The Wonder of Stevie

If you loved The Wonder of Stevie, you can’t miss Higher Ground and Audible’s newest series, Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise. 

Reconstruction was a time when Americans struggled over fundamental questions about our country. Who gets to be a citizen? Who has the right to vote? Who can own property? In short, who belongs? Best-selling author and host of Revisionist History, Malcolm Gladwell, guides us through this extraordinary moment in American history with help from former President Barack Obama. Together they explore why America has yet to make good on the promise of Reconstruction — and how it still might.

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If you loved The Wonder of Stevie, you cannot miss Higher Ground and Audible's newest music show. In Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, Jad Abumrad—creator of Radiolab, More Perfect, and Dolly Parton's America—tells the story of one of the great political awakenings in music: how a classically trained 'colonial boy' traveled to America, in search of Africa, only to return to Nigeria and transform his sound into a battering ram against the state—creating a new musical language of resistance called Afrobeat. In a world that’s on fire, what is the role of art? What can music actually…do? Can a song save a life? Change a law? Topple a president? Get you killed?

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In this bonus episode, Wesley sits down with Stevie Wonder and a superfan named Barack Obama to discuss the politics of optimism, the power of a love song, and what it feels like to break artistic ground. And the best part? Stevie brought his keyboard.

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Today we're sharing one of our favorite podcasts, Talk Easy. This episode features Wesley Morris talking about The Wonder of Stevie. 

Wesley unpacks Stevie Wonder’s legendary five-album run from 1972-1976, his recent “battleground states” tour in the run up to the election, and how his relationship to Stevie’s music has evolved in the process of making this limited series.

Explore more episodes of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso at talkeasypod.com. New talks air every Sunday. Available wherever you get your podcasts.

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Isn’t the streak over now? Depends on who you ask. After Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder returns with…a left turn. A departure album. Something totally different than his usual sound. Does that end the streak or complicate it? And when the streak is all said and done, does Stevie Wonder get the credit he truly deserves for his genius?

Featuring Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Questlove, Janelle Monae, Mereba and more.

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This is everyone’s favorite, right? Sure is and for good reason. Now a master at his own craft and sound, Stevie Wonder drops a double album. More songs. More players. More genius. It’s no wonder it’s everyone’s favorite. On the fifth album of the streak, Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie delivers his ultimate message of love.

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What’s next? Wesley’s favorite album in the streak. But it’s not everyone’s favorite. Stevie Wonder’s trying to figure something out on this record. It shows a different, moodier, more reflective side. Following an unexpected and life-changing event, Stevie releases the fourth album in the streak, Fulfillingness’ First Finale.

Featuring Yolanda Adams, Alex Pappademas, and more.

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What more is there to say? For Stevie Wonder, a lot. He’s got more love songs, sure. But as Stevie takes a hard look at the world around him, he’s itching to address different concerns — drugs, politics, and religion in America. Stevie’s next album isn’t just about him. Innervisions, the third album in the streak, is about the Black American experience.

Featuring Barack Obama, Brittany Luse, George Clinton, and more.

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How do you follow lightning in a bottle? Well, if you’re Stevie Wonder, you go on tour with The Rolling Stones. Now catering to a wider (and whiter) audience, Stevie expresses himself as a Black artist in the best way he knows how: through music. And just months after Music of My Mind, he releases the second album in the streak, Talking Book.

Featuring Barack Obama, Questlove, Deniece Williams, Ray Parker Jr. and more.

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How does Little Stevie Wonder grow into just… Stevie Wonder? Years after signing his first recording deal as a kid with Motown Records, Stevie decides to renegotiate his contract. One of the things on the table? Complete creative freedom. What follows is the beginning of one of the greatest streak of albums in American popular music ever: Music of My Mind.

Featuring Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, Babyface, and more.

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