On this week’s 51%, we speak with artist Barbara Benish about how she started the ArtMill Center for Regenerative Arts in the Czech Republic, and how artists continued to work under the totalitarian regime of former Czechoslovakia. Benish came to the Czech Republic from Los Angeles in 1989, just as a revolution overturned the country’s long-running Communist regime. Initially hoping to explore her roots, Benish saw how the arts survived decades of censorship through community, how creativity continued to influence and change society, and how the arts flourished after the revolution. Benish tells the story of this time and the creation of her community in her new book ArtMill: A Story of Sustainable Creativity in Bohemia.

(Airs 10/09/25 @ 3 p.m.) WAMC’s David Guistina speaks with David Lombardo, host of the Capitol Pressroom, about the impact of federal cuts on New York counties, coming inflation rebate checks, whether Governor Hochul will sign the Medical Aid in Dying Act, and much more.

Luca Vignelli reflects on his parents, Massimo and Lella Vignelli—legendary designers who created everything from furniture to typefaces, including the bold 1972 New York City subway map. Though initially hated and quickly withdrawn, the MTA has now revived the map, slightly revised, offering rare good news in tough times. “It was a diagram, not a map,” Luca explains. Speaking from Nerano, Italy, he shares insights into their legacy, their philosophy, and why they never saw themselves as artists.

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Elizabeth Strout’s latest, Tell Me Everything, returns to the town of Crosby, Maine, and to her beloved cast of characters as they deal with a shocking crime in their midst, forge new friendships, make difficult decisions about love, and grapple with the question, as Lucy Barton puts it, “What does anyone’s life mean?”