Studio 360 With Kurt Andersen

The Peabody Award-winning show from PRI.

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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

Ranky Tanky: Live in Studio 360

How a centuries-old musical tradition inspired the Billboard-topping jazz hits of Ranky Tanky.

American Bi-cons: The Searchers and The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Rewatching John Ford’s racially problematic masterpiece and the movie that made an art of talking back to movies.

Extra: This Woman’s Work: Hounds of Love by Kate Bush

How Kate Bush’s album captivated musicians as varied at Outkast’s Big Boi and singer Julia Holter.

Why the Caged Bird—and Liz Phair—Sing

How Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings changed everything, and Liz Phair on her new memoir.

Antonio Banderas on—and as—Pedro Almodóvar

Plus, Rick Baker on the Joker’s makeup and the complicated wonder of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.”

David Byrne and the Birth of Talking Heads

A look back at the early days of the seminal band.

What Uta Hagen Taught Actors

Celebrating the centennial of the birth of influential acting teacher Uta Hagen.

When Hannah Gadsby Met Jennifer Aniston

Hari Kondabolu is in the host seat, with Gadsby and hip-hop impresario Sophia Chang.

New York Icons: Siembra

How a salsa album that many thought was doomed became a hit.

Remembering the Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die

Guest host Hanif Abdurraqib talks with writer Ashley C. Ford and indie artist Vagabon.

Maeve Higgins Guest Hosts!

Playwright Michael R. Jackson, artist Molly Crabapple, and the creators and cast of Felix Starro, a new musical from the Ma-Yi Theater Company.

Day Jobs: Unannounced Standardized Patient

Lots of actors moonlight as waiters or baristas to pay the bills. Alex Kramer moonlights as a spy.

The Handmaid’s Tale, Continued

With Margaret Atwood’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale forthcoming, a look at the novel’s impact with Ann Dowd, who plays Aunt Lydia on the Hulu adaptation. Plus, how Louise Erdrich and Megan Hunter also wrote about pregnancy in their dystopian novels.

Shades of Noir

How film noir inspired Portishead’s album Dummy, gave novelist Karen Russell a creative breakthrough, and launched the career of composer Carter Burwell.

Touring Edgar Allan Poe’s Baltimore With Laura Lippman

The acclaimed mystery writer tells Kurt about her fascination with Poe, and why Baltimore is a “good noir town.”

Taking Stock of Woodstock

The oddity of Sha Na Na at Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix’s searing performance of the national anthem, how Sly and the Family Stone’s album Stand! sounded a note of hope in a turbulent time, and the surprising, life-changing influence of that other Woodstock—the Peanuts character.

Hallelujah

How Leonard Cohen lives on for artists and fans, Nick Waterhouse performs live, and why Bim Adewunmi still loves the Sweet Valley High books.

Remembering Toni Morrison

In a 2014 interview, the late Nobel Prize laureate explains why she began writing: She couldn’t find the novels she wanted to read.

American Icons: Mad magazine

Along with serving up a generous helping of dirty-ish jokes and goofy parodies, Mad magazine changed the way we consume pop culture and how we talk about world affairs.

American Icons: Moby-Dick

In this Peabody Award–winning show, Kurt Andersen sets sail in search of the great white whale.