“Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill” recounts Holiday's life story through the songs that made her famous.

One of the most memorable interviews on our show was when Kongar-ol Ondar came by our old studios at One Centre Street.  He was a master of Tuvan throat singing -- where the vocalist can produce two, or more, notes simultaneously.  Margalit Fox said in the New York Times that it "sounds like the bewitching, remarkably harmonious marriage of a vacuum cleaner and a bumblebee."  With Leonard's coaxing, Ondar demonstrated on air.  And it suddenly felt like we were on the steppes of Mongolia...You can hear for yourself...

Ondar died recently at the age of 51.

Joe Assadourian talks about his new one-man, off-Broadway comedy “The Bullpen,” based on his experiences behind bars.

Legendary musician Graham Nash talks about his life, from his lower-class childhood in post-war England to his early days in the British Invasion group The Hollies to his time as the lover and muse of Joni Mitchell to reaching superstardom with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. In his memoir Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life he also writes about his career as a solo musician and political activist.

Playwright Ayad Akhtar talks about the play “Disgraced,” along with actor Aasif Mandvi, who plays the lead role. The play tells is the story of a successful Pakistani-American lawyer who is moving up the corporate ladder while distancing himself from his cultural roots. When he and his wife Emily, a white artist influenced by Islamic paintings, host a dinner party, what starts out as a friendly conversation escalates into something far more damaging. “Disgraced” is playing at Lincoln Center Theater and has been extended through December 23.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens, who fled the South for northern and western cities in search of a better life. In The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, she tells this story through the lives of three individuals, and examines how the migration changed the face of America.

Historian William Jelani Cobb looks at the 2008 election of Barack Obama—who won the Democratic nomination even though old-line civil rights leaders—Jesse Jackson, John Lewis, Andrew Young—all openly supported Hillary Clinton. In The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress, Cobb examines America's changing political and social landscape, and a new generation of voters with priorities not shaped by the legacy of Jim Crow.

Satire, dinosaurs, and a fight against corruption. That's not the plot of a sci-fi movie - it's a recipe for political success. 

Grade inflation, weird professor-student relationships, the battle for tenure, and the use and abuse of adjunct professors. Is all this worth it to be a doctor of letters?

When the FDA finds evidence of fraud or misconduct, it doesn't notify the public, the medical establishment, or even the scientific community. 

Temple Grandin talk about how cattle feed additives, like popular weight-gaining supplements, are changing cattle behavior, health, and the meat we eat.

Filmmaker Geraldine Wurzberg, and Tracy Thresher and Larry Bissonette, two men with autism, discuss the film “Wretches and Jabberers.” The film follows Thresher and Bissonnette, who use keyboards and computers to communicate instead of speaking, who set out on a global quest to change attitudes about disability and intelligence. They travel to Sri Lanka, Japan, and Finland, in order to challenge public attitudes about autism. It’s playing at the AMC theater on 42nd street.

Joan Rivers talks about her latest book, I Hate Everyone…Starting with Me. She gives the best of her worst to First Ladies, closet cases, hypocrites, Hollywood, feminists, overrated historical figures, and even herself. It’s a comic love letter to the hater in all of us.

The octogenarian and author believes that plastic surgery is a necessity, aging is an adventure, and jokes almost never go too far. She also never wants you to use “LOL” ever again. 

The creators of the hit podcast "Welcome to Night Vale" joined us for a chat, and listeners jumped in with tons of questions--and some awesome fan art.

The popular podcast host tells us about his roots in stand-up comedy, his ventures into radio and television, and how he approaches his interviews with comedians.

Over the last few years, even as cutbacks have been made in the system’s 87 branches, the New York Public Library has renovated the 42^nd Street main library and officials are now looking to construct a new state-of-the-art computer-based library. Scott Sherman, a contributing writer for The Nation and Caleb Crain, a former Fellow at the NYPL and author of American Sympathy, talk about the proposed changes, staffing cuts and construction plans – and the controversy they’ve created. Sherman’s article, "Upheaval at the New York Public Library," appeared in the December 19 edition of The Nation.

The New York Public Library’s plan to renovate its Fifth Avenue building, which includes removing research stacks, has been met with much criticism, with some opponents of the project...

New York Public Library President Anthony Marx talks about the library's plan for its 42nd Street building, and will address the criticism and controversy over those plans. that Scott Sherman and Caleb Crain raised on our show on March 12th

Many art galleries, and artists, suffered severe damage during Sandy, and in the wake of the storm, teams of conservators have rushed in to help them recover, and save as much of the artwork as possible. Jim Coddington, MoMA's chief conservator, Lisa Elkin, Chief Registrar and Director of Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History, and Cindy Albertson, conservator at MoMA and the FAIC (Foundation for the American Institute for Conservation) Sandy Volunteer Coordinator, talk about what can be done to conserve damaged artworks.

Imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit at the age of 18, Damien Echols' story inspired Lorri Davis to write him a letter. Over the course of their 16-year correspondence, Echols and ...

Major League pitcher Dwight Gooden talks about his memoir of his talent, addiction, and recovery. In Doc, the Mets’ beloved Dr. K shares the intimate details of his life and career, revealing all the extraordinary highs and lows: The hidden traumas in his family; the thrill and pressure of being a young baseball phenom in New York; his self-destructive drug binges; and his three World Series rings.

Her graphic memoir Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? spans the last several years of her parents’ lives and is both humorous and sobering.

Salman Rushdie discusses how his life changed when he was “sentenced to death” by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, because of what he wrote in his novel The Satanic Verses. Rushdie was forced underground, moving from house to house, with the constant presence of an armed police protection team, who called him by his alias, Joseph Anton. Rushdie tells the story for the first time in his memoir, Joseph Anton, about the sometimes grim, sometimes comic realities of living with armed policemen, struggling for support and understanding, and finally regaining his freedom.

Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez discuss their careers, relationship, family, and faith. Their dual memoir, Along the Way: The Journey of a Father and Son, tells stories about more than 50 years of family history and reflect on their life journeys.

Edmund de Waal, a world-famous ceramicist who inherited a collection of 264 tiny Japanese wood and ivory carvings, called netsuke. He describes his quest to find out who had touched and held them, and how the collection had managed to survive. The Hare with Amber Eyes is part-memoir and part detective story of his discovery both the story of the netsuke and of his family over five generations.

Leonard Nimoy, who played the iconic role of the cold and calculating officer Mr. Spock in "Star Trek," died today at the age of 83. Listen to our 2002 interview with Nimoy here.

Pete Wells, New York Times restaurant critic, and Sam Sifton, the New York Times food editor and former restaurant reviewer, explain the ins and outs of being a restaurant critic.

Wonder no more. The New York Public Library just released 17,389 historic New York City menus online. If you're planning a throwback dinner party, here's your resource. 

New York Mets legend Mookie Wilson talks about being part of the Mets 1986 World Series Victory.