Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen

Michael Ian Black is known for his deadpan, sarcastic comedy, but in his podcast and new memoir, he’s surprisingly earnest. Also, we’ll hear about what may be the worst film ever made, “The Day the Clown Cried,” from 1972. Only a handful of people have seen it, but now that its director and star Jerry Lewis has donated it to the Library of Congress, more of us will one day watch it in all its glory. And we’ll hear the 1920s recording that set the standard for traditional Irish music ever since.

Ken Kesey had worked in a mental hospital, but his first novel was really a parable of what happens when you stand up to the Man — a counterculture fable that doesn’t end well. Despite his far-reaching influence, Kesey was shut out by filmmakers who turned the story into an Oscar-sweeping phenomenon. Cuckoo’s Nest changed how many people thought about mental illness and institutions. Sherman Alexie debunks the myth of the silent Indian; we visit Oregon State Hospital, where the director played himself on screen; a psychiatrist explains how the movie gave mental hospitals a bad name, with tragic consequences; and actress Louise Fletcher takes us into the mind of one of the most fearsome movie villains, the sweet-faced Nurse Ratched. “She doesn’t see her behavior as it really is. Who does? Who sees that they’re really evil?”

(Rebroadcast)

Hilary Mantel on why we’re still so interested in Henry VIII: he was a “monster-king.” John McWhorter explains why racially charged titles to historic paintings should be left alone. And Mac DeMarco brings his signature cool to a live performance. 

Segments in this week's episode aired previously.

Adam McKay, the director of “The Big Short,” explains how he turned the economic crash into one of the year’s most surprising hits. Kurt Andersen strolls through his old neighborhood with Garth Risk Hallberg, the author of the novel “City on Fire.” And Jenny Slate picks a winner of our 30-second holiday film challenge.

Universe not big enough for you? There’s always the multiverse — many universes, scattered through time and space. In one world, you might drive a bus; in another, you might be a Formula One racer. If the idea sounds familiar, that could be because it has obsessed science-fiction and comic-book writers for decades. But artists and writers aren't the only ones fascinated by multiples — some physicists think the multiverse could be very real. 

Ron Howard’s latest film, “In the Heart of the Sea,” puts us in the whaling ship whose catastrophic sinking inspired “Moby Dick.” Kurt gets a sneak preview of the future of virtual reality storytelling — and finds the future is a bit disorienting. And the songwriter and musician Son Little plays live.

The actor Lucy Liu talks about her decision to reveal her secret second career as a painter — and her struggles with being typecast. Also, Charles Schulz’s biographer on how one of the most beloved comic strips of all time made us more open about depression. And the radio play “Sorry, Wrong Number” puts us inside the frantic mind of the victim of a murder plot.

(Segments in this week's show aired previously.)

When terrorists struck Paris, they took aim at what binds us together as a society: our culture. And looking back at 15 years of terror, that’s nothing new. Near East scholar Bernard Haykel shows how ISIS uses poetry as propaganda. Pakistani-American columnist Rafia Zakaria calls the attacks an assault on fun — and explains why that’s much more serious than it sounds. Also, we hear how Sly and the Family Stone provided the soundtrack for freedom. And writer Gavin McCrea talks about his first novel, which imagines what it was like to love the co-author of “The Communist Manifesto.” 

This week, Kurt Andersen asks: can computers make art? And if so, is it any good? We’ll meet a program named AARON that’s been painting for nearly 40 years, a filmmaker who replaced her editor with an algorithm, and a professor who thinks what computers need is more Shakespeare.

(Originally aired December 16, 2011)

What do you do after founding one of the most beloved bands ever? If you’re Carrie Brownstein, you become the star of “Portlandia” and satirize one of the most beloved cities. Also, former “Saturday Night Live” political writer Jim Downey explains how a sketch comedy show came to shape American political discourse. Plus, how the novelist Emma Donoghue adapted her bestselling novel, “Room,” into a movie — with a little help from director Lenny Abrahamson.