All Of It with Alison Stewart

More than 6 years after her first EP, Madison McFerrin has made her full-length debut with the album, I Hope You Can Forgive Me. The vocalist and producer joins us live in studio five to perform. She will be at Zone One in Brooklyn on Thursday, June 29.

To round out our month of spotlighting banned and challenged books for Pride Month, we speak with Juno Dawson, author of This Book Is Gay, which was the tenth most challenged book of 2022 according to the American Library Association. She joins us to discuss the book and her new picture book, You Need to Chill!:A Story of Love and Family.

Verso Records: Volume One is the debut album from the Westport Library, which is not an obscure indie band name, but an actual library in Westport, Connecticut. The album was recorded and produced in the library's own studios and released on its independent label. It features songs by local musicians, including the New Haven-based trio Daniprobably, led by singer Danielle Capalbo. For a Listening Party, Capalbo joins us along with the album's engineer and the library's studio manager, Travis Bell.

Bisa Butler is a local artist who makes life sized quilts inspired by portraits of Black figures, including those taken by her favorite photographers such as Gordon Parks and Jamel Shabazz. Her new solo exhibition, The World Is Yours, inspired by the lyrics of Nas, is on view now, and combines textiles, paint, Nigerian hand-dyed batiks and African wax-resist cotton. Butler joins us in studio to discuss her process and the show, which is on view at Jeffery Deitch through June 30.

Composer Emile Mosseri is known for his moving scores for the films The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Kajillionaire, and Minari, for which he earned an Oscar nomination. But before he was a film composer, he was a member of the touring and recording band, The Dig. Now he's released his debut solo album as a performer, titled Heaven Hunters. Mosseri joins us for a Listening Party. 

Alan Light, veteran music journalist and author of the book The Skills to Pay the Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys joins to discuss the 1998 album Hello Nasty which turns 25 this summer.

The Brooklyn restaurant Sofreh is one of the most popular dining spots in the city. Now, chef Nasim Alikhani is bringing her modern Persian cuisine to home cooks with her new cookbook Sofreh: A Contemporary Approach to Classic Persian Cuisine. She joins us to discuss. Alikhani will be speaking tonight at Books Are Magic with Helen Rosner and tomorrow at Rizzoli bookstore, in conversation with Nilou Motamed.

It's safe to say the current podcast industry is turbulent at best. With the recent news that Spotify gutted Gimlet Media, to the abundance of available content, to video podcasts outperforming audio shows, many are wondering what sets a podcast apart. And what does it mean to make a good podcast in 2023 that also makes enough money to survive? Vulture podcast critic Nick Quah recently wrote about these trends, and returns to the show to mull over the industry today and preview the best new shows to listen to this summer. Plus, we take your calls to find out what you're listening to.

It's officially summer, meaning that many of you might be spending a lot of time in the front or backyard, caring for your lawn. There are many different ways to go about lawncare, some of which require more resources than others, like water, fertilizers, and pesticides. But there are also more eco-friendly sustainable ways to grow a lawn. Michele Bakacs and Amy Rowe, Rutgers associate professors and extension agents, join to give us tips for lawncare and take your calls and questions.

Here are some sustainable landscaping resources that our guests shared with us:

Rutgers Organic Land Care website

Frequently Asked Questions About Native Plants

National Wildlife Federation Keystone Plants by Ecoregion

Supporting Bees in Your Garden and on Your Farm

Incorporating Native Plants Into Your Residential Landscape

Don’t guess! Soil test! When managing your lawn it’s important not to put down any chemicals/ fertilizers until you have a soil test indicating your soil’s needs.

Rutgers Soil Testing Laboratory

Cornell Soil Testing Services

Cornell Cooperative Extension County offices for questions in NY

Rutgers Cooperative Extension county office for questions in NJ