Person Place Thing with Randy Cohen

“My life was a bit like the plot of Auntie Mame,” says this actor, writer, and drag legend. He’s got stories about Linda Lavin, Christopher Isherwood, Lily Tomlin, Angela Landsbury, Vivien Leigh, Mar…

He led an expedition down Mongolia’s Selenge River, described in his book Rowing to Baikal. “To me the river is like a god, a god that I can be in conversation with. I feel like it’s alive. I don’t a…

In addition to being a much-admired writer, she owns Parnassus Books, in Nashville. “Because I own a bookstore, I get a copy of just about every book that comes out. It’s like being pelted to death w…

This movie and TV writer—he created Monk—loves his local public radio station in Jersey City. “If you tune into WFMU, and you don’t like what you hear, just wait five minutes: you’ll hear something m…

Dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and a staff writer for The New Yorker, he says, “When people ask what I think is the foundational institution of democracy, I always say: 'the publi…

To be a great architect—or painter or poet or almost anything—do you need a great patron? “Certainly that helps, but then you have to bring the talent and vision and invention,” she says. Oh, well, t…

This political scientist sees a crisis of legitimacy. “When 90% of Americans believe there ought to be universal background checks on guns, and nothing happens, you begin to wonder if your vote matte…

This architect, celebrated for repurposing the Domino Sugar Refinery, says that his young colleagues are eager to address the great issues of the day, “as opposed to designing spaceships in the sand …

“I live overlooking Central Park, and I’m blessed at this stage in life to know that heaven is at my doorstep.” One reason it’s heavenly is that, in the eighties, as its administrator, she led the ef…

When he was a student at Wesleyan University, he worked in the kitchen; today he’s Wesleyan’s president. “When I walk into the kitchen, although I’m the old guy who used to work there, it’s like I’m …

This terrific actor is admired for her work in Grey’s Anatomy and Hedda Gabler—range!—so I was sure that she seldom has heard a discouraging word. I was wrong. “Oh, please, are you kidding? I could d…

He’s done graphic design for Nike, Apple, and the Denver Nuggets, and is happy to confer with clients. Up to a point. “What you can get is design by committee, which to me is the most terrible thing.…

She’s a witty jazz singer, an astute comedian, an admired actor (Orange Is the New Black), and she has an economic policy: “Support your local dyke bar. Go. Spend a little bit of money. Have some fun…

The author of Apeirogon and American Mother advocates the radical act of talking to our adversaries: “We do not need to love each other, we do not even need to like each other—although we hope that w…

Flor de Toloache, a mariachi band cofounded by this Latin Grammy winner, is not just all women, it’s all world: “We had women from Australia, Korea, Egypt, Japan.” Which means it could only be formed…

“We do bare feet, we do singing, we do dancing, we do point shoes,” declares the Joffrey’s artistic director. "The company combines techniques of ballet and modern," explains this former Joffrey danc…

As a boy, this conductor loved family summers in Spain. “It was a beautiful place to practice undisturbed and a fantastic place to play soccer, because soccer was my great love, violin and soccer. An…

At 96, the author of The Women’s Revolution: How We Changed Your Life, declares, “After thousands of years when women were in servitude to men, we changed it. I hope we’re going to have a woman presi…

This Kenyan gay rights activist is adept at working with her adversaries. “You have to keep pushing, and getting friend and allies.” But she’s no softy, adding: “and sue some people.” I generally go …