Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen

The legal scholar and former Obama administration advisor Cass Sunstein explains the hidden lessons "Star Wars" teaches about the law, politics, and philosophy. Plus, we find out about a theater company that’s perfectly happy playing to an audience of one — in fact, it’s designed that way. And the indie rocker Margaret Glaspy plays a live solo set.

This week, three live music performances by artists who have transformed themselves. First, the sisters of the pop group Haim got their start in their parents’ classic rock cover band — and went on to play with Stevie Nicks. Then, how a bad breakup led Basia Bulat to a musical breakthrough. And Shamir Bailey proves that musical style can be as fluid as gender identity.

Generations of Americans have grown up with Walt Disney shaping our imaginations. In 1955, Disney mixed up some fairy tales, a few historical facts, and a dream of the future to create an alternate universe. Not just a place for fun, but a scale model of a perfect world. “Everything that you could imagine is there,” says one young visitor. “It's like living in a fantasy book.” And not just for kids: one-third of Walt Disney World’s visitors are adults who go without children. Visiting the parks, according to actor Tom Hanks, is like a pilgrimage — the pursuit of happiness turned into a religion.

Futurist Cory Doctorow explains the genius of Disney World, while novelist Carl Hiaasen even hates the water there. Kurt tours Disneyland with a second-generation “imagineer” whose dead mother haunts the Haunted Mansion. We’ll meet a former Snow White and the man who married Prince Charming — Disney, he says, is “the gayest place on Earth. It’s where happy lives.”

(Originally aired October 18, 2013)

Comedian Maria Bamford is primed for a well-deserved breakthrough with her new show, “Lady Dynamite.” We get a live performance from Fantastic Negrito, who sings about hot-button issues like race and gentrification. And we find out what it really takes to get tickets to “Hamilton.”

In this week’s special fashion episode, Kurt gets some style advice from the industry’s most quotable observer, Simon Doonan. We take a look at how World War II shaped New York Fashion Week. Plus, Isabel Toledo became an internationally recognized designer after dressing Michelle Obama for her first Inauguration — we take a peek inside her studio. 

How do you build a monument to a war that was more tragic than triumphant? Maya Lin was practically a kid when she got the commission to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall. “The veterans were asking me, ‘What do you think people are going to do when they first come here?’” she remembers. “And I wanted to say, ‘They’re going to cry.’" Her minimalistic granite wall was derided by one vet as a “black gash of shame.” But inscribed with the name of every fallen soldier, it became a sacred place for veterans and their families, and it influenced later designs like the National September 11 Memorial. We’ll visit a replica of the wall that travels to veterans’ parades around the country, and hear from former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel about how this singular work of architecture has influenced how we think about war. 

From the Sideshow Podcast: "Game of Thrones" is the most pirated TV show ever — and it’s most beloved character is Hodor, the tall, strong, and slow-on-the-uptake man who valiantly protects the offspring of the Stark family. It's always been a mystery why Hodor can only say one word, "hodor," but the most recent episode of GoT gave us a major reveal — and electrifying plot twist. 

Last fall, producer Sean Rameswaram talked with Kristian Nairn, the musician-turned-actor who plays Hodor. Nairn shares some surprising behind-the-scenes details (those are dozens of real rabbits on his cloak), as well as how he ended up taking the role. 

WARNING: THIS EPISODE INCLUDES SPOILERS FOR GoT SEASON 6 EPISODE 5.

Writing the song “Born Under a Bad Sign” made William Bell a soul legend, but he never recorded it himself — until now. Also, the writers Richard Russo and Jennifer Finney Boylan talk about plot twists in their long friendship. And we ask whether Sylvia Plath’s poetry can ever get out from under the shadow of her suicide.

Frank Langella has been drawn to characters with dark sides, from Dracula to Richard Nixon. But his latest Broadway role is his scariest yet — an old man with dementia. Also, a conversation with the writer/director Rebecca Miller, whose movie “Maggie’s Plan” is a romantic comedy with a very funny twist. And we’ll hear how Dungeons & Dragons invented the perfect personality test.

This week, three American Icons. First, a Jewish milkman from a Russian village becomes an American everyman — and a Broadway star — in “Fiddler on the Roof.” Then, Cindy Sherman photographs herself as characters from imaginary movies, and starts a revolution in feminist self-portraiture. And, just a teenager herself, S. E. Hinton rewrites the rules of young adult novels with “The Outsiders.”