On Being

Artists and Writers:

Sherwood Anderson (1876 - 1941) was an American writer, poet, playwright, essayist, critic, and political journalist. He is the author of many books, including the story collection Winesburg, Ohio, as well as the novels Dark Laughter, Poor White, Many Marriages, and his autobiography, A Story Teller’s Story. Edward O’Brien, the creator of The Best American Short Stories anthology, referred to Anderson as having made “the most permanent contribution to the American short story.”

Anton Chekhov (1860 - 1904) is regarded as both the greatest Russian storyteller and the father of modern drama. He wrote hundreds of short stories and several plays, including his masterpieces The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard. His works in both mediums have proved massively influential to modernist and realist movements in literature, and he is the namesake for the dramatic principle of “Chekhov’s gun.” Trained as a physician, Chekhov’s interest in social welfare led him to write the non-fiction volume Sakhalin Island, detailing conditions at a Russian penal colony, and he was well known for his philanthropy, often treating the sick for no charge. Chekhov was awarded the Pushkin Prize in 1888 and remains one of the most iconic voices in literature.

Elizabeth Crane is the author of two novels, We Only Know So Much and The History of Great Things as well as three collections of short stories, When the Messenger is Hot, All this Heavenly Glory, and You Must Be This Happy to Enter. Her work has also been featured in numerous publications and anthologies. She is a recipient of the Chicago Public Library 21st Century Award, and her work has been adapted for the stage by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater company. She teaches in the UCR-Palm Desert low-residency MFA program. A feature film adaptation of We Only Know So Much was released in 2018. Her most recent collection of stories is Turf.

Claire Danes currently stars as Carrie Mathison in Showtime’s Homeland, for which she was awarded two Emmys, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Danes also received the Golden Globe for My So-Called Life, and the Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Awards for HBO’s Temple Grandin. Additional film credits include Little Women, Romeo + Juliet, The Hours, Shopgirl, Stardust, Me and Orson Welles, Brigsby Bear, and A Kid Like Jake. Danes made her Broadway debut as Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion in 2007 and appeared in Dry Powder at the Public Theater in 2016. Her audiobook recording of Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale won the 2013 Audie Award.

Fionnula Flanagan is often associated with the works of James Joyce, beginning with the 1967 film version of Ulysses and theatrical projects as Ulysses in Nighttown, and James Joyce's Women. She has often read Molly Bloom's soliloquy each year at Symphony Space's Bloomsday celebration. Flanagan's other credits include featured roles on television programs such as Murder She Wrote, the Star Trek series, and Brotherhood. On film she's appeared in The Others, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Waking Ned, and Some Mother's Son. On Broadway she most recently appeared in The Ferryman.

James Naughton has won Tony Awards as Best Actor in a Musical for City of Angels and Chicago. On Broadway, he directed the Tony-nominated productions of Arthur Miller's The Price and Thornton Wilder's Our Town, starring Paul Newman. He also directed the television production of Our Town for Showtime and Masterpiece Theatre. He has appeared in numerous films and television shows, including The Devil Wears Prada, Damages, Gossip Girl, Ally McBeal, Planet of the Apes, Hostages, The Blacklist, The Affair, Equity, and The Independents, written and directed by his son Greg Naughton.

Tracy K. Smith is the author of the memoir Ordinary Light and four books of poetry: The Body’s Question, winner of the 2002 Cave Canem Prize; Duende, winner of the James Laughlin Award and the Essence Literary Award in 2006; Life on Mars, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for poetry; and most recently Wade in the Water. Her writing has been featured in Poems, Poets, Poetry; McSweeney's Book of Poets Picking Poets; New Voices: Contemporary Poetry from the United States; and many more. Smith won the Academy of American Poets fellowship in 2014. She previously held a Stegner fellowship at Stanford University and is currently a professor of creative writing at Princeton. Smith currently hosts the podcast The Slowdown.

Krista Tippett is a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster and New York Times bestselling author. She created and hosts the public radio show and podcast On Being and curates the Civil Conversations Project, an emergent approach to the differences of our age. She is the author of three New York Times best-selling books, Speaking of Faith, Einstein’s God, and most recently, Becoming Wise. Tippett was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2014 by President Barack Obama.

Julie White won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her work in The Little Dog Laughed, and has also appeared on and Off-Broadway in The Heidi Chronicles, From Up Here, Airline Highway, Sylvia, and Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. She is also known for her recurring roles in film and television, including roles in Grace Under Fire, Six Feet Under, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, the Transformers series, Michael Clayton, Lincoln, Go On, Alpha House, Nurse Jackie, Man Seeking Woman, and Designated Survivor.

David Whyte is the author of nine books of poetry and four books of prose, including Songs for Coming Home, The Heart Aroused, Everything Is Waiting for You, Pilgrim, Consolations, and most recently The Bell and the Blackbird. He has been a contributor to The Huffington Post and The Observer. Whyte runs the Australian nonprofit organization Many Rivers, which is dedicated to small business development, and founded Invitas: The Institute for Conversational Leadership in 2014.