In this special series we perform articles from The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and ProPublica to spark audience discussions about pressing issues in the news today.
This series is made possible by a generous grant from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, and is co-presented by Theater of War Productions and WNYC. Each installment is recorded with a live studio audience at WNYC and broadcast the following week on the radio and on WNYC.org.
Series Highlights
"I Don't Want to Die." Theater of War Productions, Presented by WNYC
WNYC / 2025
For the third installment of Theater of War Productions’ new long-form journalism series at WNYC, the acclaimed actors Oscar Isaac (Dune, Ex Machina), Kathryn Erbe (Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Oz), and Bill Camp (The Queen's Gambit, The Night Of), perform “I Don’t Want to Die”: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Network, written by Max Blau for ProPublica, to frame a powerful conversation about health insurance, ghost networks, and the challenges many American face accessing mental health care when they need it most.
This event was recorded with a live studio audience on April 9th, 2025 at WNYC's The Greene Space in Manhattan, and broadcasted on April 26th, 2025 and April 29th, 2025 on WNYC.
Chad Coleman and David Strathairn
WNYC / 2025
Chad and David Strathairn perform Adam Iscoe's article published in The New Yorker, “How Daniel Penny Was Found Not Guilty in a Subway Killing That Divided New York.” Listen to here to How A Subway Killing Divided America
Arliss Howard
WNYC / 2025
Arliss Howard performs Adam Iscoe's article published in The New Yorker, “How Daniel Penny Was Found Not Guilty in a Subway Killing That Divided New York.” Listen to here to How A Subway Killing Divided America
Amy Ryan
WNYC / 2025
Gabrielle Djenne speaks in the audience discussion
WNYC / 2025
How Ozempic Changed America: Theater of War Productions, Presented by WNYC
WNYC / 2025
This event was recorded with a live studio audience on March 13, 2025 at WNYC's The Greene Space in Manhattan, and broadcasted on March 22nd and March 25th on WNYC.
For the second installment of Theater of War Productions’ new long-form journalism series at WNYC, the acclaimed actor Hope Davis (Asteroid City, Succession) performs “A Diet Writer’s Regrets: No one has ever known so much about healthy eating and been less successful at following her own advice,” written by Rebecca Johns for The Atlantic, to help frame a guided audience discussion about the heath and wellness industry, Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs, and the stigma around weight in America.
Daphne Rubin-Vega
WNYC / 2025
How A Subway Killing Divided America
In this first installment, actors Chad Coleman (The Walking Dead, The Wire), Arliss Howard (Full Metal Jacket, The Lost World: Jurassic Park), Amy Ryan (Only Murders in the Building, The Office) and David Strathairn (Nomadland, Good Night, and Good Luck.), read a recent article in The New Yorker, “How Daniel Penny Was Found Not Guilty in a Subway Killing That Divided New York,” to help frame a guided audience discussion about public safety and mental health, grounded in the perspectives of subway riders, MTA employees, mental health professionals, veterans, and first responders.
How Ozempic Changed America
Actor Hope Davis (About Schmidt, Asteroid City, Succession) read a recent article from The Atlantic, A Diet Writer’s Regrets, to help frame a discussion about weight, GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Monjaro, social media and the burden of judgment.
“I Don’t Want to Die”: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Network
Acclaimed actors Oscar Isaac (Dune, Ex Machina), Kathryn Erbe (Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Oz), and Bill Camp (The Queen's Gambit, The Night Of), performed “I Don’t Want to Die”: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Network, written by Max Blau for ProPublica, to frame a conversation about health insurance, ghost networks, and the challenges many American face accessing mental health care when they need it most.
Two Rural Counties. Two Different Approaches to Ending Domestic Violence
The acclaimed actors Debra Winger (Terms of Endearment, Urban Cowboy), Josh Hamilton (Eighth Grade, The Walking Dead), Daphne Rubin-Vega (In the Heights, Only Murders in the Building), and Bill Irwin (Interstellar, Rachel Getting Married) performed "In Rural Tennessee, Domestic Violence Victims Face Barriers to Getting Justice. One County Has Transformed Its Approach," written by Paige Pfleger for WPLN and ProPublica, as a catalyst for a guided audience discussion about domestic violence, gun violence, and innovative approaches to preventing both.
Cast Members
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Arliss Howard
Read Bio
Arliss Howard
Film credits include:
Amistad
Full Metal Jacket
Natural Born Killers
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Dandelion
He adapted, directed and starred with Debra Winger in Big Bad Love -
Amy Ryan
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Amy Ryan
TV & Film credits include:
Win, Win
Gone Baby Gone (Academy Award Nomination)
The Wire
The Office -
Chad Coleman
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Chad Coleman
TV & Film credits include
The Wire
Boldly Going Nowhere
The Green HornetThe Walking Dead
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David Strathairn
Read Bio
David Strathairn
TV & Film credits include:
NomadlandLincoln
Temple Grandin (Emmy Award)
Good Night & Good Luck(Academy Award Nomination)
The Uninvited
The Bourne Ultimatum -
Hope Davis
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Hope Davis
Astroid City
Succession
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Oscar Isaac
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Oscar Isaac
Ex Machina
Inside Llewyn Davis
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
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Kathryn Erbe
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Kathryn Erbe
Kathryn Erbe is best known for playing Detective Alexandra Eames in “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” Erbe’s television credits include playing the infamous death row inmate Shirley Bellinger on the acclaimed HBO series “Oz.” She also appeared on NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street,” the miniseries “George Wallace,” Showtime’s original production of “Naked City: Justice with a Bullet,” NBC’s “Another World” and the television movie “Breathing Lessons.”
Erbe also gained notice in the 1999 box office hit “Stir of Echoes” opposite Kevin Bacon and “Dream with the Fishes” with David Arquette. Her additional film credits include “Entropy,” “Kiss of Death,” “D2: The Mighty Ducks,” “Rich in Love”, “What About Bob?”, and “Speaking of Sex” with Lara Flynn Boyle and Bill Murray. Before appearing in feature films, Erbe began her career on the stage.
She is a member of the Steppenwolf Theater Company and has starred in many of their productions, including Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” as Stella, “Curse of the Starving Class” and “My Thing of Love.” She earned a Tony® Award nomination in 1991 for her portrayal of Mary in “Speed of Darkness.” Erbe is also an active member of the Atlantic Theatre Company.
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Bill Camp
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Bill Camp
Theater credits include:
Diary of a Madman (Yale Repertory Theater)
Saint Joan (Broadway)
The Seagull (Broadway
TV & Film credits include:
Tamara Drewe
The Dying GaulThe Queen's Gambit
The Night Of
The Bourne Ultimatum
Dark Waters
The Outsider
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
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Gary Farmer
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Gary Farmer
Dead Man
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Smoke Signals
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Lou Diamond Phillips
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Lou Diamond Phillips
La Bamba
Stand and Deliver
Prodigal Son
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Tanis Parenteau
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Tanis Parenteau
Billions
House of Cards
Sweet Summer Pow-Wow
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Irma-Estel Laguerre
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Irma-Estel Laguerre
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Blue Bloods
The Undoing
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Debra Winger
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Debra Winger
Film & TV:
In Treatment
Rachel Getting Married
An Officer and A Gentleman
Terms of Endearment
Shadowlands
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Bill Irwin
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Bill Irwin
Theater credits include:
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Broadway, Tony Award)
Waiting for Godot (Broadway)
Film credits include:
Rachel Getting Married
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Josh Hamilton
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Josh Hamilton
Theater credits include:
Three Sisters (Classic Stage)
The Coast of Utopia (Lincoln Center Theater)
Proof (Broadway)
TV & Film credits include:
Ten Stories Tall
Away We Go
Mercy -
Daphne Rubin-Vega
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Daphne Rubin-Vega
Theater credits include:
Rent (Mimi; Original cast, Tony nom: Best Actress/Musical)
Anna in the Tropics (Tony nom)
Film credits include:
In The Heights
Jack Goes Boating
Sex and The City (film 1)
