New York Public Radio Celebrates 2023 LGBTQ+ Pride Month
Pride Month steps into full swing at New York Public Radio with an array of on-air, online, and in-person programming that celebrates the creative contributions of LGBTQ+ artists, the immense cultural contributions of the LGBTQ+ community, and honors the ongoing struggle for queer rights and representation.
Programming highlights
On-Air, Streaming, and Live Performances
June 1, 9am (AM) 3pm (FM)
The Takeaway
WNYC, AM820 and 93.9FM, NJPR, online at WNYC.org
An encore presentation of some best-of episodes from The Takeaway’s “Black. Queer. Rising” series, featuring thought-leader and former NFL player & Wade Davis; social justice experts and commentators Da’shaun Harrison, Alicia Garza, NYS Rep. Ritchie Torres, and Texas Rep. Jaylen Mackee Rodriguez; entomologist Dr. Sammy Ramsey; physics professor Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein; and rapper Big Freedia.
June 1, 8PM
Queen of the Night with Thorgy Thor: PRIDE
WQXR at The Greene Space
WQXR presents drag performance artist and violinist Thorgy Thor, who concludes her term as Artist in Residence at The Greene Space with a show that kicks off Pride Month with laughter, music, and campy fun.
June 2
Radiolab – The Seagulls
WNYC Studios
The Radiolab team traces the social, scientific, religious, and legal consequences of a 1977 “lesbian seagull” study and a chorus of queer storytellers share examples of queer penguins, deer, dolphins, beetles and beyond. The episode culminates in a paradigm-shifting revelation about homosexuality’s role in evolution.
June 5, 12pm
All of It With Alison Stewart
WNYC, AM820 and 93.9FM, NJPR, online at WNYC.org
Interview with journalist and activist George M. Johnson, author of the banned book All Boys Aren’t Blue, which is a series of essays following Johnson’s journey growing up as a queer Black boy in Plainfield, New Jersey, and Virginia. Presented as part of All Of It’s “Banned Books Series.”
June 6
Death, Sex and Money
WNYC, AM820 and 93.9FM, NJPR, online at WNYC.org
2019 MacArthur Fellow Ocean Vuong, author of bestselling poetry collection, Time is a Mother, and bestselling novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, in conversation with host Anna Sale.
June 8, 8pm
Monsier Periné (Performance + Q&A)
WNYC Live at The Greene Space
Latino USA’s Marta Martinez hosts the GRAMMY award-winning Colombian stars Monsieur Periné, performing songs from their new album, Bolero Apocalíptico. Produced by five-time GRAMMY award-winner Rafa Sardina (Calle 13, Stevie Wonder), Bolero Apocalíptico is an intoxicating affirmation of the power of love, packed with passion and occasional doses of irony and humor. Last year, WNYC featured Monsieur Periné in a “Weekly Music Roundup” singing their hit song “Tu Y Yo,” or “You and I,” a love song that’s also a statement of pride and defiance.
June 11, 6pm
Notes from America with Kai Wright
WNYC, AM820 and 93.9FM, NJPR, online at WNYC.org
Sam Jay, comedian and host of HBO’s “PAUSE,” a talk show where she and her guests explore current topics, including queer culture, race, class, and social issues in America today, talks about on Black women in comedy with Kai Wright. The show also includes an encore broadcast of “Bringing Blackness, Queerness & Fullness to Art,” an interview with actor Billy Porter.
June 12, 12pm
All of It With Alison Stewart
WNYC, AM820 and 93.9FM, NJPR, online at WNYC.org
Alison Stewart interviews Alex Gino, author of the award-winning, banned book Melissa, the story of a fourth-grade transgender girl who struggles to be herself even though the world sees her as George, a boy. Presented as part of All Of It’s “Banned Books Series.”
June 14, 7pm
Ballroom Has Something To Say
The Greene Space
Artist and educator Michael Roberson examines the history of the once underground Black and Latinx Ball community from its roots during the Harlem Renaissance as a Black Trans-womanist theological discourse, a Black freedom movement, and a spiritual formation.
June 20, 12pm
All of It With Alison Stewart
WNYC, AM820 and 93.9FM, NJPR, online at WNYC.org
Alison Stewart interviews with author Mike Curato, author of the banned book Flamer, a graphic novel that draws on Curato’s middle and high school experiences. The protagonist Aiden Navarro deals with peers and bullies, and can’t stop thinking about a boy he met at summer camp. Presented as part of All Of It’s “Banned Books Series.”
June 22, 8pm
Special programming on WNYC
WNYC, AM820 and 93.9FM, NJPR, online at WNYC.org
At 8pm, listen to Ear Hustle‘s best stories about the LGBTQ community inside prison, followed at 9pm with an encore broadcast of “Dying Words: The AIDS Reporting of Jeffrey Schmalz”
All Month
WQXR Pride Programming
WQXR.org
LGBTQ+ people have impacted classical music throughout its history. After all, what would classical music be without the works of Aaron Copland, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, or Ethel Smyth. In honor of Pride Month, we’ve gathered a list of 10 contemporary LGBTQ+ artists who are continuing this legacy.
NYPR Archives Collections
Reader’s Almanac: Dick Leitsch, George Weinberg, and J. Ronald Pierce
In July 1967, Guests Dick Leitsch of the Mattachine Society and Gay Power, Dr. George Weinberg, and Reverend J. Ronald Pierce joined host Walter James Miller to discuss attitudes towards homosexuality.
Eleanor Fischer Reports on the Gay Liberation Movement
In June 1972, NPR producer Eleanor Fischer interviewed Rich Wandel, Vice Chairman of the National Gay Movement Committee of the Gay Activists Alliance; Hernan Figueroa, member of the Gay Activists Alliance; and Ian Dunn, Chairman of the Scottish Minorities Group. They discussed gay rights and changing oppressive laws against homosexuals.
Prejudice and Pride
During Pride Month 2019, which was also the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, The Brian Lehrer Show, All Of It, and The Takeaway hosted segments that traced the history of the gay rights movement, from the historic riots to the present day, as well as contemporary LGBTQ+ social issues and cultural achievements.