New York Public Radio Gala Honored WNYC’s BROOKE GLADSTONE

Attendees Included Incoming NYPR President LaFontaine Oliver, WNYC’s Brian Lehrer & John Schaefer, The New Yorker Editor David Remnick, Actor Richard Kind, Governor David Paterson, NPR’s Michele Martin & more

Gala raised more than $1 million to support NYPR’s vital work

Brooke Gladstone and Samantha Bee

Photo Credit: Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images

PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT FOR PRESS USE HERE

November 11, 2022 – This past Wednesday, November 9, New York Public Radio, home of WNYC, WQXR, WNYC Studios, Gothamist, and The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, hosted its 2022 annual gala at The Plaza Hotel. The evening honored Brooke Gladstone, host and managing editor of WNYC’s Peabody Award-winning podcast and public radio show On the Media. Samantha Bee, comedian, writer and former host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, hosted the evening, with a musical performance by the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet.

Attendees included incoming New York Public Radio President LaFontaine Oliver; WNYC’s Brian Lehrer & John Schaefer; Pulitzer Prize-winning editor of The New Yorker David Remnick; actor Richard Kind; Governor David Paterson; NPR host Michel Martin; Center for Reproductive Rights President & CEO Nancy Northup and more.

Highlights of the gala included:

• Host Samantha Bee spoke about the midterm elections on everyone’s minds: “Shockingly, it looks like democracy might have actually…prevailed?” followed by a massive applause. “In times like these, it is so crucial to have the work of public radio,” she continued, before calling gala honoree Brooke Gladstone her “personal hero.”
• Incoming New York Public Radio President LaFontaine Oliver shared an inspiring speech, expressing deep enthusiasm for the “energy and excellence of New York” and his excitement to officially step into the role of President and CEO in January. 
• Pulitzer Prize-winning editor of The New Yorker David Remnick toasted Brooke for being “one of those voices of luminous ferocity…a genuine, real voice. The real thing.”
• WNYC’s Brian Lehrer was introduced by Samantha Bee as a “Brooke Gladstone super fan,” which he confirmed by stating to Brooke, “For the sake of all of us, please keep it up.”
• On The Media executive producer Katya Rogers - who has spent every Thursday with Brooke for the past twenty years - introduced the evening’s honoree as her “teacher, accomplice, fierce defender and most of all, my friend.”
• Brooke took the stage to a standing ovation, expressing gratitude to her New York Public Radio family: “How lucky am I that I get to satisfy my curiosity…change my life and maybe, just maybe be another drop on a stone of people trying to change the world in a better way.” She named On the Media’s series on poverty, series on eviction, and the visit to the Equal Justice Institute in Montgomery as some of her proudest moments.
• The evening concluded with remarks from Samantha Bee and a surprise performance of Stephen Sondheim’s "No One Is Alone" from the Tony Award Winning musical Into the Woods by Broadway actress & vocalist Charity Angél Dawson.
• Grammy Award winning Kronos Quartet played stunning arrangements of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" (arr. by Steve Riffkin) & "Tusen Tankar (A Thousand Thoughts)" (arr. by Kronos, transcribed by Ljova) 
• A parade led by The High and Mighty Brass Band marched guests from cocktail hour into the ballroom for dinner.

NYPR’s annual Gala is its largest fundraising event of the year—celebrating the vital and illuminating work produced across New York Public Radio and the generous supporters who make it all possible. Last year it celebrated the 20th anniversary of two-time Peabody Award-winning podcast Radiolab with host Julianna Margulies Past Gala performers and hosts include Julianna Margulies, Kishi Bashi, Aidy Bryant, John Turturro, Hilary Hahn, Wynton Marsalis, Ira Glass, Cynthia Nixon, Renée Fleming, and Brian Stokes Mitchell.

Timothy Wilkins, Brooke Gladstone, Samantha Bee and LaFontaine Oliver

Photo Credit: Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images

About New York Public Radio

With an urban vibrancy and a global perspective, New York Public Radio (NYPR) produces innovative public radio programs, podcasts, and live events that touch a passionate community of fans on air, online and in person. From its state-of-the-art studios in New York City, NYPR is reshaping radio for a new generation of listeners with groundbreaking, award-winning programs including Radiolab, On the Media, The Takeaway, Notes from America with Kai Wright, Death, Sex & Money, The New Yorker Radio Hour, Carnegie Hall Live, Aria Code, and Helga, among many others. New York Public Radio includes WNYC, WQXR, WNYC Studios, Gothamist, The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, and New Jersey Public Radio. Further information about programs, podcasts, and stations may be found at www.nypublicradio.org.

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About Brooke Gladstone

Brooke Gladstone is the host and managing editor of On the Media – WNYC’sweekly investigation into how the media shapes our worldview. She started her career in public radio at National Public Radio in 1987, first as Senior Editor of NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon, and later, All Things Considered. By 1991 she had received a Knight Fellowship to study Russian language and history, and a year later began reporting from Moscow for three years. After moving back to New York, she inaugurated NPR's first-ever media beat. She joined WNYC in 2000 to become host of On the Media, which under her leadership has won two Peabody Awards, was the first national public radio show to be offered as a podcast, and now airs on 425 public radio stations. 

About Samantha Bee

Emmy Award-winning comedian and political commentator Samantha Bee is best known for being one of the only female late night hosts, with Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and her work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where she was the longest-serving regular correspondent. In 2017, she was named one of TIME’s Most Influential People, and has published three books, plus appeared in a variety of film, television and stage productions. 

About Kronos Quartet

The evening also included a performance by the Grammy-winning Kronos Quartet. For nearly 50 years, San Francisco’s Grammy-winning Kronos Quartet and its nonprofit Kronos Performing Arts Association have reimagined the string quartet experience through thousands of concerts, more than 70 recordings, collaborations with performers across myriad genres, and more than 1,000 commissioned works from composers worldwide.

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For more information, please contact:

Rebecca Shapiro, Shannon Cosgrove and MC Miskell at Shore Fire Media