Season 4

2018 · 14 episodes

Episodes

1The OutsidersDavid Sedaris has been regaling us with tales drawn from his own life for nearly three decades—and he’s still on the hunt for fresh material. Priscilla Renea went from YouTube sensation to mega-hit songwriter. She’s indefatigable, and she’s doing things her way. Jeffrey Gibson’s life and work are profoundly shaped by his Native American origins.
2It's All Between Their EarsOlivia Laing’s writing explores the aspects of life that are most difficult to put into words. Bill Fontana finds musical potential in everything. Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards has managed to quiet the destructive voices in her head.
3Goth, Death, and Lovecraft, Oh My! A Halloween SpecialGoth, in all its forms, appeals to the dark side of the human spirit. Humanity’s greatest fear is not the unknown, it is the certainty of our own mortality. H.P. Lovecraft’s intergenerational legacy of horror.
4Redefining "Possible"When countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo sings, he confounds expectations of how a man should sound. Long before Kory Stamper started writing dictionaries, she was just a kid in love with language. Former NASA physicist Robert Lang finds a natural fit for his mathematical mind in the ancient art of origami.
5Roads Less TraveledLoss has shaped Tracy K. Smith’s perspective- as a poet, and as a person. David Lang may be a Pulitzer Prize-winner, but he’ll always think like an outsider. Open Mike Eagle’s “art rap” is a new style of humor-infused, socially aware hip-hop.
6Journeys in Time and SpaceDelving into the poem that’s survived re-reading longer than the Bible and Shakespeare. Music has always been the quickest route to Kaki King’s soul. Thi Bui on how writing about her family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam helped to heal.
7As if by FateShawn Colvin has dedicated her life to music. Masatoshi Izumi's family’s relationship with stone goes back hundreds of years. Erika Sanchez writes for teens who are complex and confused like she was at their age.
8The Wildest DreamersTaylor Mac believes that theater is sacred. But that doesn’t mean it must be sacrosanct. Tori Marchiony explores the enchanted worlds of young adult author Holly Black. Vieux Farka Touré was drawn to music because of his father, but pursued it in spite of him.
9Marc Bamuthi Joseph: Stage, Page, Body, MindPoet, dancer, and playwright Marc Bamuthi Joseph, in concert and conversation with Jim Cotter.
10Unique PerspectivesYannick Nézet-Séguin is one-of-a-kind in the world of conducting. Type designer Tobias Frere-Jones disagrees with your 1st-grade teacher. Singer, songwriter, actor, and director Hayley Kiyoko.
11Experiments Gone RightPritzker Prize-winning architect Balkrishna Doshi learned a lot about his craft as a bedridden 10-year-old. Tori Marchiony finds out why Amy Seiwert is constantly pushing against boundaries- seen and unseen. Actor/writer/director Josh Radnor and singer-songwriter Ben Lee were friends for a decade before they decided to make music together.
12The SeekersDon’t be fooled by the “lighthearted” music of They Might Be Giants. Sylvia Plath should be remembered as more than a poster girl for despair. An artist falls in love with an engineer. Perspectives shift.
13The Pursuit of New TruthsFor Hélène Grimaud, music has been both a profession and salvation. Sarah Williams Goldhagen is on a crusade to fix architecture, now. Scott McCloud understands comics.
14David Finckel: The Chamber Music MaestroCellist David Finckel, in concert and conversation with Jim Cotter.