SOunds like America
Musical Conversations for American Life
In this evolving series of conversations-with-music, pianist, curator, and NPR host Lara Downes sits down with a rotating cohort of leading voices across scholarship, literature, journalism, and the arts for live conversations that explore the cultural forces shaping collective identity. Each program centers on a piece of music as a point of entry into larger questions of history, belonging, creativity, resilience, and change.
A format initially created for NPR's "All Things Considered" to examine the shaping of the nation, the series continues conversations with John McWhorter, Eddie Glaude, Adam Gopnik, Imani Perry, Salamishah Tillet and Nate Chinen—each bringing a distinct lens to conversations that connect iconic music with the ideas that shape our experiences.
Through the course of each evening, Downes and each collaborator illuminate a unique perspective of the ways sound reflects the ethos of its time—its contradictions and continuities, its struggles and aspirations—while opening space for dialogue about where we are now and where we might be headed.
Designed for audiences seeking meaningful cultural engagement, this series creates a shared space for listening, reflection, and connection—where music becomes both mirror and meeting ground. Below are specific topics covered in each conversation:
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Salamishah Tillet: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
Lara talks with Salamishah Tillett about Nina Simone’s iconic Civil Rights-era anthem, and music as the soundtrack of our long fight for freedom.
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Imani Perry : Amazing Grace
Lara talks with Imani Perry about the presence and power of grace, the possibility of redemption, and the necessity of forgiveness and empathy in the American past and present.
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Nate Chinen: New World A-Comin’
Lara hosts Nate Chinen for a deep dive into the music and legacy of Duke Ellington, and his belief that both American music and people should exist “beyond category.”
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Adam Gopnik: The Musical Kaleidoscope of America
Adam Gopnik joins Lara in a conversation about Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and the musical expression of American patriotism by immigrants to our country.
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John McWhorter - Get Happy
Lara and John McWhorter discuss the role of American music as a joyful noise, even in the hardest times - the songs that have chased our cares away even in times of hardship, crisis and wartime, to remind us that “the sun will come up tomorrow!