Zadie Smith's Debut Play, NYRP's Free Tree Giveaway, Get Lit Preview: Mona Simpson's 'Commitment,' Avoiding Grief, Brandee Younger Performs

For transcripts, see individual segment pages.

Tonight is the opening of the New York premiere of author Zadie Smith's debut play, "The Wife of Willesden." The play is a modern adaptation of an excerpt of one of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. After a debut London run in 2021, the play comes to BAM, directed by Indhu Rubasingham and starring Clare Perkins as Alvita, a middle-aged Jamaican woman living in England who decides to tell her life story to a group of strangers in a North West London pub. "The Wife of Willesden" is showing at BAM's Harvey Theater through April 16.

April marks the beginning of the New York Restoration Project's free tree giveaway program, in which the NYRP hosts events throughout all five boroughs of the city to educate community members about the importance of trees in urban spaces, and also distribute native species for participants to plant in their neighborhoods. NYRP executive director Lynn Kelly joins to preview the program and how you can get involved.

Our April Get Lit with All Of It book club selection is the latest novel from acclaimed writer Mona Simpson. Commitment tells the story of a family in 1970s California coping with the fallout from their single mother's decision to check herself into a mental health facility for depression. Simpson joins us for a preview conversation ahead of our April 26 in-person event at the SNFL Rooftop Event Center. Click here to find out how to borrow your e-copy, courtesy of our partners at the New York Public Library, and to reserve your free ticket to our April event!

After her father died while she was in high school, Laurel Braitman focused on achieving success in school and in work until she couldn't avoid the grief any longer. She joins us to talk about her new memoir, What Looks Like Bravery: An Epic Journey Through Loss to Love, and what it means to embrace the pain after losing someone. We also take your calls.

Brandee Younger returns to the show, this time in-studio, to perform songs live from her new album, Brand New Life, out tomorrow. The album celebrates the work of trailblazing jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby and features contributions from Pete Rock, 9th Wonder, Meshell Ndegeocello and Makaya McCraven.