Studio 360 With Kurt Andersen

The Peabody Award-winning show from PRI.

Illustration depicting a female with a microphone

Listen longer

Slate Plus members get ad-free versions of all Slate podcasts, plus extra segments, bonus episodes, and more. Try it today for just $1.

Join Slate Plus
Advertisement

About the Show

Studio 360 is a smart and surprising guide to what’s happening in pop culture and the arts. Each week, Kurt introduces the people who are creating and shaping our culture. Life is busy—so let Studio 360 steer you to the must-see movie this weekend, the next book for your nightstand, or the song that will change your life. Produced in association with Slate.

Host

The Final Episode

Alec Baldwin conducts Kurt Andersen’s exit interview, TV writers school us on the art of the finale, and Rosanne Cash plays one last song for the road.

American Icons: The Migration Series, by Jacob Lawrence

Lawrence’s epic series of paintings shows the northward journey of millions of African Americans from the Jim Crow South to cities in the North.

Aural History: How Studio 360 Began

The show’s original producers reflect on the creation of Studio 360 and its 20-year broadcast run.

I Know Why Public Enemy, TLC, and the Caged Bird Sing

The revolutionary It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, how Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings changed everything, and novelist Angie Thomas finds solace in a TLC lyric.

Extra: New York Icons: Kaufman Astoria Studios

The film studio that dates back to when New York was the moviemaking capital—and is still thriving.

The Making of Yanni

Romantic advice and pop music with Delilah, the improbable starmaker that brought us Yanni and John Tesh, and why Bim Adewunmi still loves the Sweet Valley High books.

The Oscar Episode

Academy Award contenders including Quentin Tarantino, Adam Driver, and Antonio Banderas.

This Woman’s Work: Black Gold by Nina Simone

A live album that captured the rage and hope of the civil rights movement.

How 12 Angry Men Did Justice to Justice

12 Angry Men spawns the modern courtroom procedural and Kris Maddigan’s approach to composing a jazz score for Cuphead, the video game.

Wynton Marsalis Goes Classical and a Kate Bush Classic

How Marsalis became immersed in classical music, and why Bush’s Hounds of Love has drawn such wide and diverse admiration.

Extra: BoJack Horseman’s Raphael Bob-Waksberg

How a dark comedy got so dark and so funny.

Images of New York: West Side Story and Garry Winogrand’s “Central Park Zoo”

Two segments from our new series, New York Icons, are both from midcentury and both uptown.

Why Tig Notaro Loves Nickelback

Why Tig Notaro has no use for Nickelback bashing, Ranky Tanky performs live and explains the influence of Gullah music, and mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton’s take on performing songs about women that were intended to be sung by men.

Extra: New York Icons: “Central Park Zoo” by Garry Winogrand

The philosophies of a master street photographer and the story of how he took his most controversial picture.

Human Intelligence: A Holiday Tale

A short story turned radio drama by Kurt Andersen.

Jukebox Heroes

How the Brill Building cranked out hits in the late ’50s and early ’60s … and why that era’s “Mugmates” wasn’t one of them.

Raising a Glass … to Glass!

A whole episode about the cultural impact of glass, from Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie and Bauhaus-inspired glass skyscrapers to composer Philip Glass and unbroken glass ceilings.

Extra: New York Icons: The Brill Building

How a bunch of teenagers in a midtown Manhattan office building changed pop music.

The Talent Behind The Talented Mr. Ripley

American Icons looks at Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novels, perfumer Tanwi Nandini Islam creates a fragrance based on Toni Morrison’s Beloved, and writer Sadie Stein goes to bat for the word moist.

From Aria Code: The Shattered Illusions of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly

The aria “Un bel dì vedremo” captures Butterfly’s unwavering faith in her reunion with her American husband and her unflagging desire for a better life.