ARTICULATE WITH JIM COTTER Season 9


#901: From Prodigies to Paragons

Yaa Gyasi and Sarah Jarosz were recognized early for their gifts. Now they are becoming role models.

Segment 1: Wonderings and Wanderings

As a child, Ghanaian American writer Yaa Gyasi’s family moved often, a boon for a young girl curious about who she might become.

Segment 2: A Soon-To-Be-Former Child Prodigy

Singer-songwriter Sara Jarosz, now in her 30s, is finally getting to cast aside her identity as a child prodigy.

#902: Unremitting

Writer Kate DiCamillo and theater artist Ping Chong have navigated winding paths.

Segment 1: Kate Di Camillo: The Persistence of Reverie

Kate DiCamillo’s transformation from docile to dogged came with a sudden moment of self-realization.

Segment 2: Ping Chong: Intents and Purposes

Innovative theater artist Ping Chong has approached his life’s work with unrelenting intensity.

#903: Fearless Pursuits

Writer Michael Cunningham and poet Joan Naviyuk Kane didn’t let obstacles stand in the way of realizing their potential.

Segment 1: Michael Cunningham’s Adventures in Time and Space

Writer Michael Cunningham overcame failure, and success, to find the freedom to be his true self.

Segment 2: Joan Naviyuk Kane: Speaking Their Language

Poet Joan Naviyuk Kane writes to reconcile the experiences of her Inupiaq community with the narratives of a society that would define them from outside.

#904: By Their Stars

Brandon Flowers’ faith has helped steer the course for his rock band The Killers. Choreographer Mark Morris confidently pushes the limits of modern dance, even in the face of criticism. And violinist Augustin Hadelich’s devotion to technical mastery moves him closer to his true goal: human connection.

Segment 1: The Pressure Machine

The Killers’ Brandon Flowers uses his spiritual compass to navigate the extremes of a rock and roll lifestyle.

Segment 2: A Man for All Seasons

Choreographer Mark Morris confidently pushes the limits of modern dance, even in the face of criticism.

Segment 3: Finding Connection

Violinist Augustin Hadelich’s devotion to technical mastery moves him closer to his true goal: human connection.

#905: Long and Winding Road

The most successful works to date of singer-songwriter and playwright Anaïs Mitchell and writer Douglas Stuart have been decades in the making. Mitchell created “Hadestown,” the box office-smashing, multi-Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. Stuart wrote the Booker Prize-winning, best-selling novel “Shuggie Bain.”

Segment 1: The Slow Road

Anaïs Mitchell spent more than a decade creating her multi-Tony Award-winning musical “Hadestown.” So all-encompassing was her task that it took an intervention by her husband for her to declare it complete.

Segment 2: The High Road

It took writer Douglas Stuart years to come to terms with his difficult early life in Glasgow. With perspective gained by moving to the United States, his youth eventually became the basis for a Booker Prize-winning, best-selling novel.

#906: The Insatiables

Composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz and writer Susan Orlean have relentlessly inquiring minds, resulting in works of stunning originality.

Segment 1: An Inquiring Heart and Mind

Composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz pairs a devotion to music with an urge to understand the inner lives of others.

Segment 2: Intensely Inquisitive

Writer Susan Orlean is driven to objectively explore unfamiliar slices of life. Her discoveries are inevitably insightful, surprising, and delivered with wit.

#907: Conscientious Evolution

Singer-songwriter Ben Folds and architect Jeanne Gang have kept their ideas fresh, authentic, and clear of passing trends.

Segment 1: Knowing His Place

Singer-songwriter Ben Folds has enjoyed more than a quarter century of acclaim. Success came with a keen awareness of place and time.

Segment 2: Nurturing Nature

Architect Jeanne Gang believes the built environment can coexist with the natural one, a concept her buildings have proved both possible and enduring.

#908: Crossing Cultures

String trio Time for Three and choreographer and dancer Akram Khan have drawn from disparate cultures to create work of uncommon originality.

Segment 1: Music Without Boundaries

String trio Time for Three draws from classical, bluegrass, pop, and more to make music that defies classification.

Segment 2: Classically Contemporary

Dancer and choreographer Akram Khan has combined classical Indian and contemporary dance to create a new form of storytelling.

#909: Home and Away

Singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan and landscape architect Sara Zewde have developed creative practices that blend the perspectives of their immigrant families with American cultural traditions.

Segment 1: What She Wants From Herself

Aoife O’Donovan’s Irish roots and American upbringing have met in music that honors both without being burdened by either.

Segment 2: A Natural Collaboration

Landscape architect Sarah Zewde has traveled far and wide to discover and refine her calling: helping others cultivate cultural and community resilience.