Best WQXR Podcasts (2025)

1
Ethnomusicologist Fredara Hadley on Reckoning with the Past 57:00

10M ago57:00

57:00

Fredara Hadley is an ethnomusicologist at The Juilliard School whose research focuses on the musical legacies of historically Black colleges and universities. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Billboard Magazine, the Journal of Popular Music Studies, and elsewhere. In this episode, Hadley reflects on the unique contributions of music…

1
Novelist Walter Mosley on Family and Forging His Own Path 49:43

10M ago49:43

49:43

Acclaimed author Walter Mosley writes about the intricacies of Black livelihood by grounding science fiction and mystery in America’s turbulent social and racial climate. Decorated with the O. Henry Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Grammy, and PEN America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Mosley is a testament to Black artistry. His works have b…

1
Modern Love host Anna Martin on the Infinitude of Love 54:32

10M ago54:32

54:32

Anna Martin is the host of the New York Times’ immensely popular Modern Love podcast, where guests join to discuss the trials, triumphs, betrayals, and epiphanies of modern relationships. In this episode, she joins Helga to discuss how love is perceived and expressed across cultures; the many different words for love across languages, and what it’s…

1
Janna Levin on Mozart’s Unfinished Ambitions 24:36

10M ago24:36

24:36

Janna Levin is a theoretical cosmologist and professor of astronomy and physics at Barnard College in New York City, specializing in the study of black holes. A Guggenheim Fellow, she’s authored several books on the topics of space, mathematics, and the impassioned people that study them; her latest book, “Black Hole Survival Guide,” allows readers…

1
Author Letty Cottin Pogrebin on her Decades of Activism 55:58

11M ago55:58

55:58

Author and activist Letty Cottin Pogrebin has been immersed for decades in the fight for gender equality and social justice. She co-founded Ms. Magazine, which played a pivotal role in the feminist movement of the 1970s, and served as president of the Authors Guild and as chair of Americans for Peace Now. She’s also authored a dozen books, co-found…

1
Hanna Arie-Gaifman on Bach and Survival 15:52

11M ago15:52

15:52

Hanna Arie-Gaifman served as the director of the Tisch Center for the Arts at the 92nd Street Y for over 20 years, where she produced countless multidisciplinary projects, cementing 92NY’s place as a leading literary and performance art venue in New York City. Before then, Aire-Gaifman worked around the world as an arts administrator, linguist, and…

1
Journalist Jenna Flanagan on Local Politics and Seeking Truth 57:40

11M ago57:40

57:40

Journalist Jenna Flanagan has built a career championing the necessary conversations that drive community progress. She’s worked as a producer for the New York City-based AM radio news station 1010 WINS and WNYC’s All Things Considered, and as a co-host for the PBS show MetroFocus. Recently, she hosted the podcast “After Broad and Market,” which re…

1
Caroline Shaw on Mendelssohn and Possibility 11:49

11M ago11:49

11:49

Caroline Shaw is a tireless musician, active as a violinist, vocalist, producer, and composer. She’s won multiple Grammy awards and, along with Kendrick Lamar, is one of the youngest recipients of the Pulitzer Prize in Music. Throughout her career, she has continuously experimented across genres, her collaborations spanning from the likes of Nas an…

1
Noliwe Rooks on Extending the Ethic of Care 58:34

11M ago58:34

58:34

Noliwe Rooks is a widely esteemed author and chair of Africana Studies at Brown University. A passionate advocate for education equality, Dr. Rooks has focused much of her work on the challenges that poor and African American communities face, particularly within the American public education system. In this episode, Dr. Rooks talks about her famil…

1
Nick Ferrone on Why Barber’s “Adagio” Gets a Bad Rap 24:41

11M ago24:41

24:41

By day, Nick Ferrone is a Brooklyn real estate agent, but on most Saturday nights, he can be found playing the harmonica at Sunny’s Bar in Red Hook. As the seventh of eight kids, Ferrone reaped the benefits of being exposed to records that most kids his age weren’t listening to, including the one that inspired him to start playing the harmonica: “G…

1
Singer-songwriter Sampha on Fatherhood and Intuition 46:32

11M ago46:32

46:32

Sampha is a leading British singer-songwriter and producer within the neo-soul and alternative R&B scenes, his music a seductive blend of meditative, confessional lyrics and intricate, genre-spanning production. Active since the mid-2000s, he’s well known for his collaborations with artists like Solange Knowles, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Drake, …

1
Lucy Boynton on Chopin and Getting Into Character 13:44

11M ago13:44

13:44

You might know actress Lucy Boynton from the television mini-series “The Ipcress File” and films like “Chevalier” and “Murder on the Orient Express.” She grew up with a music-loving family who always had something playing in the background. Here, Boynton shares a favorite piano piece by Chopin and reflects on the power of music to establish tone in…

1
Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks on Self-Worth and Loving the Grind 55:32

12M ago55:32

55:32

Suzan-Lori Parks is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. Parks was the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Drama with her 2002 play, “Topdog/Underdog,” and in 2023, she was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. In this episode, Parks discusses her bold idea to write a one-act play each day fo…

1
Martha Lane Fox on Perseverance and Beethoven 17:52

12M ago17:52

17:52

If anyone can claim the title of Renaissance Woman, it is Martha Lane Fox. Though she gained prominence during the dot-com boom of the 1990s, her career has since led her serve as the Chancellor of Open University in the United Kingdom; to sit on the boards of companies likeChanel, WeTransfer, and Twitter; and, in 2013, she became the youngest fema…

1
Scholar Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo on the Joys of Nerd Rap 58:10

12M ago58:10

58:10

Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo is a scholar and professor of music at Brown University who also performs as the dynamic rapper and producer Sammus. Sammus explores themes of anxiety, awkwardness, Afro-futurism, and activism in three full-length albums, three EPs, a beat tape, and several collaborations with notable artists. As a Brown Practitioner Fellow, …

1
Steve Reich on Why Medieval Music Sounds So Fresh 25:31

12M ago25:31

25:31

Steve Reich is one of the most important composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. A leader in developing and popularizing what many describe as minimalist music — but which Reich has often preferred to describe as music that unfolds over a gradual process — his music helped reassert the value of tonality and sonority within newly composed concert …

1
Designer Tremaine Emory on Validation in Consumer Culture 59:17

12M ago59:17

59:17

Tremaine Emory is a visionary fashion designer. Once the creative director at the streetwear brand Supreme, he co-founded his own brand, Denim Tears, which aims to tell the stories of the African Diaspora through fashion. His work has been recognized widely for its bold originality and counter-cultural drive. In this episode, Emory talks about the …

1
Anne-Sophie Mutter on Why Bach Is Always the Answer 12:32

12M ago12:32

12:32

“Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” is one of Bach’s best known works. For acclaimed violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, it has been part of her life since she was a child and has accompanied her through some of her life’s most important moments. As she puts it, “Bach is always the answer — for the joyous moments in life as much as for the moments where you do…

1
Director Whitney White on Depth and the Magic of Theater 1:04:52

1y ago1:04:52

1:04:52

Whitney White is an actor, singer, Obie Award winner, and winner of the Lilly Award, which recognizes extraordinary women in theater. White has directed productions of James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner; Aleshea Harris’ What to Send Up When It Goes Down, a work about the victims of racialized violence; and Jocelyn Bioh’s Broadway play Jaja’s African H…

1
Víkingur Ólafsson on the Unpredictable Futurism of Rameau 16:21

1y ago16:21

16:21

All classical musicians are devoted to the art of reinterpretation — of trying to make the old feel new again. Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson actually manages to pull it off. Whether he’s performing keyboard music hundreds of years old or a piece hot off the press, one has the feeling that they’ve never heard this music before, or this music played in t…

1
Singer Brittany Howard on Creative Rebirth and Spirituality 1:02:00

1y ago1:02:00

1:02:00

Singer-songwriter Brittany Howard, former lead singer and guitarist of the Grammy Award-winning Alabama Shakes, is now a spectacular and charismatic solo artist. Brittany joins Helga in the studio following the release of her second solo album, What Now, to offer a deep-dive into her personal and artistic life. She discusses her early experiences w…

1
Garth Greenwell on Finding Refuge in the Music of Britten and Pears 19:35

1y ago19:35

19:35

By now, Garth Greenwell is an award-winning author, poet, literary critic, and teacher of writing whose novels include “What Belongs To You” and “Cleanness.” But his first creative aspiration was as a musician: He attended the Interlochen Academy for the Arts and, later, the Eastman School of Music, focusing on vocal performance. In this episode, G…

1
Helga Returns For A Sixth Season! 1:55

1y ago1:55

1:55

Get ready for a new season of fearless conversations that reveal the extraordinary in all of us. Critically acclaimed actress, singer, writer and composer Helga Davis returns for a new season of soulful conversations with artists and thinkers from a variety of disciplines, including Brittany Howard, Whitney White, Tremaine Emory, Enongo Lumumba-Kas…

1
Jennifer Egan on Chopin's Narrative Masterclass 21:44

1y ago21:44

21:44

Jennifer Egan has spent a lifetime thinking about what makes a good story — to good effect. Her novels have received many awards and recognitions, including the Pulitzer Prize for “A Visit From the Good Squad.” Its companion book and her latest work, “The Candy House,” was named one of The New York Times’s 10 Best Books of 2022. They say that one o…

1
Rowan Williams on Bach and the Daily Discipline of Silence 13:05

1y ago13:05

13:05

Rowan Williams is a British theologian and poet. From 2003-2012, he served as the Archbishop of Canterbury — a role that placed him, along with the British monarch, at the head of the Anglican Church. As one of today’s most influential religious leaders, Williams has often been the subject of both praise and controversy for his outspoken views, inc…

1
Dexter Filkins on Tension, Tenderness, and Ravel 21:03

1y ago21:03

21:03

Dexter Filkins is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, former Iraq War correspondent for the New York Times, and author of the bestselling book, “The Forever War.” He’s currently a staff writer for The New Yorker. In this episode, Filkins recalls how Ravel’s music gave him respite during his “nightmare years” covering the war in Iraq. He explains h…

1
Marin Alsop on Beethoven and Humanity’s Infinite Potential 25:34

1y ago25:34

25:34

As one of the leading conductors of our time, Marin Alsop has collected a lot of “firsts”: She’s the first woman to head a major orchestra in the United States, South America, Austria and the United Kingdom. Throughout her career, she has also tirelessly advocated for equitable music education and for professional opportunities for other female con…

1
Nathalie Joachim on the Connection Between Brahms and Haiti 20:44

1y ago20:44

20:44

Nathalie Joachim is a Grammy-nominated flutist, vocalist and composer. She is the co-founder of the acclaimed flute-meets-electronica duo Flutronix, as well as the composer of the evening-length work “Fanm d’Ayiti,” which explores her heritage and, more broadly, women’s voices in Haiti. Her recently-released album “Ki moun ou ye” (“Which person are…

1
Elizabeth Day on Jacqueline du Pré’s Elgar and Navigating Loss 11:07

1y ago11:07

11:07

Elizabeth Day is an author, broadcaster, and host of the podcast “How to Fail,” where she interviews guests about what they have learned from failure. In this episode, Day reflects on a performance that has guided her through different stages of her life: Jacqueline Du Pré’s rendition of Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor. From the disappointment of…

1
Damien Sneed on Dreams, Family and Franz Liszt 25:23

1y ago25:23

25:23

Damien Sneed is an award-winning musician, conductor, composer and arts educator who works across classical, jazz, R&B and other genres. When he was five years old, Sneed’s parents told him he was adopted. He walks us through the story of how, through a series of dreams and coincidences, he eventually reunited with his biological family and learned…

1
Deborah Frances-White on Chance Encounters and Mozart 12:25

1y ago12:25

12:25

Deborah Frances-White is a comedian, writer, and host of “The Guilty Feminist” podcast, where she explores the balancing act between feminist idealism and human imperfection. In this episode, White reflects on her upbringing as a Jehovah’s Witness and shares a story about the first time she saw a performance of Mozart’s opera “Così fan tutte.” On t…

1
Tom Hiddleston on Arvo Pärt and the Infinite 19:54

1y ago19:54

19:54

Tom Hiddleston is an actor beloved around the world for his roles in film, television, and the stage, most notably for his portrayal of the Norse god Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Before all that, he was a student at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, balancing both high hopes and uncertainty for his future. For the debut episode of the …

1
The Open Ears Project Returns! 1:51

1y ago1:51

1:51

The Open Ears Project returns for a new season on February 12! From tales of memorable moments in nature and fleeting encounters with strangers – to recollections of music that helped in difficult times – The Open Ears Project features people sharing a personal story about the classical track that means the most to them, and why. This season’s gues…

1
A Radio Special: Mozart’s "Abduction from the Seraglio" 58:47

1+ y ago58:47

58:47

In the prime of his illustrious career, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ran in the realm of prominent, Black visionaries. But after composing “Zaide,” an unfinished opera depicting a slave revolt, Mozart was commissioned to create a work more palatable to the politics and pocketbooks of the late 18th century European upper class. First heard in Vienna in 1…

1
A Radio Special: Verdi’s "Aida” 58:28

1+ y ago58:28

58:28

At the heart of “Aida” is an African love story: the Ethiopian princess Aida is torn between loyalty to her country and passion for her captor, the Egyptian general Radamès, who loves her in return. But when “Aida” premiered in Cairo in 1871, very few Africans went to see it, let alone could afford the price of a ticket. The original audience for “…

1
A Radio Special: Verdi's "Otello" 58:35

1+ y ago58:35

58:35

“Otello” debuted in Milan in 1887, just two years after European nations gathered in Berlin to agree on a campaign to carve up and colonize the African continent for their own profit. Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, based on the play Shakespeare wrote in the very early 1600s, centers on the Moor, Otello — an African who becomes a much celebrated Venetian g…

1
A Radio Special: Mozart’s "The Magic Flute" 46:52

1+ y ago46:52

46:52

In this radio special of “Every Voice with Terrance McKnight,” enjoy this season’s journey into Mozart’s "The Magic Flute," its investigation into the overlooked character of Monostatos, and what his portrayal teaches us about ourselves. With a legacy spanning over two centuries, "The Magic Flute" remains a beloved classic, captivating audiences in…

1
Abduction from the Seraglio: Revelations 19:06

2y ago19:06

19:06

With such a dark past, what does the future look like for opera as an art form? From Verdi to Mozart, many of opera’s most celebrated works famously reduce people of African descent to racist caricatures and stereotypes with tragic fates. In the final episode of this season of Every Voice with Terrance McKnight: we go in search of opera’s future wi…

1
Abduction from the Seraglio: A Blind Eye 19:27

2y ago19:27

19:27

Mozart’s “The Abduction from the Seraglio” was first heard in Vienna in 1782, commissioned by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II to cater to the German-speaking audience of the capital city. Joseph II and Mozart had more in common than just their native tongue. Joseph II championed liberal ideas, equality, and religious freedom, while some experts interp…

1
Abduction from the Seraglio: A Dream Interrupted 20:12

2y ago20:12

20:12

In the prime of his illustrious career, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ran in the realm of prominent, Black visionaries, composed the radical (unfinished) opera “Zaide” depicting a slave revolt, and even shared a home with famed Senegalese / French composer Joseph Boulogne, known as the Chevalier de Saint Georges. The Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, a suppo…

1
Abduction from the Seraglio: Freedom and Justice for Some 20:30

2y ago20:30

20:30

All too often, characters of African descent in operas written during the 18th and 19th centuries are defined as the institution of slavery and the idea of inferiority. But today’s composers, like Dr. Sharon Willis, aim to write about Black life in order to uplift the community where she lives and works. She says she has “no use” for the depiction …

1
Aida: America’s Confederates in Egypt 21:33

2y ago21:33

21:33

When “Aida” premiered in Egypt in 1871, it delivered some not-so-subtle messaging in the dramatization of light-skinned Egyptians dominating dark-skinned Ethopians. Within two years, the man who commissioned “Aida,” Egypt’s Khedive Ishmael Pasha, lived out this fantasy of conquest, mobilizing the nation’s army with help from former American Confede…

1
Aida: 100% Egyptian Cotton 19:01

2y ago19:01

19:01

“Opera has always been not just adjacent to colonial conquest, but perhaps … quite a large part of it.” Pranathi Diwakar, Every Voice with Terrance McKnight researcher. When the US and British cotton industry was disrupted by the American Civil War in the 1860s, Egypt, led by Khedive Ismail Pasha, moved to capitalize on Britain's demand for the val…

1
Aida: Off the Chain 17:54

2y ago17:54

17:54

At the heart of Verdi's opera “Aida” is an African love story, where an Egyptian general and an Ethiopian princess fall in love. It premiered in Cairo in 1871, but the truth is, very few Africans went to see it, let alone could afford the price of a ticket. This was a European conception of the East, for European audiences at a time when Egypt’s le…

1
Aida: Red Heart, White Eyes 18:45

2y ago18:45

18:45

In Giuseppe Verdi’s “Aida,” Princess Aida is torn between her homeland of Ethiopia (ruled by her father, King Amonasro) and her captor, the Egyptian leader Radamès who loves her and whom she loves in return. It’s a powerful love story, an African love story - so why are Egyptians portrayed as white and the Ethiopian as Black and enslaved? This week…

1
Otello: The North Star 20:40

2y ago20:40

20:40

As the one Black man in Shakespeare’s play and Verdi’s opera, Otello was not only tokenized, but villainized, criticized and minimized. With such an emphasis on Otello’s flaws, how is it that Desdemona fell in love? In her play “Desdemona,” Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and theater director Peter Sellers tell the story of the women of Otello. And in…

1
Otello: Black Handkerchiefs Matter 16:36

2y ago16:36

16:36

Giuseppe Verdi's Otello rose from enslavement to the ranks of army general and marries an aristocratic Venetian woman. It’s difficult to imagine the rich cultural heritage of Otello’s African past; that history is only hinted at. Through the whitewashing of his character, some may forget that Otello is of African descent. But for Iago, the identity…

1
Otello: Haters 16:12

2y ago16:12

16:12

This week on Every Voice with Terrance McKnight, we go deeper into Giuseppe Verdi's character of the “Moor of Venice." Otello is a celebrated general in the Venetian army, and as a Black man in a position of power, his status inspires praise and worship by some and searing loathing from others. Otello’s subordinate, Iago, thinks his boss woefully u…

1
Otello: UNMOORED 15:41

2y ago15:41

15:41

“Otello” debuted in Milan in 1887, just two years after European nations gathered in Berlin to agree on a campaign to carve up and colonize the African continent for their own profit. Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, based on the play Shakespeare wrote in the very early 1600s, centers on the Moor, Otello — an African who becomes a much-celebrated Venetian g…

1
The Magic Flute: Recycling 18:55

2y ago18:55

18:55

The use of blackface is a dying trend, but it was fundamental to one of the most popular operas of all time, Mozart’s hit comedic opera, “The Magic Flute“. Over the last few decades a number of opera companies have been working to create alternate versions of this piece, all of them attempting to shape essential messages relevant to our society; we…

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