Filmmaker Lisa Cortés tells the inspiring and painful story of the Black, queer inventor of rock and roll–Little Richard.

Richard Wayne Penniman launched rock and roll into pop culture and wrote a new set of rules for what it meant to be free as an American, but his own freedom is a much more complicated story. Filmmaker Lisa Cortés set out to capture his tale in her new documentary, Little Richard: I Am Everything. She joins host Kai Wright to discuss the inspiration behind the film and how the artist reached global stardom. 

Companion listening for this episode: 

Billy Porter on Bringing Blackness, Queerness and Fullness to Art (12/19/2022)

What does a next-level victory look like for an Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner? For actor Billy Porter - it’s an authentic sense of self.

“Notes from America” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on notesfromamerica.org or on WNYC’s YouTube channel.

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Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.