Podcast
Hosted by Elaina Richardson A new podcast with conversations that inspire curiosity, humor, resistance and hope.


Space trash, vultures, mining, and more in our latest Shadow Yaddo featuring the art research collective Tres—ilana Boltvinik and rodrigo Viñas!

Celebrating the conclusion of Season 2, with a behind-the-scenes take on Shadow // Yaddo. Plus: A few of our favorite moments featuring Moby, Terry McMillan, Mark Morris, Elizabeth Strout and more dazzling talents.

Celebrated author Gish Jen on post-Nixon China, finding humor in heartbreak, and her virtuosic fiction. Syrian writer and refugee Ayad Awwadawnan on his journey to asylum and hopes for the future. PLUS: New music from The Lazours!

Sculptor Harry Leigh on the decades of discipline that saw him through half a century of making art. PLUS: Acclaimed filmmaker Javier Barboza on growing up in East L.A., turning talent into gold, and building a better world.

Boom, Pow, Bang! The magic of comix, with Emmy- and Ringo- award winner Dean Haspiel (Dino!), acclaimed painter and cartoonist Pat Palermo, and superstar novelist Victor LaValle.

Bestselling novelist Elizabeth Strout on process, persistence, and her new novel, Lucy by the Sea. PLUS: A dip into the archive, with composer George Walker and poets Etheridge Knight and Gwendolyn Brooks.

Celebrating the freedom to read, with Colm Tóibín on the dangers of censorship and Ariel Schrag on how her comics ended up among the “Top 100 Most Banned Books.”

Beyond brilliant: Danielle Spencer and Andrew Solomon discuss narrative medicine and the impacts of storytelling on our health, work and lives.

We’re incredibly grateful to all who’ve listened and contributed to our “little podcast that could,” which began in September 2020 and now has listeners on every continent! Before we take a short summer break, we put together a…

S2 E12: “Interrogate & Celebrate”
Groundbreaking Danyel Smith on braiding her own stories of ambition, doubt and heartbreak with those of the Black female artists she heralded in Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop.

World-renowned choreographer Mark Morris and legendary jazz pianist and composer Fred Hersch on primal improvisation, ’60s tunes, live performance, embracing the gay, and more.

Yaddo artists whose work radiates authenticity: Bestselling novelist Terry McMillan on kicking booze to the curb, finding joy in a library, and writing clean prose with a clear head. PLUS: Theater superstar and songwriter extraordinaire…

Celebrating the return of live performance with Pulitzer Prize-winning theater artists James Lapine and Doug Wright. PLUS: Mega-talent Carol Lipnik shares new music.

Conceptual artist, producer and activist John Sims on shredding confederate iconography, the power of Pi, quilting with the Amish, and more. PLUS: Steve Buscemi reminds us why making art matters.

S2 E7: The Russians Are Coming
Ringing in the “Old New Year” with literary supernovas Gary Shteyngart and Sloane Crosley. PLUS Emmy Award-winning composer Nathan Barr on creating the music behind “The Great.” Huzzah!

Come share in a little insight and a few good laughs, with two of our favorite writers: poet and essayist Marianne Boruch and novelist Lynn Freed.

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Andrea Elliott on child poverty, redefining success, the roots of racism and more. PLUS: New music from mega-talented singer-songwriter and composer Gabriel Kahane.

Acclaimed novelists Brad Kessler (North) and Uwem Akpan (New York, My Village) on empathy across boundaries, essential storytelling, the paradox of sanctuary—and the decade it takes to get it right.

S2 E3: Every Real Story Is a Ghost Story
Halloween, yes! Acclaimed actor Rufus Collins brings to life selections from “The Ghosts of Yaddo” by Allan Gurganus, author of several books of fiction.

Antics, disco, cocktails and more in this week’s celebration of our upcoming Yaddo Artist Reunion, with a trio of rock star writers: Sheila Heti, Lauren Groff, Sarah Manguso.

Off to the races! Celebrating the launch of Season 2 with musician, singer-songwriter and producer Moby, mega-talented photographer and activist Dona Ann McAdams, Tony Award-winning actress Blair Brown and legendary performance artist…

S1 E24: Shorten the Distance Between Laugh Lines
Celebrating the finale of our first season with radio stars Elna Baker—writer, comedian, storyteller—and Negin Farsad, comedian, director, author and host of “Fake the Nation.”

Opera, voyages, battlegrounds and more: Playwright and librettist Sandra Seaton on why she’s moved to reimagine history. PLUS: Renowned visual artists Alexi Worth and Joyce Kozloff on war cartography.

Venture behind the scenes for a glimpse of culinary magic, the future of NYC restaurants, and the tastes of summer with chef/writer Gabrielle Hamilton and New York magazine’s “bilious gourmand” Adam Platt. Award-winning journalists Mark…

The luminous writer Jo Ann Beard discusses her new book, Festival Days, with revered editor Patricia Towers. And we’ll share some news about a very special Yaddo event coming up this fall: “Art Saved Us—Let’s Save Art”.

S1 E20: Change is Like an Ocean
Brilliant filmmaker Shaka King and celebrated writer Walter Mosley discuss the difficulty of making meaningful films, New York vs. L.A., and the ebb and flow of social change. PLUS: Photographer and seasoned activist Dona Ann McAdams…

Whether it’s a creative pursuit, side-hustle or “real” job, work is at the heart of this episode featuring novelists Lisa Dierbeck and Jonathan Ames on his latest book, A Man Named Doll, the first in a new noir series set in Los Angeles.

Obsession, motherhood, long-held secrets and more in this week’s exploration of family: Kirstin Valdez Quade on her new novel, The Five Wounds, in which multiple generations of family converge. Illustrator and writer Margaret Kimball…

As arts venues reopen (hooray!), we asked two brilliant friends to imagine a new paradigm for concert classical music: Venezuelan/American composer, multimedia collaborator and Yaddo Board Member Manuel Sosa in conversation with Saratoga…

Dig into the forensics of a new kind of noir, climate crime, with acclaimed novelist and nonfiction writer Nathaniel Rich and intellectual powerhouse Philip Gourevitch. PLUS selections from Landfall, the genius collaboration by iconic…

Playwright, songwriter and performer David Cale and his friend and sometime-collaborator Sylver Wallace talk about pandemic projects and share new music, with nods to the East Village hotspot Pangea, Sade Adu, and… squirrels!

Work hard, play hard, and evade the “tyranny of the early riser”—stay up late with Shadow // Yaddo! Katherine Rosman and Melissa Maerz on the cult classic, “Dazed and Confused.” Plus Beena Kamlani shares a reading from Saul Bellow’s Herzog.

Time for some Big Sky! We’re headed out west with two incredibly talented Yaddo artists: Novelist Maxim Loskutoff and photographer Peter Kayafas.

Innovation, big ideas, and the glory of experimentation: Writer-director Adam Goldman on bootstrapping his way to a TV series, Miranda July shares early work, and new music from Arthur Moon.

Acclaimed filmmaker Mitch McCabe on her latest feature, “Civil War Surveillance Poems,” bestselling author Jewell Parker Rhodes on writing for children, and performance artist Chin Chih Yang on the one thing he thinks everyone should…

Artificial intelligence, weaponized data and turning STEM into STEAM, with Zia Haider Rahman and Brian Christian. PLUS: Katherine Rosman and Elizabeth Holmes on how to make a statement without saying a word.

Dancing turtles, family antics, the joy of libraries and more in this week’s episode featuring bestselling humorist David Sedaris in conversation with Patricia Towers, a beloved editor and friend to many writers.

For our very special holiday edition, we share a few of our favorite things: Allan Gurganus reads “A Fool for Christmas,” composer Paul Moravec shares music from his new, Grammy-nominated album, Sanctuary Road. Plus, a dose of Dolly Parton!

We bring the cocktail party to you! Interdisciplinary artists James Hannaham and Mark King discuss quarantine fashion, architecture and more. The remarkable musical duo The Lazours share music, and Rick Moody: Life Coach offers advice.

The brilliant Amitava Kumar talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and novelist Ayad Akhtar, whose new novel is sweeping the “best books of the year” lists.

Mike Doughty on his new band, new book and why he always keeps a guitar in his hands. Glendalys Medina shares a performance and discusses the difficulty of survey shows.

Andrew O’Hagan on his “proudly misspent youth” and his new novel; Gabriel Kahane shares his groundbreaking oratorio on homelessness; and NPR veteran Jacki Lyden reports from the Heartland on our upcoming election.

Dogs, cats, and the allure goats: How the global crisis has brought us back to the wild, with Brad Kessler and Mary Gaitskill.

Sheri Fink on our global pandemic, Rick Moody: Life Coach answers your burning questions, and Victor LaValle talks heroes for this week’s theme: How to Live.
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Collectively, Yaddo artists have won 82 Pulitzer Prizes, 34 MacArthur Fellowships, 70 National Book Awards and a Nobel Prize in Literature. Learn more about the impact of Yaddo.
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