Ursula Sommer is a producer and writer.
She has worked on a number of WNYC’s live radio shows, including All Of It, Midday on WNYC, and Indivisible. Ursula’s reporting has appeared on WNYC, Gothamist, and in The Art Newspaper. She has a master’s degree from Freie Universität Berlin where she studied visual and media anthropology and she loves getting lost in an archive.
Ursula Sommer appears in the following:
Nikki Glaser at the Top of Her Game
Friday, April 18, 2025
Triumph hasn’t spoiled the comedian, or settled her insecurities. “It just never goes away—that feeling of not being worthy, or being thought of as less than,” she tells David Remnick.
How Science Fiction Led Elon Musk to DOGE
Friday, April 18, 2025
Jill Lepore says that the SpaceX CEO, an avid science-fiction fan, misreads cautionary tales as instruction manuals—and that his obsessions will shape America’s future.
Ryan Coogler on “Sinners”
Friday, April 11, 2025
The director talks with the staff writer Jelani Cobb about his influences and mentors, and how he made a vampire story “uniquely personal.”
The Writer Katie Kitamura on Autonomy, Interpretation, and “Audition”
Friday, April 04, 2025
The novelist speaks with the staff writer Jennifer Wilson about her newest book, “Audition,” a nuanced story about desire, agency, and creative craft.
Senator Chris Murphy: “This Is How Democracy Dies—Everybody Just Gets Scared”
Friday, March 28, 2025
The Trump Administration is moving to prevent fair elections in 2026, the Connecticut Democrat says. “It won’t matter if we’re more popular than them.”
Elaine Pagels on the Mysteries of Jesus
Friday, March 28, 2025
After a lifetime spent studying Christianity, the scholar and best-selling author talks with David Remnick about why there’s still controversy over the religion’s foundational texts.
Atul Gawande on Elon Musk’s “Surgery with a Chainsaw”
Friday, March 14, 2025
Gawande, until recently a senior leader at U.S.A.I.D., explains the agency’s importance to America and to the world, and what its undoing by DOGE will bring.
Alan Cumming on “The Traitors” and His Brush with Reality Television
Friday, February 28, 2025
The actor talks with Emily Nussbaum about his role on “The Traitors,” why he had always been “judgy” toward reality shows, and the perils of fame.
John Fetterman on Trump’s “Raw Sewage,” and What the Democrats Get Wrong
Friday, February 21, 2025
The Pennsylvania senator says the Administration is dumping “three feet of raw sewage” on America, “and we have a Dixie cup” to bail it out. But Democrats have to work with Trump.
Celebrating 100 Years: Jia Tolentino and Roz Chast Pick Favorites from the Archive
Friday, February 14, 2025
The staff writer and the cartoonist share their picks from the archive—an essay by Joan Didion, and a caveman cartoon by George Booth—to celebrate The New Yorker’s centennial.
Trump’s Boogeyman: D.E.I.
Friday, February 07, 2025
The staff writer Jelani Cobb talks about the Trump Administration’s attempts to root out policies of diversity, equity, and inclusion—which it describes as discriminatory.
“No Other Land”: The Collective Behind the Oscar-Nominated Documentary
Friday, February 07, 2025
Two of the filmmakers, Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham, discuss the challenges and the threat of violence they faced making a film about Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
Bill Gates on His New Memoir and Dining with Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Friday, January 31, 2025
The Microsoft co-founder and public-health philanthropist discusses the future of A.I., vaccine skepticism, and the politics of technology in 2025.
Antony Blinken’s Exit Interview
Friday, January 17, 2025
President Biden’s long-serving Secretary of State on the crisis in Gaza, and his reason for optimism about a lasting peace in the region.
One Environmental Journalist Thinks that the U.S. Needs More Mining
Friday, January 10, 2025
Mining for rare-earth metals has severe environmental consequences. Speaking with Elizabeth Kolbert, the journalist Vince Beiser says that the U.S. needs more of it.
Julianne Moore Explains What She Needs in a Film Director
Friday, December 27, 2024
The actress talks with Michael Schulman about her time on “As the World Turns,” starring in Pedro Almodóvar’s first film in English, and why she hates when people call actors “brave.”
Rashid Khalidi on the Palestinian Cause in a Volatile Middle East, and the Meaning of Settler Colonialism
Friday, December 13, 2024
The historian discusses events that have weakened supposed allies of the Palestinians, and the idea of settler colonialism that has taken hold on the left. Critic Adam Kirsch responds.
Inside Donald Trump’s Mass-Deportation Plans
Friday, December 06, 2024
The staff writer Jonathan Blitzer on the rhetoric and the reality of deporting “millions”—and why immigrants in the country legally are likely to be targeted.
Audra McDonald on Stephen Sondheim, “Gypsy,” and Being Black on Broadway
Friday, December 06, 2024
The actress stars as Rose in a Broadway revival of “Gypsy.” She shares that, throughout her career, some people have been upset when she plays characters conceived for white actors.
Sarah McBride Wasn’t Looking for a Fight on Trans Rights
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
The first transgender person elected to Congress discusses how to respond to a bathroom bill and transphobic attacks from other House members, including Speaker Mike Johnson.
