Society & Culture

Bella DuBalle says the legislators behind a new Tennessee law criminalizing public drag shows don't understand the art: "They think that every drag performer is doing something hypersexual or obscene." We talk with the native Tennessean about the law, performing for kids, and how her livelihood and safety are at risk.

The New Yorker recently published Mallon's diary excepts detailing life in Manhattan in the '80s. His new novel, Up With the Sun, is based on the life of a little-known actor who was gay and closeted.

Journalist Mark Whitaker says that much of what's happening in American race relations today traces back to 1966, the year when the Black Panthers were founded and the Black Power movement took full form.

Otsuka has recently been awarded the Carnegie Medal for Excellence for her novel about a Japanese American woman who's lost much of her memory to dementia. Originally broadcast Feb. 22, 2022.

Lizzy Caplan-one of the stars of the series Fleischman is in Trouble–talks about marriage, parenthood and middle age. She’s also known for her roles in Mean Girls, Party Down, Freaks and Geeks and Cloverfield. She was nominated for an Emmy for her performance in the series Masters of Sex.

Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell says the unpublished report shows that tech companies didn't respond to employees' warnings about violent rhetoric on their platforms.

In the winter and spring of 1993, more than 80 people, including four federal agents and at least 20 children, died in two violent confrontations between federal law enforcement and the Branch Davidian Christian sect near Waco, Texas. Extremist groups have since cited the assaults as evidence for anti-government conspiracy theories. JEFF GUINN writes about it in his new book, "Waco: David Koresh, The Branch Davidians and a Legacy of Rage."

As nominations for the 2023 Academy Awards are announced, The White Lotus actor F. Murray Abraham, who won the Best Actor Oscar in 1985 for his role as composer Antonio Salieri in Amadeus, reflects on how the award changed his life — and nearly cost him his career.

Legal historian Mary Ziegler has chronicled the legal, political and cultural battles around abortion, and says the debate is far from over: "We're at a moment of almost unprecedented uncertainty in the United States when it comes to abortion," Zielger says. Her book is Roe: The History of a National Obsession.

Imani Perry says the South can be seen as an "origin point" for the way the nation operates. Her book South to America traces the steps of an enslaved ancestor. Originally broadcast Jan. 25, 2022.

Banks, who died Jan. 7, wrote about ordinary people coping with difficulties in contemporary society. His books included The Sweet Hereafter and Affliction. Originally broadcast in 1989 and '95.

The series "Fleishman Is In Trouble" was adapted by our guest, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, from her novel of the same name. The complete season is now streaming on Hulu. Brodesser-Akner is also known for her celebrity profiles in GQ and The New York Times, where she's a staff writer for the magazine.

Jonathan Escoffery grew up in Miami, the son of Jamaican immigrants. In a world where identity was linked to race, he says it was often confusing to figure out where he fit in.

Sterlin Harjo says society has a tendency to be "very precious with Native people." His irreverent series follows four teens on a reservation. Originally broadcast Sept. 19, 2022.

Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide have risen in recent years. NY Times reporter Matt Richtel says we lack the therapists and treatment centers to care for teens who are suffering.

Every year, John Powers looks back on the great features he never got around to talking about. This year's list includes White Lotus, The Menu, Nanny and Dark Winds — plus one vodka commercial.

Maddow's podcast uncovers the widespread anti-Semitic, pro-German sympathies active among major religious and political leaders in the U.S. in the lead-up to U.S. entering WWII.

Tech journalist Casey Newton says Elon Musk did not inherit a company in crisis — but after massive layoffs and upheaval the social media giant is losing money and Musk is warning of bankruptcy.

After a decade, Caitlin Rose is "Getting It Right." Weyes Blood's "It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody" is an ethereal ballad. And Carly Rae Jepsen and Rufus Wainwright duet in "The Loneliest Time."

In How the Word Is Passed, author Clint Smith explored U.S. sites that deal with the legacy of slavery. Now, in The Atlantic, he writes about German memorials to the Holocaust.