The Great Guest Takeover

The Great Guest Takeover

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

A few months ago, we mentioned that we were working on a couple of special episodes during Anna’s maternity leave. 

What we didn’t mention was that we were working on these special episodes with some familiar voices. We invited four of our favorite former guests to switch seats…and become the interviewer.

Over the next several weeks, you’ll hear from longtime Sesame Street actor Sonia Manzano, comedian Chris Gethard, and actor (and “shouldless day” enthusiast) Ellen Burstyn. You’ll also hear from Diane Gill Morris, who we met when she shared what raising two sons with autism has been like for her.

Each of them talked with someone they were curious about, and wanted to get to know better. You’ll hear Sonia Manzano interviewing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor—who also hails from the South Bronx. 

Chris Gethard sits down with up-and-coming comedian Tim Dillon, someone who Chris describes as “either the smartest maniac or craziest genius I know in the comedy world.” 

Diane Gill Morris told us last year that she worried about her older son, Kenny, being safe in the world “when I can’t explain to him all the intricacies involved in what it means to be young and black in America.” She talks with a woman named Maria Caldwell—she’s the mother of an autistic teenager of color who had a violent interaction with police in St. Paul, Minn., last year—as well as Robert Zink, a St. Paul police officer who has two autistic sons and trains officers how to interact with autistic people. 

And, to wrap things up, Ellen Burstyn talks with the one and only Gloria Steinem. The activist and author talks with Ellen about growing old with her chosen family, the source of her confidence, and how she’s learned to deal with her regrets over the years. 

Look out for all of these episodes in the coming weeks! Subscribe to Death, Sex & Money on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts to make sure you stay up to date.