How Harvey Fierstein's Bad Sex Led to Good Art

How Harvey Fierstein's Bad Sex Led to Good Art

When Tony Award-winning actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein was growing up in New York City in the 60s, he was surrounded by the beginnings of the gay rights movement, and protest art and avant-garde theater was the norm. "I didn't know that being gay was sad until I got out into the world and they told me that," he said in our interview. "All the gay people I know are really kind of happy." And writing from that lens has informed his work ever since. In his new memoir, I Was Better Last Night, Harvey shares the six year journey to get his breakthrough play, Torch Song Trilogy, on Broadway, and shares other behind the scenes stories from hit Broadway plays like Hairspray, Fiddler on the Roof, and La Cage aux Folles. He also told me about his relationship with his younger brother turned business manager, why he's happily single and sober, and how he thinks he'll be remembered.

Episoder(150)

I Was In Debt. Then My Sister Offered Me $16,000.

I Was In Debt. Then My Sister Offered Me $16,000.

A few years ago, a 27-year-old listener we're calling Tessa was about $19,000 in credit card debt. An unexpected windfall helped them pay most of it off in one fell swoop. But even then, they weren't ...

14 Apr 202138min

When Claudia Rankine Brought Up Race In Couples Counseling

When Claudia Rankine Brought Up Race In Couples Counseling

Before the pandemic, poet and professor Claudia Rankine traveled often for work. Her acclaimed 2014 book Citizen: An American Lyric brought her unflinching perspective on race relations to the mainstr...

7 Apr 202137min

A Friend In The Execution Room

A Friend In The Execution Room

This week, we’re sharing an episode of a new podcast called The Experiment with you. It’s a show about America, and what happens when the big ideas and forces that have shaped our country collide with...

24 Mar 202131min

Finding Blessings and Throwing Vases

Finding Blessings and Throwing Vases

Donna Perry, who lives in Brooklyn, recovered from COVID-19 a year ago. That’s when producer Yasmeen Khan first interviewed Donna for a news story. At that point, Donna had lost several people to COVI...

17 Mar 202122min

Masks On, Tops Off: Inside A Texas Strip Club

Masks On, Tops Off: Inside A Texas Strip Club

Whenever Josh, a 32-year-old commercial truck driver, passes through El Paso, he usually pulls off the highway and heads to the Red Parrot—a topless bar where he goes to have some human contact after ...

10 Mar 202138min

Ugh, Dating Right Now

Ugh, Dating Right Now

Recently, I asked those of you who are single and looking for a relationship to tell us how dating has been going for you during COVID. You told us about messed up momentum, lots of new rules, wrenche...

3 Mar 202130min

I Was Your Father, Until I Wasn't

I Was Your Father, Until I Wasn't

Tony* wasn't sure what to say when the woman he'd slept with told him she was pregnant. First, he says, there was a long pause. They weren't a couple, and he didn't want to say the wrong thing. "I tol...

24 Feb 202129min

Your One Night Stand Stories

Your One Night Stand Stories

We just got through Valentine’s Day, our annual celebration of romance. Usually of the long-term sort...or if not long, at least, the sort where you’ve committed to be someone’s sweetheart.  This week...

17 Feb 202118min

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