Growing Pains with Josh Ritter, Martha Plimpton, and Junot Diaz

Last week, WNYC’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space was packed for Studio 360 Live — a night of stories and music about growing up.

Josh Ritter charmed us with songs from his new album So Runs the World Away. Martha Plimpton performed a beautifully stripped-down version of the Springsteen classic “Thunder Road.” And the very funny Junot Diaz talked about growing up while writing his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: “If you’re asking people to read your book and be transformed by it… basically the book is asking for you to become the person you need to be to write the damn thing. It’s asking you to be transformed in the process.”

We’re broadcasting the radio cut of the show this weekend. Of course, some amazing moments had to be left on the cutting room floor… like Josh Ritter’s beautiful, understated take on “Moon River.”

You can see all the videos here.