Comedian and actor Jim Gaffigan says he knew immediately that his life had changed the first time he got up on stage and made fun of himself. He gives his Brief but Spectacular take on comedy as a profession.
When Bernie Sanders began his campaign, "he didn't think that he was going to get this far. No one thought he was going to get this far." The New York Times's Yamiche Alcindor explains what it was like to cover Sanders for this week's #BriefButSpectacular.
While covering a presidential campaign is exciting, it's also "a lot of schlepping around to Holiday Inn Expresses, eating out of your lap in plastic containers on a bus. Pretty grueling, not all that glamorous." The New York Times's Amy Chozick explains what it's like to cover Hillary Clinton in this week's #BriefButSpectacular.
As host of WNYC's "Here's the Thing," actor Alec Baldwin has been criticized for doing too much talking. He counters that he's trying to push guests, such as Andrew Weiner, Chris Rock and Molly Ringwald, to share something the audience doesn't already know about them. Baldwin offers his Brief but Spectacular take on why his show is about conversations, not interviews.
Lynsey Addario has been kidnapped twice in international battle zones while photographing the horrors of war. She has witnessed the loss of lives - and has feared losing her own. Addario acknowledges that her job requires "great sacrifice." But when she sees the impact of her work, she finds it impossible to stop doing it. Here's her Brief but Spectacular take on life as a photojournalist.
David Remnick has been a writer for The New Yorker since 1992 and its editor since 1998. In the age of modern media, his job requires not only producing a quality magazine, but also keeping up financially and technologically. One of his favorite experiences is encountering a young writer with something new to say. Here he shares his Brief but Spectacular philosophy on editing - and being edited.
Dr. Danielle Sheypuk is attempting to derail the stigma around sex and people with physical disabilities. Born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2, Sheypuk knows what it's like to have a disability - and a sex life. But she worries that popular culture tends to show only able-bodied individuals having sex in traditional ways. This is her Brief but Spectacular take on how "anything can be sexy."
You may not have heard of Daniel Handler, but you've probably heard of his pen name: Lemony Snicket. Handler, author of the children's book series "A Series of Unfortunate Events," says much of children's literature is about "enforced morality," but he focuses on the bewildering nature of childhood. Handler gives his Brief but Spectacular take on putting his bewilderment into words.
Christian Robinson says he had a hard time reading as a child, and so he didn't have a great relationship with books. But he could always find solace in drawing. Today, he has turned his childhood hobby into a career as an illustrator, using images to speak and "reflect the diverse world that we live in." Christian Robinson offers his Brief But Spectacular take on illustration as communication.
Damon Gilbert is a black police officer in one of the most violent cities in the country. He describes his experience on the force in Oakland, California, as well as how he's dealt with the police as a private citizen. Gilbert offers his Brief but Spectacular take on what it means to be a cop in 2016.
Carl Reiner never thought about going into comedy growing up. That was until he met Mel Brooks. A friendship that started in 1961 with the "2,000-Year-Old Man" skit, the two close friends now have a nightly movie date. Reiner gives his Brief but Spectacular take on his comedic career.
It's hard to look someone in the eye and deny their humanity, says iO Tillett Wright. Now Wright has spent the past six years photographing people who identify across the LGBT spectrum. Wright offers a Brief but Spectacular take on finding beauty in difference.
Dr. BJ Miller does not work to heal patients, but to ensure quality of life amid advanced or serious illness. Sometimes people suggest his job is depressing, but Miller doesn't see it that way. When people are dying it changes how they live, he says. Miller gives his Brief but Spectacular take on dying and living.
While many families may look like the archetype of mom and dad and kids, every family has something that makes them different, says author Rumaan Alam. The makeup of his family - a brown man and a white man with two black boys - requires that he and his husband practice what he calls "radical honesty" with his kids. Alam gives his Brief but Spectacular take on family.
The first thing that casting director David Rubin does when he reads a screenplay is to forget the writer's character descriptions. Instead, he's on the lookout for an actor's authenticity, as well as diversity. Rubin offers his Brief But Spectacular take on what he sees as the most illuminating auditions.
How he went from dunking breaded clams in hot grease to becoming a famous chef and television personality, Anthony Bourdain has no idea. But he says he learned everything he needed to know about life - and gained self respect - by working as a dishwasher. He gives his Brief but Spectacular take on vegetarians, being a bad boy and why he thinks brunch is ridiculous.
As teenagers, Vaughn Brown and Ivan Mayo were incarcerated at Rikers Island, where they confronted danger from fellow inmates, solitary confinement and their own thoughts. The two have vowed to never go back to jail. But being branded a felon can make restarting one's life a major challenge. Brown and Mayo give their Brief But Spectacular takes on being in jail and getting out.
When Donald Trump held a fundraiser for veterans back in January, the Washington Post's David Fahrenthold started digging into the now president-elect's charitable giving. Before Americans cast their votes, Fahrenthold told us what he found.
New Yorker magazine cartoon editor Bob Mankoff says he and his staff spend an extraordinary amount of time selecting and editing the cartoons that readers might not find funny. Mankoff offers his Brief But Spectacular take on the cartoons that strike the balance between amusing and poignant.
New Yorker magazine cartoon editor Bob Mankoff says he and his staff spend an extraordinary amount of time selecting and editing the cartoons that readers might not find funny. Mankoff offers his Brief But Spectacular take on the cartoons that strike the balance between amusing and poignant.
On November 8, multiple states legalized marijuana for medical or recreational purposes - so Joe Dolce's new book on the substance's history in the U.S. is timely. Dolce argues marijuana's bad reputation is a result of political demonization, including an intentional name change and association with hippies and disorder. This is his Brief but Spectacular take on the past and future of cannabis.
From a young age, Jacqueline Novogratz wanted to be a force for good in the world. Now she is combating poverty by bringing business to communities that haven't had access to banking. Instead of just giving away money or resources, Novogratz's nonprofit invests in entrepreneurs with the goal of bettering people's lives. This is Novogratz's Brief But Spectacular take on the moral imagination.
Due to the proliferation of social media, getting people to read serious journalism is harder than ever, says New York University professor Jay Rosen. Anyone with a smartphone can produce content, and Facebook doesn't have an editor in chief - so it's up to consumers to be selective about their news sources. This is Rosen's Brief But Spectacular take on journalism in today's digital world.
"Music entered my life before I knew it," says classical pianist Jeanne Stark. Stark grew up in Belgium during what she calls a "golden time" for classical music and was granted a scholarship by the queen herself, who recognized Stark's enormous potential. This is her Brief But Spectacular take on playing, listening and what she learned from Ray Charles.
Your phone probably knows more about the intimate details of your life than your lover, says futurist Amy Webb. And you better get used to it - we'll be spending the rest of our lifetimes in a world shaped by artificial intelligence. Webb gives her Brief But Spectacular take on the future.
At California's San Quentin prison, men who committed crimes when they were teenagers and are currently serving long or life sentences give their Brief But Spectacular takes on their crimes, the early traumas that affected their actions and how they're changing their lives now.
"When you sing that this country was founded on freedom, don't forget the duet of shackles dragging against the ground my entire life." This how poet Clint Smith begins his letter to past presidents who owned slaves. In honor of Black History Month, Smith offers his Brief But Spectacular take on the history of racial inequality in the U.S.
Jenni Konner, one of the three show runners of the HBO comedy "GIRLS" and collaborator to Lena Dunham, gives her Brief But Spectacular take on why it's so important to her to be creating avenues for dialogue for women and girls, be it through the show or their newsletter "Lenny Letter."
Who better to teach American literature than a resident alien who was born in Zambia? That's how Namwali Serpell, a self-identified outsider, sees it. Serpell, a writer and associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, gives her Brief But Spectacular take on being an immigrant.
Kathleen Collins was one of the first African-American women to direct a feature film, but her work wasn't widely released before her death from cancer in 1988. Nearly 30 years later, her daughter Nina Collins had the film restored, and now it's finally getting critical recognition. Collins gives her Brief But Spectacular take on her mother's life and legacy in cinema.
Michelle Collins finds it annoying that funny women always have to talk about being a funny woman. "We're not charity cases; we're talented," she said. Collins gives her Brief But Spectacular take on being tall, makeup, white men on late night TV and why you should stop asking her what it feels like to be a woman in comedy.
Kelly Corrigan's dad always used to tell her she was going to write the "great American novel." At age 36, she was diagnosed with cancer, and soon after, her father got the same bad news. The prognosis unleashed a panic in her, which she harnessed through her writing. Corrigan, a New York Times bestselling author, gives her Brief But Spectacular take on the power of words.
Growing up, rule number one was to always know when it was time to go home before it got too late; vigilance and wariness about one's environment were instilled in artist Jive Poetic from an early age. He gives his Brief But Spectacular take on expressing himself through poetry.
Kathleen Turner has said she is no good at playing victim roles. The actress who starred in "Body Heat" as well as on Broadway, gives her Brief But Spectacular take on a being a woman who likes to push the envelope, if not downright tear it.
Photographer Platon has captured portraits of the most famous and powerful people on the planet: Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and many others. How does he break down the personal barriers his subjects put up? Platon gives his Brief but Spectacular take.
"I don't think we're free in America," says attorney Bryan Stevenson, who sees an unwillingness to talk about the terrors of slavery and other racial-based violence as a continuing burden. But he also sees strength - in the descendants of those who endured slavery. Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, offers his Brief but Spectacular take on race and justice in America.
Comic books were a lifesaver for illustrator Catia Chien. As an child immigrant to the U.S., growing up inside a dysfunctional family, she struggled to find her voice, but instead connected expression through art. Chien gives her Brief but Spectacular take on creating from the inside out.
Being a shy, gay man from Montana, Bill Bowers says he knew about silence from early on. When he heard there was an art form devoted to being silent, he knew he had found his calling. Bowers offers his Brief but Spectacular take on being a mime and making room for quiet.
Legendary writer and producer Norman Lear was responsible for some of America's most popular and groundbreaking sitcoms, like "All in the Family," "Maude" and "The Jeffersons." Lear, 94, gives his Brief but Spectacular take on what it means to live a joyfully stressful life.
It took poetry and a community of writers of color to get Jess X. Snow to overcome her stutter. Now, the child of Chinese immigrants - who writes about the nature of migration - feels like she is the first person in her family to be able to tell their story without fear of censorship. The artist and poet gives her Brief but Spectacular take.
"Can we challenge the forces of unconscious white privilege and implicit bias, to come out of the closet and be held accountable?" Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson says asking that question is his job. Dyson gives his Brief but Spectacular take on white privilege and the American amnesia over race.
Artificial intelligence is going to change how we live to such a degree, that when we look back at driving a car, it will seem to us the way the Middle Ages looks from today's perspective. That's according to Sebastian Thrun, who gives his Brief but Spectacular take on imagining the future and the way we'll all be transformed by the coming revolution.
What does it feel like to be diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease? Pam Montana and Chris Hannafan offer their Brief but Spectacular takes on what it means to live with the disease and how their worlds have changed.
Filmmaker Reid Davenport wants people to know that his biggest obstacle isn't living with cerebral palsy, but how others perceive and respond to his diagnosis. Davenport, whose films focus on people living with disabilities, gives his Brief but Spectacular take on seeing the world through his lens.
TV great Dick Cavett credits comedian Jack Paar with providing his talk-show hosting philosophy: Make it a conversation. Cavett offers his Brief but Spectacular take on his career.
Women are routinely asked and expected to modify how they speak in order to not come across as too direct or harsh, says journalist Ann Friedman. But in pursuing her life's work, she's found greater confidence in her professional voice, and that her personal interests resonate with the female followers of the podcast she co-hosts with her best friend.
