Newark Symphony Hall's company-in-residence, Yendor Theatre Company, presents Richard Wesley's "Black Terror"

RUST is the third documentary in Marylou and Jerome Bongiorno's 3Rs Trilogy on Urban America

One year after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered classrooms around the country and the world, a new NPR/Ipsos poll find U.S. parents are guardedly optimistic about the academic and social development of their children. 62% of parents say their child's education has been disrupted. And, more than 4 out of 5 would like to see schools provide targeted extra services to help their kids catch up. This includes just over half of parents who support the idea of summer school. WBGO resident reporter

Recreational marijuana is finally legal in the Garden State. After a failed bid to pass recreational marijuana in the state legislature, a statewide ballot question overwhelmingly approved by voters, and then disputes over how the new system would look, Gov. Phil Murphy signed three new laws last month effectively legalizing weed for personal use. But what does that mean? Many aspects of this new paradigm — from the legal marketplace to the implications for policing to the expungement of past

We are coming to the end, we hope, of a melancholy season. There are a number of films in theatres and streaming currently which deal with the slow winding down of a life and the effect it has on family. Include in that Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari , a memoir of a Korean family’s move to farm in Arkansas in the 1980s, and Falling , actor turned director Viggo Mortensen’s story of a grown gay son coping with a hateful father in Los Angeles. The best of them is The Father , with Anthony Hopkins, like

The head of New York City’s school system is stepping down in a few weeks. Richard Carranza struggled to hold back tears as he mentioned he has 11 family members and close friends he has lost to Covid-19. He was asked, though, if his departure was connected to disagreements with the mayor on education policy. “I am leaving because I need to take care of me. I need time to grieve. This city, this school system, deserves a chancellor who 100% is taking up the helm," he said. The current

New York City health officials are pushing back against a report showing a new coronavirus variant is rapidly spreading there. The New York Times cited research suggesting this new variant is quickly spreading and vaccines may be less effective against it. But New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi said he disagreed because, he said, not enough is known about what he called the New York variant. "We don’t have any evidence at this point that this New York variant, the B.1.526 is what

Veteran actor Frank Grillo has trained as a boxer and martial artist for nearly four decades. That commitment has led to some of the most physical roles in the movie industry, including Boss Level which premieres on Hulu March 5. Boss Leve l is an independent action-thriller co-produced by Grillo along with director Joe Carnahan. It's one of at least eight movies for Grillo in 2021. Grillo joined SportsJam with Doug Doyle from his home in Los Angeles, CA to talk about his passion for fitness and

The film Judas and the Black Messiah tells the story of Fred Hampton, the Chicago Black Panther leader who was shot to death by law enforcement authorities in 1969. The film is generating Oscar buzz in all the major categories, including best picture. The 40 year-old Brooklyn-based director Shaka King tapped his uncle, a Harlem jazz musician, to compose the film’s score. Click above to hear WBGO's Jon Kalish's feature on the music behind Judas and the Black Messiah .