Shadow Yaddo Podcasts

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 highlight reel with a few favorite moments. See you in August for more Shadow // Yaddo! Contributing artists: Joseph Keckl…

Danyel Smith on her new page-turner, Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop. With a self-described “lust for loud,” Danyel has spent decades as a reporter and editor on the music beat at major publications. This is the book she was born to write, braiding her own stories of ambition, doubt and heartbreak with those of the Black…

We’re betting on these virtuosic minds to power a post-pandemic renaissance: Mark Morris, “the most successful and influential choreographer alive” (The New York Times), and “living legend” (The New Yorker) Fred Hersch, jazz pianist and composer, on primal improvisation, ’60s tunes, the return to live performance, embracing the gay, and more.…

As an antidote to Orwellian doublespeak, we’re highlighting 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 Shaina Taub shares new music. Apocalypse party, anyon…

Celebrating the return of live performance, with Pulitzer Prize-winning theater artists James Lapine—Sondheim-collaborator, director and screenwriter—and acclaimed playwright Doug Wright, whose Goodnight Oscar opens soon. PLUS: Mega-talented singer/songwriter Carol Lipnik shares music from her new album, Goddess of Imperfection. Contributing artist…

Conceptual artist, producer and activist John Sims on shredding confederate iconography, the power of Pi, quilting with the Amish, being handcuffed in his pajamas, the square root of love, and more. PLUS: Steve Buscemi reminds us why making art matters. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, John Sims Projects, Vi Hart; AfroDixie: The Rain Mix music…

Ringing in the “Old New Year” with literary supernovas Gary Shteyngart (Our Country Friends) and Sloane Crosley, whose forthcoming rom-com thriller, Cult Classic, takes on metaphysics, modern love, memory and mind control. PLUS Emmy Award-winning film and television composer Nathan Barr on his Mighty Wurlitzer and the music behind The Great. Huzzah…

It’s that time of year when many of us give some thought to our roots, our sense of home, where we belong. Travel is fraught, and the strain of the holiday season is real. Come share in a little insight and a few good laughs, with two of our favorite writers: poet and essayist Marianne Boruch, author of several collections including her latest, Bes…

Success. Fallacy of the one who escaped. The roots of racism and more, with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Andrea Elliott on her new book, Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City, which offers an astonishing account of a homeless family in super-stratified New York City, where those grappling with extreme poverty live side by…

Yaddo luminaries Brad Kessler and Uwem Akpan on empathy across boundaries, essential storytelling, the paradox of sanctuary, and the decade it takes to get it right. Kessler, “a consistently impressive writer,” (PW) is the prize-winning author of the memoir Goat Song and three novels—Birds in Fall, Lick Creek and his latest, North. Akpan, whose pow…

Halloween, yes! Sweater-weather, dog costumes, candy discounts and more. Gather ’round for a good old-fashioned ghost story: Acclaimed actor Rufus Collins brings to life selections from “The Ghosts of Yaddo” by Allan Gurganus, author of several books of fiction, including Oldest Living Confederate Widow and his latest, The Uncollected Stories of Al…

When artists get together, conversation flows! Antics, disco, cocktails and more in this week’s celebration of our upcoming Yaddo Artist Reunion. Three fantastic writers who met at Yaddo discuss how peers influence each other: Lauren Groff, the bestselling author of six books of fiction, including Fates and Furies, Florida and her latest, Matrix; t…

Celebrating the launch of Season 2 with Moby! We’ll take you back to the beginning of Yaddo, with a live performance by director and Tony Award-winning actress Blair Brown and legendary artist John Kelly. PLUS the mega-talented photographer and activist Dona Ann McAdams offers a preview of “Hardboots & Legends,” her ongoing project on the behind-th…

Celebrating the finale of our first season with two of our favorite humorists and radio stars: Elna Baker, writer, comedian, producer for “This American Life” and author of the “wickedly funny” (People) memoir The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance in conversation with Negin Farsad—comedian, director, panelist for “Wait Wait… Don’t Te…

Opera, voyages, battlegrounds and more: Playwright Sandra Seaton on how she came to be a librettist, why she’s moved to reimagine the past and how she inhabits the nuanced hearts of historical figures. Radiant visual artists Alexi Worth and Joyce Kozloff excavate what lies beneath the surface of war cartography. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler…

Venture behind the scenes for a glimpse of Yaddo magic: Chef and writer Gabrielle Hamilton (Blood, Bones & Butter) in conversation with New York magazine’s “bilious gourmand” Adam Platt on the tastes of summer and what the future might hold for NYC restaurants. Award-winning journalists Mark Binelli (Detroit City Is the Place to Be) and Julian Rube…

With summer in full swing, we consider the triumph of light over dark. 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,” with singer-songwriter and mega-talent Shaina Taub, who giv…

“Routing a racial justice revolution through Hollywood” (The New York Times): Brilliant filmmaker Shaka King, director and co-writer of Judas and the Black Messiah, discusses the difficulty of making meaningful films, New York vs. L.A., and the ebb and flow of social change with superstar Walter Mosley, celebrated writer and executive producer of S…

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. Plus: Spoken word artist and poet Hakeem Furious performs “Valero Valet,” a piece he wrote about working the gra…

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, whose debut memoir Now I Spill the Family Secrets offers a riveting and layered account of divorce, mental health a…

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 Performing Arts Center President and CEO Elizabeth Sobol on resilience, experimentation and turning our “lost ye…

Dig into the forensics of a new kind of noir, climate crime, with acclaimed novelist and nonfiction writer Nathaniel Rich, author of Second Nature: Scenes from a World Remade, and intellectual powerhouse Philip Gourevitch, longtime staff writer for The New Yorker. We’ll also revisit the pioneering sonic composition about rewiring the earth’s atmosp…

Yaddo connections run far and wide! One of these circles is having a red, hot streak in the East Village scene in New York City, where a group of performers with talent to burn—many of them Yaddo artists—have found each other and are creating new, exciting work. Playwright, songwriter and performer David Cale (Harry Clarke, We’re Only Alive for a S…

Work hard, play hard, and avoid the "tyranny of the early riser"—stay up late with Shadow // Yaddo! We’ll be delving into the ’70s, with New York Times features reporter Katherine Rosman, as she discusses the cult classic film "Dazed and Confused" with Melissa Maerz, author of "Alright, Alright, Alright." And the phenomenal writer, teacher and edit…

Time for some Big Sky! We’re headed out west with two incredibly talented Yaddo artists: Maxim Loskutoff on rural v. urban, guns, and his new novel, “a meditation on the cultural breaking-apart of the American West.” Photographer Peter Kayafas on his recent exhibition and book, a project that explores the dramatic and wide-open landscape of the Pla…

Writer-director Adam Goldman on bootstrapping his way to a TV series, being “a structure queen,” and procrastinating with great fervor. Miranda July shares early work she performed on an experimental radio show. Plus: new music by avant-pop band Arthur Moon, whose self-titled debut album is out now. Contributing artist: Joseph Keckler…

Acclaimed filmmaker Mitch McCabe on her latest feature, “Civil War Surveillance Poems,” which began in 2018 as speculative nonfiction about an impending civil war in the United States. Bestselling author Jewell Parker Rhodes on writing for children and why she’s betting on kids to carry us forward. Performance artist Chin Chih Yang on the one thing…

Artificial intelligence, weaponized data and turning STEM into STEAM: Virtuosic mathematician, human rights lawyer and novelist Zia Haider Rahman speaks with computer scientist and poet Brian Christian, whose latest book, "The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values," offers an insightful, provocative and fascinating account of where o…

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. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Boots Riley, The Coup.By Yaddo

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! Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Paul Moravec, Mark Campbell, Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Ke…

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 for the holidays. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Daniel and Patrick Lazour, Darlene Love.…

The brilliant Amitava Kumar ("Immigrant, Montana") talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and novelist Ayad Akhtar, whose new novel "Homeland Elegies" is sweeping the “best books of the year” lists. Internationally acclaimed composer Dalit Warshaw shares music and her thoughts on how the Theremin—an electronic instrument invented by a Russian…

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. Olivia Laing and Joseph Keckler chat about work routines and whether luck has anything to do with making art. Contributing artists: Shayla Lawson, Ghost of Vroom and Nas.…

Andrew O’Hagan discusses his “proudly misspent youth” as well as his imaginative landscape and new novel, Mayflies; Gabriel Kahane shares work from his groundbreaking oratorio on homelessness; and NPR veteran Jacki Lyden reports as herself from the Heartland in this week’s episode, themed “Home.” Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, The Oregon Sym…

Dogs, cats, and the allure goats: How the global crisis has brought us back to the wild, with Brad Kessler and Mary Gaitskill. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Myrkur, Steven Burke, The Wingdale Community Singers (Hannah Marcus, Rick Moody, David Grubbs).By Yaddo

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. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, and Lost in Stars, electronic music by composer and poet Dylan Willoughby featuring vocals by Alysa Lobo.…

We answer the questions: What exactly is Yaddo, and why does it matter? Contributing artists: Jonathan Ames, Edgar Oliver, Laura Schwendinger, Dean Haspiel, Sam Fader, Michael Snediker, Joseph Keckler, Odili Donald Odita, Rory Golden, Tarik O'Regan, Carol Lipnik, Anthony Gatto, Jonathan Lethem.By Yaddo