Betty Buckley is a Tony Award winning actress and singer. Considered the quintessential musical theatre actress, in 1982 she originated the role of Grizabella in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, which won her a Tony Award and established her reputation as one of Broadway's leading ladies. She went on to play Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, both on Broadway and the West End, and Hesione in Broadway's Triumph of Love. In 2012 she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

TV viewers know her from the HBO series Oz, Law & Order SVU, and Eight is Enough, for which she was nominated for an Emmy. Her film credits includes M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, Brian De Palma's Carrie, Roman Polanski's Frantic, Woody Allen's Another Woman, and Tender Mercies which won 2 Academy Awards in 1983.

Betty Buckley has also had a prolific career as a recording artist. To date, she's released 16 albums including the Grammy nominated Stars and the Moon: Live at the Donmar. Her new solo album Ghostlight, produced by her childhood friend T. Bone Burnett has been hailed by fans and critics alike.

In this 2008 conversation, Betty talks about some of her most formative teachers, the impact Bob Fosse had on her as an artist, what it takes to sing one eleven o'clock number after another in concert, and how being an actress is like being a portrait painter.

Also- what does Betty think about being dubbed "the quintessential Broadway leading lady"? Tune in to find out.

Part 2 of my conversation with Judy Carmichael, who is known as one of the world’s leading interpreters of stride piano and swing. A protege of Count Basie and Sarah Vaughn, the New York Times has described her as “astounding, flawless and captivating”. She’s toured the world— playing everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice— and has performed private recitals for Rod Stewart, Robert Redford and President Clinton. Judy is also the host and producer of Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired, which airs on National Public Radio as well as Sirius XM. In this second conversation, Judy Carmichael talks about how she decided to start singing, what inspired her to create her show Jazz Inspired, how she approaches her interviews as a jazz musician and why she thinks of her show as her rebellion.

Grammy nominated jazz artist Judy Carmichael is known as one of the world’s leading interpreters of stride piano and swing. A protege of Count Basie and Sarah Vaughn, the New York Times has described her as “astounding, flawless and captivating”. She’s toured the world— playing everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice— and has performed private recitals for Rod Stewart, Robert Redford and President Clinton. Judy is also the host and producer of Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired, which airs on National Public Radio as well as Sirius XM. 
Tune in to hear Judy Carmichael talk about the moment she feel in love with jazz, her fight to be taken seriously in a male dominated jazz world, how Count Basie and Sarah Vaughn influenced her as a musician, and why she thinks she does look like she plays.

Linda Fairstein is the bestselling author of the Alexandra Cooper crime novels, which have been translated into more than a dozen languages. A former prosecutor and a pioneer in the field of crimes against women and children, she ran the Sex Crimes Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's office for over 25 years. Her office supervised the prosecution in the much publicized Central Park Jogger case which is still unsettled to this day, 25 years later.Tune in to hear Linda talk about the similarities and differences between her and her fictional heroine, what it was like being one of the first female prosecutors in a male dominated department, the dangers she faced as an Assistant District Attorney and how advances in forensic technology changed the nature of her work. Plus- how she responded to my question about the Central Park Jogger case, and more...