Shadow // Yaddo

On the Black roots of the banjo, the godfather of bluegrass, novelist as bandleader, and more, with a trio of talented musicians and writers: Celebrated author, bass player and literary outlaw Lee Clay Johnson in conversation with the incomparable David Gates, powerhouse on guitar, vocals, pedal steel, and author of several works of knock-out fiction. PLUS: Preview the new documentary featuring supernova Rhiannon Giddens.

Explore liminal worlds with three phenomenal Yaddo artists: Painter Elliott Green and the writer and artist Chris Rush on landscapes of the mind, blue suede shoes, outsider empathy and more. Plus: Eleni Sikelianos performs an excerpt of the title poem from her latest collection, Your Kingdom. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Last Train Home, Claude Debussy, Josef Sikelianos and Kat White.

On music, the ’90s, and NYC cool: Bestselling novelist Sam Lipsyte (The Ask, Home Land, No One Left to Come Looking for You) in conversation with esteemed music critic, journalist and author of the forthcoming magnum opus, a biography of Lou Reed, Will Hermes.

Every art form has its own language, a puzzle to unlock. One of the great joys of life is having a conversation with an artist who can decipher the code for us and allow us to see paintings anew. For this episode, we visit art galleries with two phenomenal Yaddo artists: Odili Donald Odita—the Nigerian American abstract painter whose vibrant large-scale paintings and site-specific installations mirror the mixed realities of life—and Alexi Worth, the acclaimed critic and painter whose work explores what it means, in our digitally supersaturated environment, for pictures to be “mindmade and handmade.” Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Veterinarian, The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Special thanks to D.C. Moore Gallery and Jack Shainman Gallery.

Archival audio, a love story, new tech, and more! Hear some of the first sounds ever recorded: The New York Public Library (NYPL) digitized rare wax cylinders from Yaddo’s archive and made them available for the first time in more than 130 years. We’ll chat with the NYPL team who made this happen. PLUS: The Lazours will be headlining our Summer Benefit on June 22. Contributing artist: Joseph Keckler.

Shadow Yaddo hosted by Elaina Richardson is out now! Tres—Ilana Boltvinik and Rodrigo Viñas—is an art research collective based in Mexico City. They explore the implications of garbage on critical ecosystems, relying upon artistic inquiry, science, anthropology, and archeology, among other disciplines. Their exquisitely beautiful and challenging work ranges from tracking plastics in the ocean to mining for precious metals in abandoned electronic devices as well as the study of vultures and our reckoning with space trash. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Beck, New York Dolls.  

Celebrating the conclusion of Season 2, with a behind-the-scenes take on Shadow // Yaddo. Plus: A few of our favorite moments featuring Moby, Terry McMillan, Mark Morris, Elizabeth Strout and more dazzling talents. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, John Coltrane, Patricia Towers, Colm Tóibín, Dona Ann McAdams, Saudi Burton, Fred Hersch, Dean Haspiel, Pat Palermo, Danielle Spencer, Javier Barboza, Danyel Smith. Shadow // Yaddo is on a short winter break, returning early 2023. See you soon!

Inhabiting the space between two places, forms or cultures and exploring the tensions that dissonance creates: Celebrated author Gish Jen on post-Nixon China, finding humor in heartbreak, and her intuitive approach to writing virtuosic fiction. Syrian writer Ayad Awwadawnan on the hopes, dreams and humanity of refugees and his own journey to asylum. PLUS: New music from The Lazours! Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Daniel Lazour, Patrick Lazour.

Here are two of the hardest working artists we know: Sculptor Harry Leigh on the decades of discipline that saw him through more than half a century of making art, plus his new show in Berlin. And Acclaimed filmmaker Javier Barboza on growing up in East L.A., turning talent into gold, and building a better world. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Billy Strange, Kid Frost, Delinquent Habits, Eartha Kitt, Kinto Sol.

Boom, pow, bang! Nerd-out with the cool kids of comix: Emmy- and Ringo- award winning artist and writer Dean Haspiel in conversation with acclaimed painter and cartoonist Pat Palermo on the quotidian life, faux bravado, truth as prism—and all you never knew about Spiderman. PLUS: Superstar novelist and TV writer Victor LaValle on how his discovery of comic books led to, well, books in general, both reading and writing. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Prince.