All Of It with Alison Stewart

The Colson Whitehead novel The Nickel Boys is a brutal story of an abusive reform school in segregated South Florida. Filmmaker RaMell Ross discusses writing and directing the new film adaptation of the novel, "Nickel Boys,"  and shares how his background in documentary filmmaking helped him create a unique take on this novel. The film is in select theaters starting December 13.

As WNYC celebrates its centennial this year, All Of It presents a special on the life of one of New York City's most important mayors: Fiorello La Guardia. La Guardia was the first Italian-American Mayor of New York who led the city during the aftermath of the Great Depression, Hitler's rise to power, and World War II. He was a Republican mayor in a liberal city who wasn't afraid of speaking out for what he believed was right. His decisions also have a huge impact on how our city looks and moves today. He unified our subway system, created NYCHA, and also was Mayor during the rise of the controversial figure, his Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. La Guardia also had a significant presence on WNYC airwaves during his tenure. His weekly "Talks to the People" broadcasts averaged 2 million listeners. He spoke directly to New Yorkers about issues that affected them, from the price of groceries, to war defense training, to more light hearted moments like when he read the comics to children during a newspaper strike. Join us for Patience and Fortitude: A History of Mayor La Guardia on WNYC, where we'll dive into the WNYC archives and get to know Mayor La Guardia, his early life, triumphs and faults, along with Terry Golway, author of the book, I Never Did Like Politics: How Fiorello La Guardia Became America’s Mayor, And Why He Still Matters.

FLO is one of the hottest girl groups to emerge in music in the last few years, with hits like "Cardboard Box" and "Fly Girl." The band has just released their debut album, Access All Areas, and members Jorja Douglass, Stella Quaresma, and Renée Downer join us from the UK for a Listening Party.

[REBROADCAST FROM August 20, 2024] In a new dramatic comedy, a cantor, played by Jason Schwartzman, experiences a crisis of faith but finds a new sense of purpose when his grade school music teacher, played by Carol Kane, becomes his adult bat mitzvah student. Schwartzman and Kane join us alongside filmmaker Nathan Silver to discuss the film, "Between the Temples," which is streaming now Apple TV.

The lead singer of the hit band MUNA, Katie Gavin, has struck out on her own to make her debut solo album, What a Relief. She joins us to discuss, and to play live songs from the new album. Gavin will be playing tonight at Bowery Ballroom. 

The 2025 Golden Globe nominations were released this week, and Nate Jones, Vulture senior writer who covers film and co-author of the article, "The Biggest Snubs and Surprises of the 2025 Golden Globe Nominations,” discusses his reactions to the nominations and we take your calls.

The new documentary, "Zurawski v Texas," follows three women in Texas who were denied abortion care, even while facing potentially life-threatening health challenges. The film also follows them as they decide to bring their case to the Texas Supreme Court. Director Maisie Crow discuss the documentary, which will be screening at the Hamptons Doc Fest tonight. 

This month, Smoke Jazz Club in Manhattan is celebrating its 12th annual Coltrane Festival, in honor of the late great John Coltrane. John's son, saxophonist and composer Ravi Coltrane, is participating in this year's festival December 11-15 with Gadi Lehavi and Elé Salif Howell, and he joins to perform live and preview his residency. The Coltrane Festival runs at Smoke Jazz Club December 11-January 5.

​​The Merriam-Webster Dictionary just released their 'Word of the Year.' Editor Peter Sokolowski talks about why Merriam-Webster selected that word, what words he considers "runners up," plus some of the new words added to the dictionary in 2024. And listeners call in to share the words that mattered to them this year.

Psychologists and researchers are still trying to understand why Black Americans suffer psychosis and schizophrenia at twice the rate as white Americans. We're joined by Daniel Bergner, author of the New York Times Magazine piece, "America’s Hidden Racial Divide: A Mysterious Gap in Psychosis Rates." We're also joined by Deidre Anglin, a professor of psychology at The City College of New York who studies this racial gap.