Jonathan Galassi

06/12/19 • 30 min

Jonathan Galassi has been at the helm of the legendary publishing house Farrar, Straus & Giroux—one of the most literary publishers in the U.S.—for more than 30 years. He is the Antoine Gallimard of America, if you will. He’s also an eminent translator of Italian and French poetry and a poet himself. Jonathan Galasssi walked over to my apartment one spring morning, carrying a giant tote bag of French poetry. We talked about French and American poetry (6:33), how French authors get published in the U.S. (16:05), Michel Houellebecq (20:35), and his favorite spots in Paris (29:34). It was a wonderful and poetic morning, as you’ll hear in this episode.

Previous Episode

Adam Weinberg

Adam Weinberg is the Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art—one of the most important museums in the United States. I met him when I first arrived in New York, during his own Arts and Letters award ceremony, which we had organized at our bookstore, Albertine. It was then that I first discovered that, despite his grand title, Adam is an extremely generous, down-to-Earth person. In this episode, we candidly broach some very controversial topics, including cultural appropriation (17:00) and funding in the art world (5:03). And of course, we also spoke about cultural life in France (15:18).

Next Episode

Mickalene Thomas and Racquel Chevremont

Visual artist Mickalene Thomas seems to have artwork everywhere, from the Moody Arts Center in Houston to the Brooklyn Museum and Paris.

One morning in June, Mickalene and her partner and muse, Racquel Chevremont, joined me at Albertine, the French bookstore on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The three of us talked at length about how Mickalene reinterprets famous French paintings; about the visibility of black women in the arts; Mickalene and Racquel’s love for Dior and French butter; and the role that Paris plays for African-American artists.