Twenty-five years after 9/11, the haunting images remain etched in our collective memory. But some of the most extraordinary stories began after the smoke cleared.

Lyndon Harris was the priest-in-charge of St. Paul’s Chapel, just steps from Ground Zero, where he led a massive volunteer effort caring for first responders around the clock. To the world, he became a symbol of hope. Behind the scenes, however, he was struggling with profound grief, trauma, and bitterness.

What happens when one of America’s most celebrated chefs meets one of television’s biggest hits?

At Ever, the worlds of fine dining and ‘The Bear’ collide. As the inspiration and filming location for the series’ acclaimed restaurant, Chef Curtis Duffy’s two-Michelin-starred Chicago restaurant helped bring some of the show’s most memorable moments to life, including the iconic “Forks” episode.

This month, as ‘The Bear’ closes out its 5-year run, we re-broadcast an episode from 2022 where Roberta as she sat down with Curtis to hear the riveting story of a tumultuous childhood and the drive that made him into a world-renowned Michelin-starred chef.

Live! From Portrush, Northern Ireland, it’s host Roberta Panjwani and Laura and Gavin, the founders of the Belfast-based band House of Gael! They discuss blending traditional Irish sounds with a modern spirit, the power of music to celebrate unity and diversity, and how music helped transform their lives after a devastating loss. You’ll also hear “Calling Me Home,” their new song written for the Festival of Ireland—Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann—which returns to Belfast this August for the first time in more than 75 years.

Apple TV+’s Plur1bus is one of the most talked-about shows of the year. Why? Well, the tagline says it all: “The most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness.”

This month, Roberta sits down with Plur1bus Executive Producer and Writer, Alison Tatlock, to talk storytelling, world-building, and creating shows that stay with you long after the screen goes dark. Tatlock is an Emmy-nominated producer and WGA-nominated writer, previously having worked on Better Call Saul, Stranger Things, and Halt and Catch Fire.

At the beginning of April, the Ridgewood Library Friends Foundation hosted their 36th Annual Author Luncheon with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anna Quindlen. It sold out – 416 tickets! – in an unprecedented 5 days. We are so pleased that Anna allowed us to publish her interview and talk from the event, moderated by host Roberta Panjwani. We talked about her book More Than Enough, aging, the joy of getting older, living in the moment, and how reading makes us greater and more human, because it requires us to walk in someone else’s shoes.

This month Roberta talks to Russell Shorto about his new book Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America, which drawing on deep archival research to offer a fresh take on America’s beginnings and the transfer of power in the region from the Dutch to the British.