92NY Talks

In this episode of 92Y Talks, actor, director and producer Melissa Joan Hart talks with Glamour’s Jessica Radloff about her trio of family Christmas films on Lifetime and her experiences directing Mario Lopez in the family film Feliz NaviDAD, starring alongside Jason Priestley in the holiday romance Dear Christmas, and producing the Vanessa Lachey-led Once Upon a Main Street through her production company, Hartbreak Films. The conversation was streamed live as part of the 92nd Street Y’s online talks series on December 7, 2020.

T.C. Boyle on his selection:  It was Donald Barthelme, along with Robert Coover, Samuel Beckett, Julio Cortázar and Flannery O’Conner who spurred me to be in writing myself. Barthelme is best known for his abstract stories, like “Indian Uprising,” a story I cherish, but I’ve chosen “The School” for this program because of its tight comedic narrative and its presentation as a dramatic monologue. It works by escalation, as much of our humor does. The line, “We weren’t even supposed to have a puppy” always brings down the house. Of course, at its core, the story questions what education--knowledge itself--can do to ease the souls of a species, burdened with the foreknowledge of its own death. Sixty Stories, by Donald Barthelme. Music: "Shift of Currents" by Blue Dot Sessions // CC BY-NC 2.0

Geraldine Ferraro, former member of the United States House of Representatives and Vice Presidential candidate, gives a talk on "The Future of Women in Politics." Her remarks about the possibility of a female president resonate powerfully today. She is introduced by Addie Guttag, a 92Y board member. The conversation was recorded on February 20, 1991 in front of a live audience at New York's 92nd Street Y.

In this episode of 92Y Talks, actor/director Alison Brie and filmmakers Andrew Rossi, Sarah Amos, and Jason Sterman with Marvel.com's Angélique Roché discuss the ever-expanding Marvel Universe and their new documentary series Marvel's 616. Exploring the uniquely rich and innovative legacy of storytelling that has blossomed out of Marvel Comics, Marvel's 616 charts new terrain in the Marvel Universe –– revealing untold stories of the origins of Marvel's most beloved characters, profiling the artists and filmmakers who reinvent them generation after generation, and shining a light on the fans who push the boundaries of pop culture forward. The conversation was streamed live as part of the 92nd Street Y's online talks series on December 2, 2020.

In this episode of 92Y Talks, Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés, the directors of All In: The Fight for Democracy, discuss their documentary film with Annette Insdorf. The film is a powerful exploration of the struggle for voting rights in the United States, featuring Stacey Abrams, the former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, and is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video. The conversation was streamed live as part of the 92nd Street Y’s online talks series on September 21, 2020.

In this episode of 92Y Talks, New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Rabbi Peter Rubinstein, Director of Jewish Community and Bronfman Center for Jewish Life at the 92nd Street Y, discuss the challenges confronting New York City and State and reasons to be hopeful about the future, with an introduction from the 92nd Street Y's Chief Executive Officer Seth Pinsky. The conversation was streamed live as part of the 92nd Street Y’s online talks series on September 23, 2020.

In this episode of 92Y Talks, acclaimed playwright, producer, screenwriter and director Aaron Sorkin discusses his latest film, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and his extensive body of work with Annette Insdorf. The Trial of the Chicago 7 features an evocative recreation of the late 1960s trial following arrests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and is currently available to watch on Netflix. The conversation was streamed live as part of the 92nd Street Y’s online talks series on November 9, 2020.

In this episode of 92Y Talks, Neil deGrasse Tyson—astrophysicist icon, Hayden Planetarium director, and host of National Geographic’s COSMOS ––talks with the great science popularizer Bill Nye about the making of COSMOS: POSSIBLE WORLDS and its state-of-the art visual effects, the legacy of the visionary Carl Sagan, and, in Tyson’s words, “our eternal search for answers about ourselves in the universe.” Created, executive produced, directed, and written by Ann Druyan and hosted by Tyson, the show transports viewers to lost worlds and others yet to be revealed by science. The conversation was recorded on March 9, 2020 in front of a live audience at New York’s 92nd Street Y.

In this episode of 92Y Talks, Anya Taylor-Joy, Marielle Heller, Moses Ingram, and Scott Frank discuss their new Netflix limited series The Queen’s Gambit with Jodie Foster. Based on the Walter Trevis novel about a Cold War-era chess prodigy, it’s a coming-of-age story like no other—a complex portrait that follows a young girl from a Kentucky orphanage into the upper echelons of competitive chess as she discovers her preternatural talent for the game—along with the demons that haunt her pursuit of a new life. The conversation was streamed live as part of the 92nd Street Y’s online talks series on November 1, 2020.

New York Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries joins us with Eddie S. Glaude Jr, distinguished professor of African American Studies at Princeton and author of Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, for a conversation about racism in America and the urgent need to create a more just society. Jeffries is chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and a tireless advocate for racial and social justice. In June, he helped lead the charge in passing the historic George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and is dedicated to making transformative police reform a reality and to fully realizing the principle of liberty and justice for all. How can lawmakers address historic inequities in public policy and make real, effective change? Join us for what is sure to be a compelling conversation.