Ta-Nehisi Coates, Toni Morrison, Jay-Z, and Zadie Smith are just a few among the black authors and creators we'll hear from this week. In our 100th episode, we present the men and women making black history today, from music moguls to authors, chefs to television stars. Please join us for a look at of some of the most incredible guests The New York Public Library and The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture have had the privilege to host.

In order of appearance:
Marcus Samuelsson
Ntozake Shange
Charles Blow
Tavis Smiley
George Clinton (with Paul Holdengraber)
Shaquille O'Neal
Timbaland (with William Jelani Cobb)
Ta-Nehisi Coates (with Khalil Gibran Muhammad)
RuPaul
Toni Morrison & Angela Davis
Zadie Smith & Chimamanda Adichie
Jay-Z (with Cornel West)
Jesmyn Ward (with William Jelani Cobb & Khalil Gibran Muhammad)
Toni Morrison
Zadie Smith

Music by: Blue Dot Sessions, Chris Zabriskie, and Hot Acid Alien Lust Bomb.

We’re going back in the archives to bring you a conversation with the founders of record label Def Jam Recordings: music producers Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin. In this talk with NYPL’s Paul Holdengraber, Simmons and Rubin discuss hip hop, collaboration, and the importance of speaking your own truth.

Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Yusef Komunyakaa came to the Library last October to celebrate the release of his latest book, “The Emperor of Water Clocks.” In this engrossing conversation with NYPL’s Jessica Strand, Komunyakaa talks about music, Langston Hughes, and his literary coming of age.

We’re kicking off Black History Month with Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison, who came to NYPL in 2010 for a conversation with activist and author Angela Davis. In this wide-ranging talk, Morrison and Davis discuss Frederick Douglass, education, and liberation.