Anna Sale

In this episode: Anna Sale, the host of WNYC's new podcast Death, Sex & Money, joins Soundcheck to discuss her recent conversation with Grammy Award-winning singer Bill Withers, including Bill's thoughts on the Kardashians, his creative process and more.

Then: Animator Ralph Bakshi famously earned the first “X” rating for his 1971 debut feature, Fritz The Cat. Since then, his raunchy, unlikely takes on race, sex, religion, war, and, of course, rock ’n’ roll have made him a celebrated figure in the world of animation. Bakshi reflects on his career, why he dedicated a whole film to the history of American pop music, and a current retrospective of his work at BAM Cinema.

And: Violinist Owen Pallett started his career recording music under the name Final Fantasy; these days, Pallett releases albums under his own name – and has become a key contributor to the band Arcade Fire. Hear Pallett perform music from his newest album, In Conflict, live in the Soundcheck studio.

Anna Sale fills in for Leonard Lopate. On today’s show: Mary Roach joins the Leonard Lopate Show Book Club to talk about her book Gulp! Thomas Piketty talks about crunching 200 years’ worth of economic data to look ahead at how wealth will be distributed in the 21st century. Cecile Richards talks about her late mother, former Texas Governor Ann Richards. James Moll discusses his documentary “Farmland,” about the lives of young farmers and ranchers. And we’ll find out why there isn’t a male contraceptive pill.

Anna Sale fills in for Leonard Lopate. On today’s show: reporter Mark Follman explains how  the popular online forum Reddit has become a gun marketplace. Isabella Rossellini talks about adapting her Sundance Channel series, “Green Porno,” for the stage. One woman shares her story of growing up as a Muslim in America. Plus, our word maven Patricia T. O’Conner takes your calls and questions about the intricacies of the English language.