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The Harvard academic Elisa New is host of the much acclaimed PBS series POETRY IN AMERICA. Now in Season Four, the show has featured conversations about American poetry with Joe Biden, Herbie Hancock, Gloria Estefan, Shaquille O’Neal, Bill Clinton and Al Gore. While America isn’t normally considered a poetic nation, New’s show has brought poetry into the homes of millions of Americans. So when I caught up with New, I asked her whether there was such a thing as an American poem and what it is about America that inspires memorable poetry.

Thought Enthusiast is an AdHoc Project where we chat with fascinating thought leaders across various facets of music, tech, and culture whose work we admire, simply asking “what’s on your mind?” and “why do you care?” 💭 Elizabeth Segran is a fashion journalist who has spent a decade reporting about the industry's impact on the environment and nudging companies to shift their practices to become more sustainable. Before she jumped into this career, she got a Ph.

In his heartfelt tribute to Elizabeth Taylor on TCM, Paul Newman called her a “functioning voluptuary”. He meant this as the highest praise for his Cat on a Hot Tin Roof co-star. It’s such a striking phrase, and strangely apt. It’s one of those comments that made me think deeper about someone I already loved and admired. ncG1vNJzZmirmJq2ra3OppilpJWue7TBwayrmpubY7CwuY6pZp6kma%2Buo7HToWStmamhvLN51aijrqikqq6zxYyapZ1lmaKuqLXNmqmy

Over the past couple of weeks, Ellen Degeneres, host of the TV show Ellen (her name), has been put on the defensive following a couple of reports from BuzzFeed about how working on her show is hell on earth. That Degeneres is not actually a very nice person has been well-known if rarely stated conventional wisdom in Hollywood, so a lot of the reaction to these reports has been catharsis more than it has been shock.

About a decade ago, I realized that the faceless, anonymous man in my fantasies about men was not faceless or anonymous at all: he was Elliott Gould. At the time, I was not an Elliott Gould fan. It was a mysterious development. Elliott Gould’s sex appeal had always struck me as somewhat mysterious. Not because he seemed unattractive, but because I grew up understanding him to be a sex symbol without understanding the terms.

*This author is well aware that the so-called “Eastside” and “East Los Angeles” are two very different areas, geographically and demographically, unlike Leonardo DiCaprio. For better or worse, the West and East sides now refer to either side of Hollywood, rather than Downtown, the latter consisting (mostly) of East Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, and Echo Park. Thank you.*So glad to meet you, Angeles. Although he had major roots in Texas and Oregon, Elliott Smith would make Los Angeles his home for the later part of his life, leaving a lasting mark along Sunset and its tributaries.

On August 16, 1977, I was driving down the Garden State Parkway with my girlfriend, looking forward to our first vacation together. I was meeting her family in her native Atlantic City, where she had grown up. We were both Newsday reporters at the beginning of our careers. Before leaving I had just finished a 2,000 word cover story for the Sunday, August 21, entertainment section. The story was about Elvis Presley, a deeply reported essay about his career to date.

Embracing empathy does not mean allowing for anything to happen. It does not mean being a pushover or overly accommodating. Often it means fighting–fighting hate with love, judgment with grace, fear with hope. Those who embrace empathy do not wait passively for the arc of the moral universe to bend toward justice, but do as Dr. King did, and work tirelessly to bend it. Harriet Tubman fought with love. She grew up “like a neglected weed” and described slavery as “the next thing to hell.

Tonight marks Rosh Hodesh Adar the beginning of a new month in the Jewish calendar, bringing with it waves of joy and happiness. Rosh Hodesh, which translates to ‘head of the month,’ is celebrated at the new moon, marking the start of a new lunar month. Rosh Hodesh is a time of renewal, reflection, and new beginnings. Adar, the twelfth month of the Jewish calendar, holds a special place in the heart of the Jewish community.