Tony-Nominated Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins on Using Theater to Make Sense of Nonsense

Tony-Nominated Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins on Using Theater to Make Sense of Nonsense

Ten years after its original staging, “Appropriate” has received eight Tony Award nominations. Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins talks about the moments of his life that inspired it.

The play tells the story of three siblings reuniting in their family home after the death of their father. Charged with going through his belongings, the children discover troubling relics within the home. They are left to deal with the question of an inheritance, but also this new challenge to their late father’s legacy.

Jacobs-Jenkins has since staged “Appropriate” several times, been a Pulitzer Prize finalist for two subsequent plays, and been awarded a MacArthur “genius” fellowship. But it wasn’t until December 2023 that the playwright made his Broadway debut with “Appropriate,” which is now up for eight Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for actress Sarah Paulson.

Host Kai Wright sits with Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins to discuss the real-life moments that inspired the creation of this show, and the playwright’s efforts to understand the complicated inheritances of race in America.

Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.

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

Jaksot(424)

Affirmative Action is About More Than Acceptance Letters

Affirmative Action is About More Than Acceptance Letters

Everyone’s talking about affirmative action at elite universities. But they educate fewer than 5 percent of students seeking advanced degrees. So why should the other 95 percent care? Kai wants to kn...

13 Heinä 202328min

What Does “Color-Blind” Really Mean?

What Does “Color-Blind” Really Mean?

Affirmative action is gone. Ibram X. Kendi tells us the history leading up to this moment and what could be next. Historian and best-selling author Ibram X. Kendi helps Kai understand the Supreme Cou...

10 Heinä 202323min

Black Life Resuscitated from the Ocean Floor

Black Life Resuscitated from the Ocean Floor

National Geographic Explorer Tara Roberts’s mission: To recover her ancestry as a Black American. Her destination: The bottom of the Atlantic. Tara Roberts walked through the National Museum of Africa...

6 Heinä 202318min

Why It’s So Hard to Sound “American”

Why It’s So Hard to Sound “American”

A culture war from our past: Before he could define America’s sound for the next century, Aaron Copland had to overcome conflict over what “America” meant. There’s one line of questioning our listene...

3 Heinä 202333min

The Coolest Music Parties You Didn’t Know Were Happening

The Coolest Music Parties You Didn’t Know Were Happening

Arab Americans around the country are celebrating their diaspora. And it starts with two guys in a band blasting music at underground parties in Washington, D.C. Philippe Manasseh and Nadim Maghzal we...

29 Kesä 202319min

Why the Indian Child Welfare Act is the Gold Standard in Family Law

Why the Indian Child Welfare Act is the Gold Standard in Family Law

Allison Herrera, the Indigenous affairs reporter at KOSU, returns to the show to introduce us to Hodalee and Jamie Sewell, who are in the process of adopting their great niece– a baby girl. She’s a Ch...

26 Kesä 202332min

95 Unmarked Graves

95 Unmarked Graves

In 2018, a few months into building a new school in Sugar Land, Texas, construction crews uncovered 95 unmarked graves. This wasn’t a serial killer’s dumping, but it was evidence of a particularly dar...

22 Kesä 202344min

Juneteenth Is an Act of Bravery

Juneteenth Is an Act of Bravery

It goes beyond the Emancipation Proclamation. It’s about liberating our own hearts and minds and staking a claim to freedom. On June 19th, 1865, roughly a quarter million enslaved people in Texas offi...

19 Kesä 202352min

Suosittua kategoriassa Politiikka ja uutiset

uutiscast
aikalisa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
politiikan-puskaradio
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
tervo-halme
rss-vaalirankkurit-podcast
rss-pinnalla
otetaan-yhdet
rss-podme-livebox
rss-asiastudio
the-ulkopolitist
et-sa-noin-voi-sanoo-esittaa
rss-tasta-on-kyse-ivan-puopolo-verkkouutiset
aihe
linda-maria
rss-pallo-keskelle-2
rss-polikulaari-pitka-kiekko-ja-muut-ts-podcastit
rss-50100-podcast
rss-girls-finish-f1rst