These principals of the architectural firm WORKac found it challenging to design their own home. The psychological complexity of domestic life? The culmination of years of thought? “The hardest thing about designing our house was that we just haven’t designed a lot of houses.” Produced with the Center for Architecture. Photo: Harry Willks.
The artistic director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company summarizes his aesthetic: “The curtain goes up, twenty minutes happen, the curtain comes down, and it is transformative.” Easy to say, brilliant to achieve. And they do.
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
This composer and musician admires the Dalai Lama but got a little anxious when asked to sing for him: “They locked me in my dressing room…then there was a monk that was sitting next to me kind of glaring.” A conversation at the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Music: Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Carmen Rockwell. Continue reading »
Trained as an engineer and architect, she is the president of Pratt Institute and offers this precept: “If I didn’t do something really bad or evil, then it was a good design.” Practice and pedagogy at the Center for Architecture. Music: Cleek Schrey. Continue reading »
Despite a distinguished career in health policy, he calls hurling “one of the greatest loves of my life.” It is Ireland’s national sport, a game of speed, skill, and impressive injuries. Or maybe because of that career: “You’ve got to be in great shape to play this,” he tells the Irish Arts Center. Music: Those Sensible Shoes. Continue reading »
Some novelists begin with a character, some with a plot; Jennifer Egan – A Visit From the Goon Squad, Manhattan Beach – often starts with a sense of place: “That seems to come before there are people.” A conversation at the Center for Fiction cosponsored by the Municipal Art Society. Music: Lily Henley and Duncan Wickel. Photo: … Continue reading »