Siddhartha Mitter

New York, NY —

New York's Arab American Comedy Festival is six years old, but this year's edition is the first in a new political climate for Arab Americans. Comedian Dean Obeidallah co-founded the festival as a response to anti-Arab sentiment after 9/11. Now he says with the Bush ...

New York, NY —

More than a thousand people are expected to gather this weekend under the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. They won't be there to smell the flowers they'll be there to pose as their favorite Japanese cartoon characters. WNYC's Siddhartha Mitter asks why.

For ...

New York, NY —

Graffiti art has as much of a following in the gallery world as it does on the streets. And, a new show in Williamsburg is presenting graffiti with a twist. In a genre dominated by men, this show is all female. WNYC's Siddhartha Mitter reports.

New York, NY —

Saturday is Record Store Day, a day of events and promotions at independent record stores around the country and overseas. If you sense a hint of desperation it's because the rise of digital downloads has pushed a lot of record stores out of business. So ...

New York, NY —

In a few weeks wild flowers will sprout up all over Bedford-Stuyvesant. That's the hope of activists who sowed the flowers over the weekend on untended land in the Brooklyn neighborhood. But the environmental project also raised questions -- about how to organize community action ...

New York, NY —

New York’s annual African Film Festival is under way, but African movie culture in New York is a year-round happening, and the biggest source of movies is Nigeria.

African Film Festival

“Area Boys”

New York, NY —

It’s a time honored way to cope with the stress of growing up in a tough neighborhood: you make music about it. A group of girls from Brownsville are telling their story, with a little help from some new friends.

More on ...

New York, NY —

On this first day of Poetry month, Pulitzer prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa meets up with jazz violinist Billy Bang. They're both veterans who have used their art to deal with painful memories. More on Billy Bang and Yusef Komunyakaa


Poet ...

New York, NY —

"Seven Jewish Children" is a new play by the British playwright Caryl Churchill. She wrote it just after last December's Israeli military operation in Gaza. Now theaters are figuring out how to stage the short play and especially how to manage the heated conversations around ...

New York, NY —

That's United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon banging on a ceremonial drum from Cameroon.

He was at the U.N. marking its annual day of remembrance for the victims of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It's also a day when the organization tries to draw attention to modern-day ...

New York, NY —

This weekend marks the start of the Persian New Year and New York's Iranian community is getting ready to celebrate. It's made up of Iranian Muslims, Iranian Jews, people who came here because of the Islamic revolution in 1979, and young people who grew up ...

New York, NY —

Classical music jumped across continents this weekend. The two-week festival that celebrated the opening of the new Alice Tully Hall came to a close with a concert that showcased a new take on Indian classical music. WNYC's Siddhartha Mitter was there.

New York, NY —

The local cricket world is reacting to a deadly attack in Lahore, Pakistan, in which gunmen attacked a bus with the the visiting national cricket team of Sri Lanka. WNYC's Siddhartha Mitter has more.

New York, NY —

Black girls in New York City benefit from a strong sense of racial identity. That's according to a new study on the lives of teenage African American, Caribbean and African girls in New York City, that two non-profit groups released today. The report's author is ...

New York, NY —

Fashion week wrapped up late last week, but as the designers measure their success and the models move on to the next chic venue, discarded runways and backdrops are getting put to good use. WNYC’s Siddhartha Mitter reports on one woman’s quest to rescue leftover ...

New York, NY —

Learning English is key to joining the workforce, but immigrant advocates are worried that the economic crisis is threatening English as a second language programs. WNYC's Siddhartha Mitter reports.

REPORTER: Programs that offer ESL classes in the city are typically oversubscribed. The Queens Library ESL program ...

Barack Obama is now the President of the United States of America. We hear reactions to the speech and the transition from people in New York City...and from around the world. First, we check in with WNYC's Andrea Bernstein, Todd Zwillick from Capitol News Connection and The Takeaway, and Siddhartha ...

WNYC culture reporter Siddhartha Mitter and Evening Music host Terrance McKnight talk about the cultural significance of the inauguration live from the National Mall in Washington. 

The Brian Lehrer Show’s special coverage of the presidential inauguration.

Siddhartha Mitter, WNYC culture reporter, joins us from DC looking ahead to inauguration day tomorrow.