Midday on WNYC show

Midday on WNYC

Summary: WNYC hosts the conversation New Yorkers turn to each afternoon for insight into contemporary art, theater and literature, plus expert tips about the ever-important lunchtime topic: food. WNYC Studios is a listener-supported producer of other leading podcasts including Radiolab, Death, Sex & Money, Snap Judgment, Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin and many others. © WNYC Studios

Join Now to Subscribe to this Podcast

Podcasts:

 Celebrity Women Pushing Boundaries | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 22:28

BuzzFeed culture writer Anne Helen Petersen discusses her book Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman, which looks at how female celebrities are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be an “acceptable” woman. Petersen uses the lens of “unruliness” to explore the ascension of pop culture powerhouses like Lena Dunham, Nicki Minaj, and Kim Kardashian, exploring why the public loves to love (and hate) these controversial figures.  This segment is guest hosted by Matt Katz.

 America in Transition | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 32:38

Eliza Griswold discusses her new book Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America, which looks at how one family is facing a changing Appalachia. Griswold focuses on Stacey Haney, a local nurse raising two kids and trying to keep up her small farm when the fracking boom came to her hometown of Amity, Pennsylvania. Griswold looks at how and why Haney decided to strike a deal with a Texas-based energy company for the mineral rights to her land. She also addresses what happened when mysterious illnesses began to afflict Haney’s children and company representatives insisted that nothing was wrong. This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson. 

 Leave No Trace Explores the Effects of War | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 15:48

Debra Granik discusses directing Leave No Trace, a film about a father and his thirteen-year-old daughter who lead an idyllic existence in an urban park in Portland, Oregon. But things go awry when a small mistake derails their lives forever. This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson.     

 Behind the Scenes of The Simpsons | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 15:12

Mike Reiss discusses Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons. A four-time Emmy winner, Reiss worked on The Simpsons continuously since the first episode in 1989. He shares stories, scandals, and gossip about working with America’s iconic cartoon family and provides an inside look at the show’s writers, animators, actors and celebrity guests. This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson.   

 D.L. Hughley's Advice on 'How Not to Get Shot' | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 34:02

D.L. Hughley discusses his new book How Not to Get Shot: And Other Advice From White People. Hughley, an activist and comedian offers this tongue-in-cheek illustrated how-to guide for black people. Covering such tropes as how to act, dress, speak, walk, and drive in the safest manner possible, Hughley offers a humorous and cutting approach to contemporary racism and identity politics. This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson.   

 Maternal Mortality Rate on the Rise | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 32:21

USA Today reporter Alison Young discusses her new investigation, “Deadly Deliveries: Hospitals Know How to Protect Moms. They Just Aren’t doing It.” The investigation found that American women continue to suffer life-altering injuries or death due to preventable complications from giving birth. USA Today examined the cases of 150 women and the records of 75 birthing hospitals to track how well doctors and nurses are following recommended procedures. They found a startling lack of adherence to those procedures. Each year, more than 50,000 are severely injured and about 700 mothers die, making the U.S. the most dangerous place in the developed world for women to give birth. This segment is guest hosted by Cindy Rodriguez.

 New Film Celebrates All-Girl Skate Crew | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 18:22

Writer and director Crystal Moselle discusses her first feature film, Skate Kitchen, along with its breakout star, Rachelle Vinberg. In the first narrative feature from The Wolfpack director, Moselle tells the story of an introverted teenage skateboarder (Rachelle Vinberg) from Long Island who meets and befriends an all-girl, New York City-based skateboarding crew called 'Skate Kitchen'. The film opens in New York on August 10 at the IFC Center, AMC Empire 25 and the Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn. This segment is guest hosted by Cindy Rodriguez.

 Jules Feiffer Completes His Noir Masterpiece | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 16:15

Famed cartoonist Jules Feiffer discusses his new book, The Ghost Script: A Graphic Novel. The book is set in a haunted version of Hollywood and weaves together several storylines. In this final installment to his noir masterpiece, Feiffer exposes the cyclical path of American history and the country’s tendency to forget. Event: Feiffer has an event today at The Mysterious Bookshop located at 58 Warren St.  This segment is guest hosted by Cindy Rodriguez.

 What's Wrong with Our Bodies | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 29:41

Biologist Nathan Lents of "This World of Humans" podcast discusses his new book Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes, which highlights broken genes, pointless mutations, and other things about our bodies that just do not work. Some examples of these “human errors” include the fact that our irises are facing backwards, our sinuses drain upside down causing us to have 200 times as many head colds than dogs, and how we are some of the only animals on earth that cannot produce our own vitamin C. Each of these errors can be traced back to mutations in our DNA and the process of evolution, which is more flawed than we might think.  Nathan Lents will be hosting a panel at the 92nd Street Y with Carl Zimmer, Maria Konnikova and Sebastian Seung. On August 19 at 2:00 pm Nathan Lents will be speaking at the New York City Skeptics.  This segment is guest hosted by Cindy Rodriguez.

 Cover-Up of Toxic Chemicals in 3M Products | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 28:03

Sharon Lerner, award-winning environmental reporter and a finalist for the National Magazine Award, discusses the final installment in her 17-part “Teflon Toxin” series for The Intercept. Her latest piece is titled “3M Knew about the Dangers of PFOA and PFOS Decades Ago, Internal Documents Show.” Lerner takes a deep dive into documents from a lawsuit against the company 3M, that shows 3M kept secret damning information about PFAS chemicals since the 1970s.  This segment is guest hosted by Nancy Giles.

 An Intimate Portrait of Forbidden Love | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 15:58

Crystal Hana Kim discusses If You Leave Me: A Novel. An emotionally riveting debut novel about war, family, and forbidden love, the book focuses on two ill-fated lovers in Korea and the choices they’re forced to make in the years surrounding the civil war. This book is a portrait of war, refugee life, and romance as well as an exploration of one woman’s longing for autonomy in a rapidly changing world. On August 8 at 7 pm, Crystal Hana Kim will be in conversation with Emily Nemens, editor of the Paris Review, at POWERHOUSE @ the Archway (28 Adams Street, corner of Adams & Water Street at the Archway Brooklyn, NY 11201)  This segment is guest hosted by Nancy Giles.    

 Home Repair That Won't Break the Bank | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 31:44

The show’s original “Gurus of How-To,” Alvin and Lawrence Ubell, discuss all things home repair.  This segment is guest hosted by Nancy Giles.

 Flying High, Beating the Odds | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 20:36

Keith O’Brien discusses his new book, Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History. Between the world wars, airplane racing became a hugely popular sport. Male pilots were hailed as brave heroes, while female pilots were more often more ridiculed than praised. By weaving together the stories of five women, O’Brien recounts how women broke through this glass ceiling, culminating with one of them triumphing in the toughest race of all. On August 8 Keith O’Brien will be at Barnes & Noble Upper East Side at 8 pm. This segment is guest hosted by Nancy Giles.

 The Effects of Charlottesville Now | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 33:25

FRONTLINE correspondent A.C. Thompson discusses Documenting Hate: Charlottesville. Made in collaboration with ProPublica, this investigation exposes the white supremacists and neo-Nazis involved in the Charlottesville rally. It shows how some of those behind the racist violence went unchecked and continued to operate around the country. Documenting Hate airs on August 7 at 10 pm on PBS and will be streaming online at pbs.org/frontline. To see what WNYC contributed to this series click here.  This segment is guest hosted by Nancy Giles. 

 How the Financial Crash Changed the World | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 29:27

On the 10th anniversary of the financial crisis, Adam Tooze discusses his new book Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World. Tooze takes a close look at the crash’s causes, the prospects for a more prosperous future, and how the crash ultimately led to the election of President Trump. This segment is guest hosted by Nancy Giles.

Comments

Login or signup comment.