All Of It with Alison Stewart

Right now, Montclair Art Museum has a huge show featuring some of the most well-known women in the artworld such as Barbara Kruger, Carrie Mae Weems, Alice Neel, Betty Parsons and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. It's called Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale. Gail Stavitsky, the museum's chief curator, joins us to talk about the exhibition on display through Jan. 7.

From their inception in the 1960's until the last decade, Birkenstocks have been the sensible shoe for the crunchy set. But they've become a staple of fashionistas and celebs, and the company recently started trading publicly. New York Times styles reporter Elizabeth Paton is the author of the piece "From LSD to IPO" which traces the company's history from its orthopedic beginnings in Germany to the $2000 Valentino pairs that exist today. We'll discuss all things Birks with her and take listener calls about their love of the shoe.

The Brooklyn Museum’s newest exhibit opens Friday Nov. 17. It’s called “Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines,” and it explores 50 years of homegrown publishing, irreverent and edgy cultural commentary, and the eclectic visual vocabulary of "the zine" as an art form. Contributing professor Branden W. Joseph, who teaches modern and contemporary art at Columbia University, helped curate the exhibit, which he joins us to discuss.

Our series Full Bio returns, and this month we are focusing on the life of pioneering playwright August Wilson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice, and whose plays focus on the life of Black Americans in the 20th century. Biographer Patti Hartigan joins us for a deep dive into her book, August Wilson: A Life. On day four, we speak about the end of Wilson's life and his enduring legacy.

The musical "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" marked the Broadway debut of Barbra Streisand and told the story of a businessman trying to make a name for himself in New York City's Garment District in the 1930s. A new revival at Classic Stage Company features an updated book by John Weidman, son of Jerome Weidman, the author of the original novel and the book for the original musical. Weidman joins us to discuss, alongside stars Santino Fontana and Judy Kuhn. "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" is running through December 17.

Our series Full Bio returns, and this month we are focusing on the life of pioneering playwright August Wilson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice, and whose plays focus on the life of Black Americans in the 20th century. Biographer Patti Hartigan joins us for a deep dive into her book, August Wilson: A Life. On day three, we speak about the drama surrounding "Fences" and Wilson's success on Broadway.

German author Shere Hite made waves when her reporting on female sexuality and pleasure, The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality, was published in 1976. But after skyrocketing to fame in the '70s, Hite disappeared from public life. A new documentary, "The Disappearance Of Shere Hite," from director Nicole Newnham explores the life of Hite. Newnham joins us to discuss the film, which is in theaters tomorrow.

In the 1980s and '90s, Alicia Keys was a girl living with her mother in a small apartment off Times Square, with a dream of being a professional musician. Of course, we know how her life turned out. Keys is one of the creators of a new musical at The Public Theater inspired by her early life in Manhattan, featuring original music and lyrics. "Hell's Kitchen" tells the story of Ali (Maleah Joi Moon), a 17-year-old who wants to make it big. To discuss the show, we're joined by director Michael Greif, book writer Kristoffer Diaz, and music supervisor Adam Blackstone. "Hell's Kitchen" opens on Monday and runs through January 14. 

November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, in which writers of all experience levels attempt to develop and draft a 50,000-word work in 30 days. Matt Bell, creative writing instructor at Arizona State University, author of the novel, Appleseed, and the writing craft book, Refuse To Be Done: How To Write And Re-Write A Novel In Three Drafts, along with Elizabeth Acevedo, National Book Award-winning author of The Poet X, who also wrote her YA novel, With the Fire on High, for NaNoWriMo in 2013, join to talk about the art of novel writing, the process of speed-drafting, and take calls from listeners developing their own works.

There's an exhibition on view now at The Bronx Museum of the Arts presenting the work of the late artist Michael Richards, who was born in New York, and died on 9/11 while he was working at his studio on the 92nd floor of the North Tower. He was 38. Michael Richards: Are You Down? is the artist's first retrospective, who primarily worked in sculpture to explore Black identity and history. The show is on view through January 7, and curators Alex Fialho and Melissa Levin join us to discuss.