Dan Charnas

This PEN award, and the evening, was extra sweet because I was with some great people, including… My best everything, Wendy S. Walters… Our brilliant friend @robincostelewis … My manager @batnib at @omalillyprojects Sean McDonald, my esteemed publisher and editor. So happy to see the rest of the crew from @mcdbooks and @fsgbooks present and past including Sarita Varma @jaxonhoward , Ben Brooks, and Danny Vazquez I had the honor of meeting one of the two judges for the biography award, @profmanubhagavan , to whom I am so grateful. Thank you all for your kind words and well wishes.

Another stellar graduating class for the @clivedavisinst , another academic year in the books for the baddest bunch of faculty in the business.

April 28th: Bob Roberts Revisited: Movie Screening and Panel w/ Nora Guthrie, Jeff Peretz, and Michael Gillespie Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Film Center. 7pm Part of our Woody Guthrie Exhibition & Events Series: What This Guitar Might Do. RSVP in our Linktree.

Scenes from last night’s @donutsareforever 20th Anniversary celebration.

Come join me for a screening and discussion on April 28 at 7p — RSVP in BIO HIGHLIGHTS Tim Robbins’ mockumentary Bob Roberts imagines the rise of a guitar-playing stock trading populist candidate for U.S. Senate who uses music to cultivate a rabid, reactionary, racist following. A biting satire and an ingenious body of original music that upends the folk of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan - think Spinal Tap, but sinister - the film is also a startlingly accurate prediction of our political present. Part of the programming for @clivedavisinst Spring exhibit, Woody Guthrie: What This Guitar Might Do. Hosted by the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music Sponsored by NYU’s Arts & Impact initiative

Some collaborations feel like they were simply meant to be — and this is one of them. The Clive Davis Institute, NYU's Arts and Impact Initiative, Gallatin Gallery, Woody Guthrie Publications, and @woodyguthriecenter have come together to present something truly special: What This Guitar Might Do — an interactive exhibition drawing from the rich, storied depths of the Guthrie archive. A series of music, film, and discussion-based events will present a portrait of Guthrie as a prolific, multidisciplinary artist who used music, writing, and visual art to honor working people and fight for economic justice, equality, and social change. Our goal is to introduce Guthrie's ideals to new generations of artists and social pioneers. Our special guests include Chuck D (Public Enemy), Bill Stepheny (Def Jam), JD Samson (Le Tigre), Nora Guthrie (Woody’s daughter), Anna Canoni (Woody’s granddaughter), and a long list of local musicians, scholars, and artists. The timing of this exhibition feels particularly significant. The need for collaboration, thoughtful dialogue, and empathetic voices rising from the artistic community has rarely felt more urgent. We hope to see you there. Why Woody Guthrie in NYC? Along with writing "This Land is Your Land" in NYC, Woody and his wife, Marjorie, raised their family in Coney Island, Brooklyn, and Woody spent his final years in Queens. The exhibit will be on display through May 15, 2026. All events are free and open to the public. LOCATION: The Clive Davis Gallery at 370 Jay Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 All info in our Linktree. 💜

17 years, still carrying it together. Happy anniversary, @wendyswalterslit

NEW EPISODE 🚨 Dan Charnas didn’t just write about hip-hop — he lived it. From The Source to working with Rick Rubin, to writing The Big Payback and Dilla Time — he helped document the culture from the inside. This isn’t an interview. It’s Dan Charnas telling his story through the music that shaped it — one track at a time.

Always a trip to return to the place where music comes from.

You know how we do.

One of the most meaningful moments in my life was receiving the PEN Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography for “Dilla Time” in 2023. So it was extra sweet to have been asked to judge the award in 2025, and to present the 2026 award to @nicholastboggs for his book, “James Baldwin: A Love Story.” And because I have been for so many years reading and admiring the work of @peter_beinart — a strong voice for all diasporic Jews who stand against the racism and fascism that has been and continues to be committed in our name by the nation that has taken our name in vain — it was a great moment of vindication to bring him onstage to accept the PEN John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction for his book “Being Jewish After The Destruction of Gaza — A Reckoning.” So many thanks to @penamerica for the honor and for the community.

Celebrating a cherished personal anniversary: 22 years since my return to New York City.