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.

Children’s book author Kate DiCamillo — “Because of Winn-Dixie,” “The Tiger Rising,” “The Tale of Despereaux”— describes her innate ability: “I have a knack for nothing except being filled with wonder.” DiCamillo tells us about Sophie Blackall, a Minneapolis attic, and Vuillard’s “Repast in a Garden.”

Min Lew has conceived graphic design for MoMA, Apple, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and JFK Terminal 4 — which would be in the Airport Terminal Hall of Fame if there were one. Lew tells us her journeys through design.

Host Randy Cohen speaks with Senior Curator of Costume at The Museum at FIT Dr. Colleen Hill. “We got it from Lauren Bacall,” says Hill. The flu? Certainly not. An Elsa Peretti handbag, one of 700 items from Bacall’s wardrobe donated to the Museum at FIT. That handbag is part of Hill’s current exhibition, Fashioning Wonder: A Cabinet of Curiosities.

“The disease, the people believed, was caused by sorcery and could be cured by sorcery,” says bioethicist Robert Klitzman. And by “the people” he does not mean RFK Jr. but a stone age tribe in New Guinea. Klitzman also tells us about hospital chaplains, the pool in central park and a stone axe head.

Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich’s play “Here There Are Blueberries” is built around an actual photo album assembled at Auschwitz of the ordinary daily life of the perpetrators. Following a run at the McCarter Theater, the play is now touring nationally (if you’re reading this early in 2025, not in, oh, 2026 in exile on the Martian colony). Hear about Karl Höcker and their rehearsal room.

Historian at CCNY’s Black Studies Department Emmanuel Lachaud says, “If I really want to have a good writing day, I take the train an hour and fifteen minutes to somewhere that I love. I like to call it the quietest place in New York City.” Lachaud tells us about the Center for Fiction Library and Pierre Toussaint.

After 50 years as a mezzo-soprano, Frederica von Stade still embraces this advice from her first teacher: “Sing as though it comes from the bottom of your heart, because that’s what it’s about.” Stade tells us about her father’s piano and Paris.

The new president of Hunter College, Nancy Cantor, is a champion of “social infrastructure.” Here’s how to recognize it: “It’s a public good. Everybody uses it, nobody owns it.” Cantor also discusses Central Park’s Great Lawn and an Anita Hill op-ed.

This week's episode features a fascinating conversation with Zalmen Mlotek and Steven Skybell, who share insights into their work on “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish, a triumph of heritage and performance. Mlotek recalls how Isaac Bashevis Singer once called his mother the "Sherlock Holmes of Yiddish songs," a tribute to her dedication to preserving this rich tradition. The podcast is presented by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, with special mentions of Joel Grey, The Museum of Jewish Heritage, and three volumes of Yiddish songs that have helped shape their musical journey. Plus, Randy reflects on Achilles and Athena in his "People" segment.