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.
The voice of every Simpsons character – OK, many Simpsons characters: Moe, Apu, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Carl Carlson and more – he is admired as an actor in movies (Night at the Museum), television (Mad About You) and theater (Spamalot). PERSON: Roy London PLACE: the NICU THING: his first TV RANDY’S PLACE: concert hall, … Continue reading »
Internationally known for her installations – at MOCA, MOMA, the Venice Biennale, The Stedelijk in Amsterdam – she does work that often has a kind of implied narrative: you get the previews, the posters, the ads, but not the movie itself. This was the first in a series of shows at Glenn Horowitz Booksellers. … Continue reading »
Lev Grossman is a journalist, the book critic at Time Magazine, and a novelist, best known for the three books in The Magicians series which he decribes as, in part, Harry Potter for adults. We spoke at the Brooklyn Historical Society accompanied by Mamie Minch. PERSON: J.K. Rowling PLACE: Oxford University THING: his antidepressants … Continue reading »
This splendid actor is perhaps best known for her performances in Wit and Angels in America and now has recurring roles on The Affair, The Americans, and House of Cards. We spoke at the National Black Theater, an event produced with Epic Theater Ensemble, featuring original music from the cast of Shakespeare Remix: Hamlet & … Continue reading »
In 1985, he became the youngest world chess champion in history at the age of 5. OK, he was 22, and it was an extraordinary achievement. He subsequently emerged as a vigorous anti-Putin activist and now heads the New York-based Human Rights Foundation. A conversation on computers, chess, secret codes, and Russian foreign policy. Plus … Continue reading »
Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, director of the Heart Failure Program at L.I. Jewish Medical Center, is that rare combination: a physician who is both skilled at his profession and able to reflect on it eloquently, as he does in two books, Intern: A Doctor’s Initiation, and Doctored: The Disillusionment of an American Physician. We spoke at … Continue reading »
Like many people, I became a fan with I Kissed a Girl, a song that is both witty and warm, qualities that seldom coincide. At a time when the music business has squeezed out the middle, offering only massive stadium concerts or total oblivion, she’s resourcefully built a musical life — crowd-funding an album, touring with … Continue reading »
Much enjoyed for his appearances as a judge on the Food Network program “Chopped,” chef Marc Murphy has cooked at Le Miraville in Paris, Louis XV in Monte Carlo and Le Cirque in New York and is now the chef and owner of Landmarc among other restaurants. During our conversation, he proposed lowering the … Continue reading »
The Tony-winning director of Raisin in the Sun, he was the artistic director of Atlanta’s Alliance Theater and has directed at Washington’s Arena Stage, Boston’s Huntington and Chicago’s Goodman. Among his film and TV credits are a remake of Steel Magnolias and a musical built on the work of Tupac Skakur. I’m almost certain these are two … Continue reading »
During our first season, I was fortunate to have Annette Gordon-Reed on the show. Born in Livingston, Texas, in 1958, she teaches both law and history at Harvard. Her book The Hemingses of Monticello won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize. The day before we were to record, her person, the writer Christopher Hitchens, died after a … Continue reading »
A Harvard law professor, he is known both for his legal work and his staunch defense of Israel. Among clients – Leona Helmsley, Mike Tyson, Michael Milken, Claus von Bulow, O.J. Simpson. I met him last summer at a gamelan concert. Yes, that old Indonesian meet-cute. We spoke on stage at JCC Manhattan, joined by … Continue reading »
During her tenure as food critic for the New York Times, she ate as many as four restaurant meals per day. But not in the same sitting. That would have been silly. She once tasted all 1,196 products in Bloomingdale’s food department – not a bar bet, an article. And a darn fine one. We … Continue reading »