William Harvey, the American conductor of the Afghan Youth Orchestra, and Milad Yousoufi, a pianist with the orchestra, discuss the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) bringing its Afghan Youth Orchestra to the United States for the first time. The orchestra was started after the fall of the Taliban to rebuild the musical culture of Afghanistan. The orchestra provide a trade and skill for children (both boys and girls) to help get them off the streets of Kabul.

Benjamin Walker and Ciaran Hinds talk about their roles in Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” It’s playing at the Richard Rogers Theater through March 30.

Ciaran Hinds was on the Lopate Show on February 7, 2013, with Benjamin Walker, to talk about their roles in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." He shares his guest picks with us.

Benjamin Walker was on the Lopate Show on February 7, 2013, with Ciaran Hinds, to talk about their roles in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." He shares his guest picks with us.

Joy Division founding member and bass player Peter Hook tells the story of the band, which is credited with reinventing music in the post-punk era, and influencing U2, Morrissey, R.E.M., Radiohead, and numerous others. In 1980, just after the release of their groundbreaking debut, “Unknown Pleasures,” and on right before their first U.S. tour, the band’s lead singer, Ian Curtis, committed suicide. Hook’s book Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division recounts how four young men from Manchester and Salisbury, with makeshift instruments and a broken-down van, created a new sound that would define a generation.

David O. Russell talks about his latest film, Silver Linings Playbook, which he wrote and directed, based on the bestselling novel by Matthew Quick. It has been nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Director.

D. T. Max talks about his biography of David Foster Wallace, one of the most influential writers of his generation who not only captivated readers with his prose but also mesmerized them with his brilliant mind. In Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace, Max charts Wallace’s battle to succeed as a novelist as he fights off depression and addiction to emerge with his masterpiece, Infinite Jest. Since his death by suicide at the age of forty-six in 2008, Wallace has become a symbol of sincerity and honesty in an inauthentic age.

Three-time Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Laurie Metcalf and her daughter Zoe Perry talk about their roles in Sharr White’s play “The Other Place.”

Mark Russell, director of the Under the Radar Festival, talks about the festival, which tracks new theater from around the world. The Under the Radar Festival runs January 9-20 at The Public Theater.

Actress Nina Hoss talks about her new movie, “Barbara.” Set in East Germany in 1980, the film focuses on a young doctor who has applied for an exit visa from the GDR and, as punishment, has been transferred from her prestigious post in Berlin to a small pediatric hospital in the country. “Barbara” opens on December 21 at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and Angelika Film Center.

Met mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard talks about starring in an all-new abridged, English-language production of "The Barber of Seville" designed for families. In the fall she starred as Miranda in the Met premiere of Thomas Adès’s “The Tempest,” and in the spring for a third production, a rare revival of Poulenc’s gripping French Revolution tragedy “Dialogues of the Carmelites.” “The Barber of Seville” runs through January 5 at the Metropolitan Opera.

Writer, producer, and director Judd Apatow talks about his career and his latest film, “This Is 40.” It stars his wife, Leslie Mann, and their two daughters, and is based on his own experiences as a husband and father. He'll also discuss writing and directing "Knocked Up" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," and his role as a producer for comedies including “Anchorman” and “Bridesmaids,” and the HBO show "Girls." "This is 40" opens nationwide on December 25.

Director Bartlett Sher discusses Lincoln Center Theater’s 75^th Anniversary production of the Clifford Odets classic “Golden Boy,” along with Seth Numrich, who plays the lead, Joe Bonaparte, and Tony Shaloub, who plays Joe’s Italian uncle. “Golden Boy” is the story of Joe Bonaparte, a young, gifted violinist who is torn between pursuing a career in music and earning big money as a prize fighter. “Golden Boy” is playing at the Belasco Theater.

Norbert Leo Butz, Judy Greer, and Katie Holmes talk about the play “Dead Accounts.” Jack’s (played by Norbert Leo Butz) unexpected return throws his family into a frenzy, and his sister Lorna, (played by Katie Holmes), needs answers. Theresa Rebeck’s new comedy tackles the issues of corporate greed, small town values, and whether or not your family will always welcome you back with no questions asked. It’s playing at the Music Box Theatre.

Jonathan Campbell talks about the evolution of rock and roll in China, and how it has evolved from a Western import into something uniquely Chinese. Red Rock looks at music's journey from the Mao years to present day, considering the people and the events that have created Chinese rock's identity.

The Roundabout Theatre Company is celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens with new Broadway production of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.” Rupert Holmes talks about writing the book, music, and lyrics, and Jim Norton and Jessie Mueller discuss their roles in the play. Set in a Victorian music hall, a rowdy ensemble of actors mounts a staging of Charles Dickens’s unfinished novel. Everyone on stage is a suspect in the murder of young Edwin Drood—and it’s up to the audience to choose the killer! Each performance ends differently, depending on what the audience decides. It’s playing at Studio 54 through March 10.

Playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury and director Eric Ting discuss “We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915.” In the play, a troupe of American actors stumble over questions of authenticity and appropriation as they attempt to reconstruct the little known first genocide of the 20th Century—and land in an exploration that hits closer to home. It’s been extended through December 16 at the Soho Rep.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson, director of “The Piano Lesson,” and Brandon Dirden and Roslyn Ruff, who play the leads, discuss the play, the fourth play of August Wilson’s epic Century Cycle. “The Piano Lesson” is a moving drama of family, history, and survival. In Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1936, the Charles family battle their surroundings and each other over their shared legacy – an antique piano. “The Piano Lesson” is playing at the Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center.

Kristine Nielsen, David Hyde Pierce, and Sigourney Weaver discuss their roles in “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.” Playwright Christopher Durang takes characters and themes from Chekhov and mixes them up, and the result is a play set in present day Bucks County, Pennsylvania. “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” is playing at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.

Robert Zemeckis, director of the film “Flight,” and John Gatins, who wrote the screenplay, talk about the film, which stars Denzel Washington as Captain Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe. Afterwards, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on that plane.