Person Place Thing with Randy Cohen Podcast
1) Paola Antonelli
The Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA enjoys work that surprises, up to a point. "I don't like gigantic provocations, I like small provocations, the ones that sneak up on you." Jolted awake, ...Show More
2) James Carpenter
Celebrated for his use of light, this architect is moved by that from distant stars: "Those photons are around us—we can't see them—but they are fundamentally carrying the history of the universe." We...Show More
3) Jonathan Bank
The heirs of deceased playwrights can be finicky about new productions—Samuel Beckett, Arthur Miller—but the head of the Mint Theater has a different experience. "What I tend to run into from estates ...Show More
4) Alan Fausel
The curator and executive director of the AKC Museum of the Dog recalls one owned by Charles Dickens. "It was a Maltese that was so flea-ridden, they regularly had to shave him and bathe him to get ri...Show More
5) Peggy Gavan
We tweaked our format to Cat Cat Cat for the author of The Cat Men of Gotham: Tales of Feline Friendship in Old New York. "A lot of my stories I get from going to the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in Westche...Show More
6) Ydanis Rodriguez
The head of New York City's Department of Transportation sees his task as building an egalitarian city. "Transportation is a human right, but in the past most of the investment in transportation didn'...Show More
7) ChatGPT
A conversation with the basic, free, web version, using its default voice. Like my human guests, it chose the three topics, and I did just the usual light editing. Good news: it says, "I'm on your sid...Show More
8) Brian Kelley
We tweaked our format to Tree Tree Tree for this arboreal photographer, who specializes in the immense and the ancient—2,000 years old, 3,000 years old—many of which he's archived at the Gathering Gro...Show More
9) Ron Brown, Arcell Cabuag
Brown, the founder of Evidence, a dance company, says, "You'll see yourself on stage." I hope he's speaking figuratively. Cabuag, its associate artistic director agrees. Presumably. How else has the c...Show More
10) Santo Loquasto
This set and costume designer worked on 80 Broadway shows, 30 films, several operas, and innumerable dance works. Here's a tip he gleaned collaborating with Paul Taylor: "Give a man 17 chairs and see ...Show More