(12/8/20)Billie Holiday, one of the greatest vocalists of all time, was always controversial—a proud black woman who preferred white audiences, an exploited artist and a violent drug addict, a loyal friend and a vindictive lover, a blues singer who didn’t sing the blues. Featuring unseen interview footage from Charles Mingus, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, Count Basie and even the FBI agents who arrested her, director James Erskine’s new documentary Billie aims to discover who this jazz icon really was. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, the film’s executive producer and executor of the late singer’s estate Michele Smith joins James for a new look at the legacy of Billie Holiday.