Maira Kalman

Kurt Andersen and illustrator and author Maira Kalman look at the ornaments that surround us, from tattoos to Christmas lights to gargoyles. We’ll also hear a graphic designer weigh in on the new five-dollar bill and explore the power of the dramatic pause.

We look at art and community. Kurt Andersen and the theater director Gregory Mosher discuss how art can unite and divide communities. We go behind the scenes at the new Broadway musical, Hairspray. And a sound artist worships the scratches and grooves of vinyl records.

Free lunch! The MacDowell Colony celebrates 100 years of providing artists studio space in the woods, no interruptions, and a picnic basket delivered to the cabin door. We’ll hear from MacDowell alums monologist Mike Daisey, and visual artist Tara Geer. Plus, Maira Kalman trolls for ideas on the streets of New York, and Miranda July […]

It used to be the big chains that were feared and loathed by the old-fashioned independent booksellers. Now, some of those independent bookstores are cooking up survival strategies for the rapid dawning of the eBook Age. And at the South by Southwest festival, which took place in Austin last week, a great new act is […]

Ten years after 9/11, we are still trying to make sense of that day and its consequences. Kurt Andersen visits the new national 9/11 memorial with its architect, Michael Arad. Steve…

This is the home of America’s aspirations and its deepest contradictions. Thomas Jefferson was as passionate about building his house as he was about founding the United States. Yet…