Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen

School is back in session, so Studio 360 is hitting the books. Kurt calls up his favorite teacher from high school to compare notes. The novelist Nicholson Baker signs up to be a substitute teacher. And comedian Aparna Nancherla reveals the shocking secret that destroyed her career in science before it started. 

Jace Clayton has traveled the world collecting and playing music as DJ /rupture, and he gives Kurt a lesson in spinning records. Plus, the singer-songwriter Lydia Loveless overcame her social anxiety by coming to terms with the fact that everyone is laughing at you. And indie lightning rod Amanda Palmer picked up the ukulele on a whim, but when she started playing Radiohead’s famously downbeat songs on it, she discovered the perfect mix of sweet and salty.

Revered British critic Clive James aims his razor wit at the golden age of cable drama — and he finds that even shows with dragons deserve some respect. Plus, Nadja Spiegelman grew up in a family that encourages artistic expression — her mother is the New Yorker’s art editor and her father is the author of “Maus.” But when she started writing a memoir about her mother’s family, she discovered that not all truth-telling is welcome. And the trans actress Hari Nef lands the role of a lifetime, straight out of college.

Eric Whitacre has written extremely popular choral music — but his real breakthrough came when, over YouTube, he started inviting amateur singers from all over the world to join in. Also, how Aimee Mann tried to understand a friend’s death by writing a song. And composer Julia Wolfe digs deep into the culture of coal country with her Pulitzer Prize-winning oratorio “Anthracite Fields.”

Danny McBride has built a comedy empire by playing foul-mouthed, egotistical jerks — but he wants you to know that he’s not really like that. Also, the writer-director Sian Heder explains how a lousy job she took when she was just starting out inspired her new movie, “Tallulah.” And we travel back in time 200 years, to the climate catastrophe that inspired Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.”

It’s been over 150 years since "On the Origin of Species" was published, but we’re still fighting over Charles Darwin’s big theory. One of Darwin's descendants, Ruth Padel, writes poems about her famous relative. Spencer Wells gathers DNA around the world to determine where we came from. An amateur paleontologist finds a way to believe in both God and the fossil record. Plus, a science fiction story by Lydia Millet imagines the downside of messing too much with our genes. (Originally aired November 20, 2009)

Actor Viggo Mortensen brings some of his own outdoorsy skills to his role as a dad raising his kids off the grid in “Captain Fantastic.” Also, with a new exhibit of her early photographs, it’s time to reconsider Diane Arbus’ conflicted legacy. And Kurt gets a lesson on speaking like a proper Brit from an accent coach.  

Is the old cliché true — is laughter the best medicine? Kurt Andersen and Mary Harris, host of the podcast Only Human, go to a laughter yoga class to find out. Also, we hear from a neuroscientist who studies laughter and moonlights as a standup comedian. Comic Chris Gethard explains why he resisted getting help for his depression out of fear of losing his humorous edge — and how getting treatment transformed his career. And we find out when medical humor is — and is not — just what the doctor ordered.

We all grow up, eventually. Kurt Andersen talks with Lois Lowry, whose novel “The Giver” helped define dystopian young adult fiction. Also, writer Junot Diaz explains why he couldn’t finish his Pulitzer-winning coming of age novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” until he turned 40. Plus, the story of how a Kiss album helped an immigrant kid feel a little less lonely.

The legal scholar and former Obama administration advisor Cass Sunstein explains the hidden lessons "Star Wars" teaches about the law, politics, and philosophy. Plus, we find out about a theater company that’s perfectly happy playing to an audience of one — in fact, it’s designed that way. And the indie rocker Margaret Glaspy plays a live solo set.

This week, three live music performances by artists who have transformed themselves. First, the sisters of the pop group Haim got their start in their parents’ classic rock cover band — and went on to play with Stevie Nicks. Then, how a bad breakup led Basia Bulat to a musical breakthrough. And Shamir Bailey proves that musical style can be as fluid as gender identity.

Generations of Americans have grown up with Walt Disney shaping our imaginations. In 1955, Disney mixed up some fairy tales, a few historical facts, and a dream of the future to create an alternate universe. Not just a place for fun, but a scale model of a perfect world. “Everything that you could imagine is there,” says one young visitor. “It's like living in a fantasy book.” And not just for kids: one-third of Walt Disney World’s visitors are adults who go without children. Visiting the parks, according to actor Tom Hanks, is like a pilgrimage — the pursuit of happiness turned into a religion. Futurist Cory Doctorow explains the genius of Disney World, while novelist Carl Hiaasen even hates the water there. Kurt tours Disneyland with a second-generation “imagineer” whose dead mother haunts the Haunted Mansion. We’ll meet a former Snow White and the man who married Prince Charming — Disney, he says, is “the gayest place on Earth. It’s where happy lives.” (Originally aired October 18, 2013)

In this week’s special fashion episode, Kurt gets some style advice from the industry’s most quotable observer, Simon Doonan. We take a look at how World War II shaped New York Fashion Week. Plus, Isabel Toledo became an internationally recognized designer after dressing Michelle Obama for her first Inauguration — we take a peek inside her studio. 

How do you build a monument to a war that was more tragic than triumphant? Maya Lin was practically a kid when she got the commission to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall. “The veterans were asking me, ‘What do you think people are going to do when they first come here?’” she remembers. “And I wanted to say, ‘They’re going to cry.’" Her minimalistic granite wall was derided by one vet as a “black gash of shame.” But inscribed with the name of every fallen soldier, it became a sacred place for veterans and their families, and it influenced later designs like the National September 11 Memorial. We’ll visit a replica of the wall that travels to veterans’ parades around the country, and hear from former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel about how this singular work of architecture has influenced how we think about war. 

This week, Kurt Andersen gets a master class in musical theater from veteran Broadway producer Jack Viertel. Also, we hear from the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Anna Quindlen about how she managed a midlife career switch with aplomb. And the surprising story behind how Marvin Gaye came up with one of the greatest R&B songs ever.