Touré is an omnivorous pop culture critic, an astute political analyst and a thoughtful voice on race and Blackness. Over the course of his career he has hosted shows on MSNBC, Fuse, BET and MTV. He was the first pop culture correspondent on CNN. He is the author of several books — he literally wrote the book on Prince. And these days he is a columnist for TheGrio. This month he is launching yet another podcast, called "Being Black: The '80s," a docuseries that looks at the most important issues of the '80s — from the crack epidemic to gay liberation to affirmative action — through the biggest songs of the decade. It is, he promises, the funkiest podcast you could ask for.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Fort Hamilton Distillery was born out of a desire to revive the classic pre-Prohibition New York-style rye and has since become a destination for connoisseurs of cocktails as well as cocktail and American history. Named for the historic Brooklyn site Fort Hamilton, which itself was named after Alexander Hamilton, Fort Hamilton Distillery has a tasting room, a robust cocktail program, offers tours and has an interesting story. Alex Clark, co-founder of Fort Hamilton Distillery with his wife Amy Grindeland, joins us on the podcast to discuss whiskey history and culture, authentic pre-Prohibition rye, distillers row in Industry City and Alexander Hamilton. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

For two weeks now, Writers Guild of America members on both coasts have been picketing for fair compensation in the brave new streaming world. Strikers have shut down production of shows like “Billions,” “Daredevil,” “Born Again,” “Severance” and others, with crew members refusing to cross the picket lines in solidarity with the striking writers. One of them is Devin Delliquanti, a staff writer for “The Daily Show,” which has also suspended production. He joins us to discuss what’s happening on the picket lines day in day out, what writers like him are asking for and how New York is showing up for an industry that is so closely associated with the west coast. We also talk about what it’s like working on the “Daily Show” in less strike-y times.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com​ Email: hello@bkmag.com​ Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine​ Twitter: @brooklynmag​ Instagram: @brooklynmagazine​ Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope ​

Motz is the pre-eminent expert on the history of the American hamburger and a scholar of different regional burger styles and their cultural significance. His 2004 documentary “Hamburger America” was made as a side project, but it went on to spawn books about burgers, a TV show about burgers, magazine spreads about burgers, a YouTube series about burgers and, coming, maybe, in July, a burger restaurant in the Lower East Side. This week, a revised and expanded edition of his 2016 regional cookbook called “The Great American Burger Book” is also being released. So let’s start some beef! Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Whelan joins us to discuss the past, present and future of Sahadi’s, the legendary Middle Eastern market founded by her great-grand-uncle 128 years ago. Known for its spices, roasted nuts roasted, fresh-made treats and homemade prepared foods, and goods imported from the Middle East that you literally can’t get anywhere else in the States, the James Beard Award-winning market is not only historic but also vital. Whelan, who runs it all with her family, is also the co-author of  “Flavors of the Sun: The Sahadi’s Guide to Understanding, Buying, and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients.” Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Hudson, a third-generation Brooklynite from Prospect Heights who represents her own neighborhood plus Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights and part of Bed-Stuy, is one of first openly gay Black women on the city council. She joins us to speak about her first year in office, her accomplishments, goals and challenges. We discuss her vision for a revamped Atlantic Avenue corridor, her role in the council’s streamlined progressive caucus, her views on Mayor Eric Adams, the displacement of legacy Black residents from her district and more. Plus, because we keep our elected representatives accountable, there is a pop quiz. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Hari Kondabolu is a very funny stand-up comic, an astute observer on race and racial politics, a writer and filmmaker, a Brooklynite and, most recently a dad. His latest special is out this week on YouTube. Filmed right here in Gowanus at the Bell House, “Vacation Baby” is some of his more personal work to date. In it, he discusses the surreal nature of having a baby in the middle of a global pandemic. Filmed days after Roe v Wade was overturned, though, he leaves nothing on the table in terms of his biting political wit.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

There is a lot going on in Prospect Park these days. The Vale of Cashmere is undergoing a massive, multimillion dollar redesign process. The two-mile section of the park’s loop known as East Drive is getting fresh asphalt and undergoing a trial redesign meant to make life easier — and safer — for both cyclists and pedestrians. The historic Lefferts House is getting a makeover that will pay proper homage to the native Lenape people who lived on the land before it was colonized, and the enslaved Africans who later worked there. The park is getting a Shirley Chisholm memorial, too. Monaco, the first Black administrator of Prospect Park, joins us to discuss all of that and more, including the infamous attack that killed a dog in the park last August.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

This week's guest is Mistress Marley, who is a financial dominatrix, which is exactly what it sounds like. Her clients, almost all white men, are financial submissives — "finsubs" in the industry lingo. Their kink? They get off on sending her money simply because she demands it of them. No sex or nudity involved. You might not understand it, but the human heart is boundless and unknowable. Mistress Marley has a master’s degree in fashion marketing, a dungeon in East New York and a paddle with the word "reparations" carved into it. Let's go!   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com  Email: hello@bkmag.com  Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine  Twitter: @brooklynmag  Instagram: @brooklynmagazine  Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

If you are a driver of a certain delinquent orientation, you might not think every law pertains to you. You might, for example, tamper with your license plate in order to avoid detection by toll, speed and red-light cameras. Maybe you scratch off a few letters. Maybe you obscure the plate entirely. If you do, you’re kind of a jerk. And Gersh Kuntzman is coming for you. Today we talk with the career journalist about his recent viral efforts to name and shame license plate scofflaws, his work at Streetsblog NYC, biking in the city and more.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com  Email: hello@bkmag.com  Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine  Twitter: @brooklynmag  Instagram: @brooklynmagazine  Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Since 2016 Johnny Cirillo has stationed himself on street corners in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, where he’s lived for over 20 years, and snapped thousands of photos of fabulously attired New Yorkers. It started as an homage to the late, great Bill Cunningham, the New York Times street style photographer, but the passion project has eventually morphed into his own thing. On Instagram, where he has nearly one million followers as @watchingnewyork, and more recently on TikTok, Cirillo posts candid shots of and interviews with stylish Brooklynites. It is a wonderful slice of life of the borough in all its swag and panache. Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

For 21 years Jennifer Mills has published Jennifer Mills News online, a banal-as-it-gets weekly compendium of her daily life, told in classic newspaper style. It’s understated and quietly very funny and if that sort of thing appeals to you, you can see all 21 years printed out and wallpapered at Bick Aux Gallery in Williamsburg now through March 19. Mills joins us to talk about the decades-long bit as well as her day job as a writer and producer on the NPR news quiz show “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me,” and, naturally, life in Brooklyn.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com  Email: hello@bkmag.com  Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine  Twitter: @brooklynmag  Instagram: @brooklynmagazine  Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

For two decades, Binky Griptite was the guitarist, emcee and hype man for the Dap-Kings, backing the mighty Sharon Jones. These days he’s leading his own band. The Binky Griptite Orchestra is an old school rhythm and blues outfit in the vein of T-Bone Walker and Louis Jordan. Their album “Got Up and Walked” will be out soon. So will another album Binky produced, by singer-songwriter Brendan O’Hara. He’ll also be at SXSW this month, performing in a tribute concert to Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Today he joins us to talk about his current projects, the story behind the Dap-Kings, working with Sharon Jones and the singer Lee Fields, recording with Janet Jackson, growing up in Milwaukee, deejaying and more.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Actor, writer, activist and Brooklynite Gbenga Akinnagbe joins us to discuss his career and his latest offscreen role: Working to save a 140-year-old living landmark in Bed-Stuy, a magnolia tree that has survived and thrived in the least likely place. Today its very existence is in peril — as is the environmental community center that was established around it in 1977. Akinnagbe is perhaps best known for his role as Chris Parlow, the terrifying assassin on HBO’s “The Wire.” He can currently be seen in FX’s “The Old Man” as a hit man sent to kill a former CIA operative played by Jeff Bridges. He also played Tom Robinson in Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird." Today we talk about his career, his other philanthropic efforts, living in Brooklyn and more.     Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Hosted and co-created by award-winning journalist Alana Casanova-Burgess, “La Brega” is a podcast that has won best-of accolades for its reportage into various aspects of under-examined life in Puerto Rico. Now halfway through its second season, “La Brega,” which translates roughly to “the struggle,” is exploring Puerto Rican — and Caribbean — life and history through music. Specifically, through eight songs over eight episodes. Casanova-Burgess joins us this week to discuss her podcast, the process behind it, her life in Brooklyn, identity, music, journalism and more.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com Email: hello@bkmag.com Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine Twitter: @brooklynmag Instagram: @brooklynmagazine Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Since its founding in 2009, the Brooklyn Community Foundation has helped provide more than $90 million in grants to exclusively Brooklyn nonprofits. Which is important because even though Brooklyn is home to nearly 30 percent of the nonprofits in New York city, its share of philanthropic giving is only 7.6 percent. Jocelynne Rainey, the president and CEO of the BCF since November of 2021, is working to change that, while leaning in to issues around racial and economic justice. A lifelong Brooklynite, she joins us to talk about her background and upbringing, the work that the Brooklyn Community Foundation does and her own commitment to racial justice.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com  Email: hello@bkmag.com  Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine  Twitter: @brooklynmag  Instagram: @brooklynmagazine  Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Timothy Goodman went from a tough childhood in Ohio to painting houses for a living, before painting major murals in Williamsburg and working with huge brands like Apple and Uniqlo. Now, he’s designed the latest Kevin Durant Nike. A troubled kid with lousy grades and raw ambition, it was getting his act together through therapy and moving to New York 19 years ago that Goodman found himself — and no small amount of success. His graphic memoir “I Always Think it’s Forever” is out this week.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com  Email: hello@bkmag.com  Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine  Twitter: @brooklynmag  Instagram: @brooklynmagazine  Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

It’s an awkward thing for most of us, facing and accepting our mortality. But it’s not something we get to opt out of. As a death educator and coordinator of public programs at The Green-Wood Cemetery, and a death doula, Gabrielle Gatto thinks about death all the time. So today that’s what we’re going to talk about. We’ll get into what death education is and how it’s practiced at Green-Wood. We discuss trends in green burial, some of the cultural offerings at the cemetery and what its founders would think about all the activity there today.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com  Email: hello@bkmag.com  Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine  Twitter: @brooklynmag  Instagram: @brooklynmagazine  Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

An editor at Vanity Fair and a contributor to the New Yorker, among others, Mike Sacks is the author of ten books. Two of those books are collections of in-depth interviews with profoundly influential comedy writers from the legendary to the less known but no less important. His other books take a little more explaining. Two of them are being re-published this week: “Stinker Lets Loose” is a deliberately badly written novelization of a 1970’s trucker movie that never actually existed. “Randy!” Is an “unpublished memoir” Sacks “found” at a yard sale written by an average Maryland dirtbag who’s come into some money. Sacks also co-wrote “Welcome to Woodmont College,” a fake catalogue from a really expensive (and really shit) boutique college, out in hardback last month. Today we discuss his approach to comedy — both writing it himself and what he’s learned from interviewing some of the best to ever do it.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com  Email: hello@bkmag.com  Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine  Twitter: @brooklynmag  Instagram: @brooklynmagazine  Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope

Podcaster, screenwriter, entertainer and entrepreneur Kareem Rahma had a banner 2022. He wrote and starred in a movie directed by Nicholas “New York Nico” Heller that debuted at the Tribeca Festival. He launched a super viral TikTok account called “Keep the Meter Running,” and he created a smart new podcast called “First.” Today Rahma joins us on our podcast — the first episode of the year — to talk about who he is, where he came from, and why he’s suddenly all over our feeds these days. He also lets us know what to expect in 2023.   Brooklyn news and views you can use: bkmag.com  Email: hello@bkmag.com  Follow along on Facebook: Brooklyn Magazine  Twitter: @brooklynmag  Instagram: @brooklynmagazine  Follow Brian Braiker on Twitter: @slarkpope