss her new book, The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans, which comes out on July 6. The book recounts the science behind how seashells are made and their role in our ecosystem at large.

Last week, Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, was forced to close after authorities used a June 2020 security law to freeze the company's assets and accounts, and arrested several people involved with the paper. NY4HK organizer and Manhattanville professor Anna Yeung-Cheung joins us to discuss the international reaction to this news, and the future of free press in Hong Kong. 

After a sold-out run in Miami, "Seven Deadly Sins," a unique outdoor theatre experience, has come to the Meatpacking District for a limited run through July 25. Audiences travel to different storefronts to see world premiere short works from seven playwrights, each based on one of the seven deadly sins. Moisés Kaufman, who directed the production and wrote the Greed piece, joins us alongside Ming Peiffer, who wrote the Wrath piece.

John Birdsall, author of The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard, joins us for the June installment of Full Bio about the life of chef, author, teacher, and television personality James Beard.

In Part 4, we learn about the birth of the James Beard Cooking School, how Beard railed against "gourmet" and advocated for the democratization of American cuisine.