DAVID TOMAS MARTINEZ - Pushcart Award-Winning Poet

DAVID TOMAS MARTINEZ - Pushcart Award-Winning Poet

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Pushcart Award-Winning Poet

When I was younger, I never really thought of living past twenty-five…I felt like I was in a movie. I thought that I was living this movie idea of things and there’d be gunshots around you. You hear it hitting the concrete, and you’re like ‘Oh, shit’. Seriously, I didn’t think of it as real life. When you’re young, the idea that I’d known people that were killed early, you go to prison. These just felt like matter of fact. They seemed to be this part of life and you just accepted them.

GAVIN JAMES CREEL - Tony & Olivier Award-Winning Actor, Singer & Songwriter - Highlights

GAVIN JAMES CREEL - Tony & Olivier Award-Winning Actor, Singer & Songwriter - Highlights

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Tony & Olivier Award-Winning Actor, Singer & Songwriter

To not honor that we are all creative, beautiful, interesting deep, rich individuals. We’re not zeros and ones on a spreadsheet. We’re not scientifically explained. We are not mathematically judged. We are imperfect blobs of emotion and bone and spirit and life and when we come together there is nothing greater than the chemistry and the alchemy of musical theater… There’s a joy, there’s a bounce, there’s an effervescence that’s part of that music. I had a great teacher in college, the head of our program Brent Wagner said, 'With lyrics, I can tell you to open the door, but with music I can tell you how.’ Lyrics are information and music is emotion.

GAVIN JAMES CREEL - A Tony-Winning Journey from The Book of Mormon to Hello, Dolly!

GAVIN JAMES CREEL - A Tony-Winning Journey from The Book of Mormon to Hello, Dolly!

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Tony & Olivier Award-Winning Actor, Singer & Songwriter

To not honor that we are all creative, beautiful, interesting deep, rich individuals. We’re not zeros and ones on a spreadsheet. We’re not scientifically explained. We are not mathematically judged. We are imperfect blobs of emotion and bone and spirit and life and when we come together there is nothing greater than the chemistry and the alchemy of musical theater… There’s a joy, there’s a bounce, there’s an effervescence that’s part of that music. I had a great teacher in college, the head of our program Brent Wagner said, 'With lyrics, I can tell you to open the door, but with music I can tell you how.’ Lyrics are information and music is emotion.

FRANÇOIS CLEMMONS - 1st African American Actor on Children’s TV - Officer Clemmons on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood - Highlights

FRANÇOIS CLEMMONS - 1st African American Actor on Children’s TV - Officer Clemmons on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood - Highlights

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Singer · Author
1st African American Actor on Children’s TV · Officer Clemmons on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

I always find it an ironic thing to think about the fact that Fred Rogers was colour-blind. He could barely tell a blue from a grey. I was young and to him I was a child and I certainly played the role of a child and he played the role of parent… He was profoundly patient.

Grammy Award Winner FRANÇOIS CLEMMONS on Pioneering African American Representation on Children's TV

Grammy Award Winner FRANÇOIS CLEMMONS on Pioneering African American Representation on Children's TV

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Singer · Author
1st African American Actor on Children’s TV · Officer Clemmons on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

I always find it an ironic thing to think about the fact that Fred Rogers was colour-blind. He could barely tell a blue from a grey. I was young and to him I was a child and I certainly played the role of a child and he played the role of parent… He was profoundly patient.

Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth with AVI LOEB - Highlights

Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth with AVI LOEB - Highlights

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Harvard Astronomer · Theoretical Physicist
NY Times Bestselling Author of Extraterrestrial, The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth

If we are not open to discover wonderful things, we will never discover them. It very much depends on us allowing ourselves to explore and find new things. My mother used to tell me when I was a kid that when I was born as an infant I was very different from the other babies in the room. I was looking around with open eyes, and I should say that’s where it all started. Once I got out of the womb of my mother and I started looking around, I was very curious. The great privilege of being a scientist is that you don’t need to give up on that curiosity. You can maintain your childhood curiosity.

Are We Alone in the Universe? AVI LOEB - Harvard Astronomer, NY Times Bestselling Author of Extraterrestrial

Are We Alone in the Universe? AVI LOEB - Harvard Astronomer, NY Times Bestselling Author of Extraterrestrial

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Harvard Astronomer · Theoretical Physicist
NY Times Bestselling Author of Extraterrestrial, The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth

If we are not open to discover wonderful things, we will never discover them. It very much depends on us allowing ourselves to explore and find new things. My mother used to tell me when I was a kid that when I was born as an infant I was very different from the other babies in the room. I was looking around with open eyes, and I should say that’s where it all started. Once I got out of the womb of my mother and I started looking around, I was very curious. The great privilege of being a scientist is that you don’t need to give up on that curiosity. You can maintain your childhood curiosity.

Exploring Jewish Identity: TAL HEVER-CHYBOWSKI on Literature, Translation & Yiddish Culture - Highlights

Exploring Jewish Identity: TAL HEVER-CHYBOWSKI on Literature, Translation & Yiddish Culture - Highlights

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Director of the Paris Yiddish Center (Maison de la Culture Yiddish) & Medem Library

A lot of people in my family and among my friends when they heard that I study Yiddish and that later made it my livelihood, they are very surprised. Yiddish? How come Yiddish? Why Yiddish? They even laugh sometimes, they are very surprised. And what I answer to them is that there is nothing surprising about the fact that I study or speak Yiddish. The real surprise, the real question that has to be asked is how come my parents, this last generation, didn’t speak Yiddish? Because, if you consider my family, for hundreds of years on all sides they spoke Yiddish.

TAL HEVER-CHYBOWSKI - Director, Paris Yiddish Center (Maison de la Culture Yiddish) & Medem Library

TAL HEVER-CHYBOWSKI - Director, Paris Yiddish Center (Maison de la Culture Yiddish) & Medem Library

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Director of the Paris Yiddish Center (Maison de la Culture Yiddish) & Medem Library

A lot of people in my family and among my friends when they heard that I study Yiddish and that later made it my livelihood, they are very surprised. Yiddish? How come Yiddish? Why Yiddish? They even laugh sometimes, they are very surprised. And what I answer to them is that there is nothing surprising about the fact that I study or speak Yiddish. The real surprise, the real question that has to be asked is how come my parents, this last generation, didn’t speak Yiddish? Because, if you consider my family, for hundreds of years on all sides they spoke Yiddish.

Reimagining Learning Through MAHATMA GANDHI's Principles w/ ANANTHA DURAIAPPAH - Highlights

Reimagining Learning Through MAHATMA GANDHI's Principles w/ ANANTHA DURAIAPPAH - Highlights

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Inaugural Director · UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace & Sustainable Development

I’ve always found that science and evidence has to be the guiding force in the way that we design our programs. Of course, understanding people as humans. People as not just rational human beings. That’s another thing that I also learned during my journey is that the whole notion of a rational human being is used as an assumption to make our economic models simple.

ANANTHA DURAIAPPAH - Director - UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development

ANANTHA DURAIAPPAH - Director - UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development

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Inaugural Director · UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace & Sustainable Development

Writer, Director ETGAR KERET on Dreams, Memory & Writing as a Healing Process - Highlights

Writer, Director ETGAR KERET on Dreams, Memory & Writing as a Healing Process - Highlights

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Writer and Director

When I compare novelists to short story writers or very short story writers, I can’t compare them, but one thing for sure, the purpose is different. I think that someone who writes tries to create or document a world. And when you write very short fiction you try to document a motion, some kind of movement.

Writer/Filmmaker ETGAR KERET: A Voice for Humanity, Culture & Creativity

Writer/Filmmaker ETGAR KERET: A Voice for Humanity, Culture & Creativity

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Writer and Director

When I compare novelists to short story writers or very short story writers, I can’t compare them, but one thing for sure, the purpose is different. I think that someone who writes tries to create or document a world. And when you write very short fiction you try to document a motion, some kind of movement.

PATON MILLER - Artist & World Traveler - Highlights

PATON MILLER - Artist & World Traveler - Highlights

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Artist & World Traveler

When we moved back to Hawaii and lived on Molokai. I was teaching at the Kalaupapa Leprosy Colony, we had no money. And I was spearfishing, not for sport, but to get food for my family. And it was a beautiful time of our lives. We were so poor, but we were not poor. Poor is a state of mind. We were without money, but we were having so much fun.

Exploring Mythology & World Culture through Art with PATON MILLER

Exploring Mythology & World Culture through Art with PATON MILLER

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Artist & World Traveler

When we moved back to Hawaii and lived on Molokai. I was teaching at the Kalaupapa Leprosy Colony, we had no money. And I was spearfishing, not for sport, but to get food for my family. And it was a beautiful time of our lives. We were so poor, but we were not poor. Poor is a state of mind. We were without money, but we were having so much fun.

Colombian Jazz Harpist Virtuoso EDMAR CASTANEDA on Family, Faith & the Creative Process - Highlights

Colombian Jazz Harpist Virtuoso EDMAR CASTANEDA on Family, Faith & the Creative Process - Highlights

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Jazz Harpist

The harp or the instrument that I play is a traditional instrument from Columbia (I’m from Bogota, Columbia). We have traditional music there called Janetta music. It’s the music from the plains of Colombia and Venezuala. It’s like the cowboy music… I met the harp when I was seven years old. That’s the first time I saw this instrument. I was like–Wow! I knew I was born to play the harp that day!

EDMAR CASTANEDA - Jazz Harpist Virtuoso

EDMAR CASTANEDA - Jazz Harpist Virtuoso

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Jazz Harpist

The harp or the instrument that I play is a traditional instrument from Columbia (I’m from Bogota, Columbia). We have traditional music there called Janetta music. It’s the music from the plains of Colombia and Venezuala. It’s like the cowboy music… I met the harp when I was seven years old. That’s the first time I saw this instrument. I was like–Wow! I knew I was born to play the harp that day!

JUNG CHANG - Historian & Author of International Bestseller Wild Swans - Highlights

JUNG CHANG - Historian & Author of International Bestseller Wild Swans - Highlights

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Historian & Author of International Bestseller Wild Swans

Writing Wild Swans was the thing that resolved the trauma for me. When I first came to Britain in 1978, I was one of the first people to leave China and come to the West. I wrote about the experience in Wild Swans. And for many years I had nightmares of the horrible things I saw and experienced. Writing Wild Swans made all these nightmares disappear. It was a wonderful process. The writing process turned trauma in memory. I am now able to talk to you about my book, my life, to read it without too much pain. I think this is a luxury people in China still don’t have.

JUNG CHANG - Historian & Author of International Bestseller Wild Swans

JUNG CHANG - Historian & Author of International Bestseller Wild Swans

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Historian & Author of International Bestseller Wild Swans

Writing Wild Swans was the thing that resolved the trauma for me. When I first came to Britain in 1978, I was one of the first people to leave China and come to the West. I wrote about the experience in Wild Swans. And for many years I had nightmares of the horrible things I saw and experienced. Writing Wild Swans made all these nightmares disappear. It was a wonderful process. The writing process turned trauma in memory. I am now able to talk to you about my book, my life, to read it without too much pain. I think this is a luxury people in China still don’t have.

Tony Award Winner JOHN BENJAMIN HICKEY on The Normal Heart, The Big C & Beyond - Highlights

Tony Award Winner JOHN BENJAMIN HICKEY on The Normal Heart, The Big C & Beyond - Highlights

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Actor and Director

If you are thinking about too much, you're probably not doing it right. Some nights you do it and you're just like, that just felt like it was ten minutes long and I just was on cloud nine. What was I doing? A great, great American actor George C. Scott had a great quote once, he said, "Every actor worth their salt has one good show a week and spends those other seven shows wondering what they did that made them so good that night." And nobody knows. If you could figure that out and if you could bottle that then, of course, everybody could do it.