Rediscovering Stevie Wonder, with Wesley Morris and Josh Gwynn

Kirk talks with Wesley Morris and Josh Gwynn about the endless world of Stevie Wonder. Morris and Gwynn are host and producer, respectively, of the brilliant new six-part podcast series The Wonder of Stevie (podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wonder-of-st…).
Check out Josh Gwynn's terrific pop culture podcast Back Issue (pineapple.fm/back-issue), Wesley Morris's culture podcast Still Processing (nytimes.com/column/still-processing-podcast), and Morris' essential writing on Aretha Franklin (nytimes.com/2018/08/16/arts/music/respect-aret…), Jam & Lewis (nytimes.com/2021/07/06/arts/music/jimmy-jam-te…), Meshell Ndegeocello (nytimes.com/2024/08/01/arts/music/meshell-ndeg…), and his mustache (nytimes.com/2020/10/14/magazine/quarantine-mus…), as well as his 2019 essay about Black American Music (nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/mu…).
REFERENCED ON THIS EPISODE:
• "Wild Wild West" by Will Smith, Kool Moe Dee, Rub Fusari, and Stevie Wonder, 1999
• "Straight, No Chaser" by Thelonious Monk, recorded 1967
• Thelma Golden and Michelle Obama talking about listening to records as kids, from Episode 5 of The Wonder of Stevie
Stevie Wonder Song Excerpts:
• "Keep On Running" from Music of My Mind, 1972
• "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" from Talking Book, 1972
• "Jesus Children of America" from Innervisions, 1973
• "Boogie On Reggae Woman" from Fulfillingness' First FInale, 1974
• "I Wish," "Sir Duke," and "As," from Songs in the Key of Life, 1976
• "Happy Birthday" from Hotter Than July, 1980
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