She’s been with the New York City Ballet for 30 years, rising from apprentice to principal to associate artistic director. “When I moved to New York at 15, by myself, I moved into Jacques d’Amboise’s home. He rented the third floor of his brownstone to four young ballet students.” The world’s coolest boarding house. I … Continue reading »
Author Archives: Randy Cohen
Episode 302: Vincent Sapienza
He leads New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection, managing the finest municipal water system in America, despite much of it flowing through century-old cast-iron pipes. He told the Municipal Archives, “The pipe under 42nd Street goes back to the time when John Wilkes Booth’s brother was acting as Hamlet on Broadway.” Yes, he dates infrastructure … Continue reading »
Episode 301: Larry Kramer
He wrote Ken Russell’s Women in Love, geeze, 50 years ago, then wrote plays (The Normal Heart) and novels (Faggots). Amidst the emerging AIDS epidemic, he helped found the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and Act Up. Accomplished, right? Not according to him. “I feel like I failed,” he says. A life examined. Continue reading »
Episode 300: Gene Kohn
He is a co-founder of KPF, architects of buildings worldwide, including One Vanderbilt, rising near Grand Central. “It’s very tall at over 1,400 feet, but it’s not the tallest building in New York, and we weren’t trying to make it the tallest,” he told the Center for Architecture. “We didn’t want to get into a … Continue reading »
Episode 299: Sarah Boxer
This cartoonist and her cousin, our featured musical guest Jill Sobule, were raised in Colorado, with ties to a disastrous nineteenth-century scheme that sent Jewish immigrants westward from the slums of the Lower East Side. Great story. Great song. (Somehow the words “disastrous scheme” evoke the White House. I can’t imagine why.) Continue reading »
Episode 298: Paula Scher
She’s created graphic identities for Citibank, Tiffany, the Public Theater, and, well, everybody, but will be remembered for one album cover, she tells the Museum of Arts and Design. “It was dumb; it was a dumb idea; the whole thing was dumb.” The triumphs and discontents of a great designer. Music: Piedmont Bluz. Continue reading »
Episode 297: Roy Steiner
Working on the food initiative at the Rockefeller Foundation convinced him that, “You can’t shift people’s diets if you can’t make it delicious. Food is not just fuel.” A conversation at the New York Baha’i Center about health, hedonism, and social justice. Music: Stephanie Jenkins Continue reading »
Episode 296: Françoise Girard
As U.S. courts veer to the right, lesser souls (OK, me) grow discouraged, but the president of the International Women’s Health Coalition is undaunted: “There’s lots of things you can do. The women’s movement is very resourceful.” Smart, committed, and cheerful? I’m so confused. Music: Dan Kassel Continue reading »
Episode 295: Judge Dorothy Nelson
She entered UCLA law school in 1952, one of only two women in her class, and went on to become a dean at USC’s law school, a federal appellate court judge, and a skeptic of our adversary system: “There had to be a better way to resolve conflict.” And she found it. Continue reading »
Episode 294: Danielle Gustafson
A champion of citizen scientists – sophisticated but uncredentialed – she cofounded the NYC Bat Group and conducts bat tours of Central Park for the Museum of Natural History. A conversation at KGB’s Red Room. Produced with Lori Schwarz. Music: Mike Casey Continue reading »
Episode 293: Dr. Budd Heyman
He directs prison health services at Bellevue Hospital, treating inmates from New York City jails. “We have mostly chest pains, broken jaws, kidney failure, altered mental status.” Broken jaws. From fights. Delivering high-quality care in high-stress circumstances. Music: the Wisterians. Produced with Dr. Ruth Oratz. Continue reading »
Episode 292: Deborah Amos
Her years as Middle East correspondent for NPR News gave her strong feelings about accountability, the rule of law, and handbags: “This lovely accessory is a bag made out of Saddam Hussein’s bedroom curtains.” A conversation at the Princeton Public Library. Music: Dan Kassel. Continue reading »