Randy Cohen

When drummer Bobby Sanabria was a kid, his father introduced him to an array of music, from Tito Puente to Dobie Gray. “He bought himself a La-Z-Boy chair. He would sit there after dinner, smoke a cigarette, and zone out listening to music.” Bad for the lungs, great for the soul. The making of a musician. Presented with the Bronx Music Hall.

Special correspondent for BBC Studios Katty Kay, a regular contributor to MSNBC, and co-host, with Anthony Scaramucci, of the podcast The Rest Is Politics, talks to us about a Welbourne farm, her Swiss passport and her mother. “People call journalists curious; I think it’s just nosiness.”

Jonathan Brent, executive director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, reflects on the powerful experience of working with original archival materials. While YIVO makes millions of its 24 million items accessible online, Brent recalls the visceral impact of holding Lenin’s party card — a reminder that scholarship is both intellectual and deeply personal.

Obie-winning actor Andrea Patterson created the role of Helen in the Classical Theatre of Harlem’s “Memnon.” “It is definitely under-utilized. Underappreciated.” Greek mythology in modern theater? Yes, but she refers to the peanut in American cooking. She’s got range. See for yourself in Marcus Garvey Park throughout July.

Historian David Levering Lewis talks to us about W. E. B. Du Bois, born in 1868, and “The Interstate Tatler” and Karl Marx. Learn how it all started by finding a bunch of newspapers.

Host Randy Cohen speaks with co-founder of WORKac, professor and dean emeritus of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation Amale Andraos; and Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Former Vice President for Design Excellence of the New York Chapter of the AIA and co-founder WORKac Dan Wood on what inspires them and what inspired them to build WORKac.

Michael Novak, artistic director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, captures his aesthetic perfectly: "The curtain goes up, 20 minutes happen, and it’s transformative." This ambitious vision is brought to life with every performance. From the legendary Paul Taylor to the cultural richness of Iona, Scotland, dance and storytelling intersect. Alongside it, the rock-musical “Catch My Soul” brings an electrifying Othello to the stage, adding a modern twist to Shakespeare's timeless tragedy.

Photographer Mitchell Epstein has worked everywhere from Hanoi to Berlin to America’s old-growth forests. “As a photographer, it’s only in getting lost that you move forward,” he says. This piece was produced with the National Academy of Design and features music by Stephanie Jenkins. Person: Mikio Shinigawa. Place: Hanoi, 1994. Thing: a hydrangea.

Director Gregory Mosher shares stories from a life spent shaping American theater — from revitalizing Chicago’s Goodman Theater to launching Theater at Lincoln Center. His happiest place? A rehearsal room, where he’s worked with legends like Mamet, Beckett, and Tennessee Williams. Along the way, we meet Adam Michnik, glimpse a haunting portrait by Williams, and recall NBC’s old Standards and Practices guy. Presented with Hunter College, with music by Elijah Caldwell, Ally Ann Long, Stephan Shteinberg, and Sumayya Ahmed.

Lawyer Michael Sparer works on health policy at Columbia’s Mailman School: “Public health in a certain sense is about balancing, the rights we have as individuals with the needs of society to preserve, protect, and promote the health of the population.” Not a bad approach to democracy in general. Sparer tells us about Roachdale, Indiana, basketball, and his dad Edward Sparer.