America, Who Hurt You? An Evening With Sarah Jones
WNYC LIVE
Originally Aired: Monday, July 15, 2024
Tony winner Sarah Jones brings her trademark characters—and view of this moment in America—to the stage, with this sneak peek at her new podcast, America, Who Hurt You? Award-winning cultural critic Rebecca Carroll moderates this frank and funny conversation about the political, the personal, and how much more connected they are than we may realize. They will be joined by special guest and acclaimed storyteller, Joél Leon, as well as internationally acclaimed poet, comedian, public speaker, and actor ALOK. Brought to you by The Meteor.
Sarah Jones
Credit: Photo provided by artist
Hailed as “a master of the genre” by The New York Times, solo performer and Tony Award-winner Sarah Jones is the writer and star of the plays “Bridge & Tunnel” and “Sell/Buy/Date,” as well as the writer/director of the critically acclaimed film of the same name. As a Black woman with multiracial roots, Sarah has created a “one-woman global village” of characters based on her own family members and friends. She has also starred as Yasmin in the Netflix series On the Verge and has given a record four main-stage TED Talks. A longtime activist through her storytelling, Sarah is proud to have performed everywhere from The White House to Rikers Island, from Broadway to the historic Women’s March in DC, and all around the world as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Her next project is a live performance piece that explores the power of the care economy.
Rebecca Carroll
Credit: Photo by Jamie Magnifico
Rebecca Carroll is a writer, cultural critic, and editor at large of The Meteor. She has hosted the podcasts Come Through with Rebecca Carroll for WNYC, and the multi-award-winning Billie Was a Black Woman, a companion audio narrative to the 2021 film, The United States Vs. Billie Holiday.
Rebecca is an Emmy award-winning interviewer, and the author of several interview-based books about Blackness and race in America, including the award-winning Sugar in the Raw: Voices of Young Black Girls in America, and I Know What the Red Clay Looks: The Voice and Vision of Black Women Writers, the latter of which will be rereleased in December 2024 by Haymarket Books as an updated, 30th anniversary edition. Her critically acclaimed memoir, Surviving the White Gaze, was called “gorgeous and powerful” by The New York Times.
Her writing has been published in the New York Times, The Guardian, Esquire, Essence, The Atlantic, and the Washington Post, and more.
Joél Leon
Credit: Photo provided by artist
Joél Leon also known as Joél L. Daniels, is a Bronx-born girl dad, author, storyteller and cultural critic who writes and tells stories for Black people. His work has been featured in the New York Times, People, The Boston Globe, ABC NEWS, TED, EBONY, Okayplayer, Pop Sugar, The Root, Newsweek, Forbes and others. He is the author of the Holt/Macmillian essay collection, “Everything and Nothing At Once: A Black Man’s Reimagined Soundtrack For the Future” published by Holt/MacMillian. Joél is repped by Folio Literary.
ALOK
Credit: Photo provided by artist
ALOK (they/them) is an internationally acclaimed poet, comedian, public speaker, and actor. ALOK’s literary works “Beyond the Gender Binary,” “Femme in Public,” and “Your Wound, My Garden,” have garnered global recognition. Their dynamic presence has captivated audiences in over 40 countries, with sold-out shows at venues including Netflix is a Joke Festival in Los Angeles, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. ALOK can currently be seen in Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda comedy special on Netflix. Their show has been described as “provocative and powerful” (CHORTLE) and a “jaw-dropping celestial event” (TO DO LIST LONDON). For their contributions to culture and entertainment, they have been honored with the ACLU of Southern California Bill of Rights Award, Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment Trailblazer Award, and were selected as the inaugural LGBTQ Scholar in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania. They are the subject of the docu-short “ALOK” executive produced by Jodie Foster and directed by Alex Hedison, which made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024. On screen, they can also be seen in Complicated Order opposite Midori Francis, The Trans List, and (forthcoming) Absolute Dominion opposite Patton Oswalt. On television, they can be seen on season 3 of the critically acclaimed HBO Max series SORT OF opposite Bilal Baig, Hulu’s Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne, ABC’s PRIDE: To Be Seen – A Soul of A Nation, Netflix’s Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, and HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness.
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