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Articulate with Jim Cotter Season 9 Episodes
Season 9 Episode Guide
26 Episodes 2019 - 2020
Episode 1
Idealistic Icons
Fri, Oct 11, 2019
Over a more than three-decade long career, Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy has quietly become an icon of American Music. The legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright constructed his personal legacy as deliberately as his buildings. Both were flawed.
Episode 2
Living Legacies
Thu, Oct 17, 2019
The 90-year old graphic designer Milton Glaser has spent a lifetime creating iconic brand identities. Yet his first priority has always been truth. Camille Brown is known for integrating African American social dance traditions into uniquely modern choreography. The Pulitzer Prize-winner Julia Wolfe mines history to create her innovative experimental compositions. But it wasn't a given that she would be a composer- her first love was the written word.
Episode 3
No Frontiers
Mon, Oct 28, 2019
The Carthy family has been at the vanguard of English folk for decades. The Israeli conceptual artist Oded Hirsch lives on the periphery- both philosophically and geographically. The rapper, singer and writer, Dessa Darling found peace with heartbreak, scientifically.
Episode 4
Transformers
Fri, Nov 1, 2019
The world-renowned pianist, conductor and activist Daniel Barenboim is dedicated to making real change in the world through music. In the songs of Tift Merritt, the stuff of everyday life is ripe for the picking. For the interdisciplinary artist Vivek Shraya, creativity is at the heart of self-discovery.
Episode 5
Pioneering Spirits
Fri, Nov 8, 2019
Daniel Libeskind believes that architecture is, fundamentally, an act of optimism and of selflessness. The composer Missy Mazzoli is a trailblazer- undeterred by obstacles, undaunted by the salacious. For more than seven decades, the photographer Elliott Erwitt has been lauded for his humor and visual wit.
Episode 6
The Standouts
Fri, Nov 15, 2019
At a young age, Ani Liu had to disguise her art as science. Now she combines them. Howard Jacobson is now a pillar of English literature and society. But this was never anything he would have predicted. Historically, repertoire for the double bass has been extremely limited. The acclaimed performer, collaborator, and composer Edgar Meyer is out to change that.
Episode 7
Andrew Bird Concert Show
Fri, Nov 22, 2019
For the last 20 years, talent has allowed Andrew Bird to mostly write his own ticket. Now, he's coming up with some of his finest work yet. Join us for a full-length episode of Articulate featuring new music by Andrew Bird and personal insights into his life...so far.
Episode 8
The Right Left Turns
Mon, Dec 2, 2019
For the past 40 years, Arthur Yorinks has been the power behind the throne for many of America's most significant artists. But his work stands on its own. Karen Russell's stories live in a space between the everyday and the surreal. Jason deCaires Taylor's greatest assets are underwater. All of his sculptures are entrusted to the oceans.
Episode 9
Seeking Deeper Truths
Mon, Dec 9, 2019
Gregory Pardlo's writing is informed both by his unconventional early life and his uncannily keen eye (for observation). If you're looking for choreography that is as dense with emotion as it is with intense physicality, look no further than Sonya Tayeh.
Episode 10
Staying the Course
Mon, Dec 16, 2019
Bill T. Jones has lived through tragedy and triumph to become an elder statesman of dance. A decade on, the British pop star Lily Allen is still as forthright as ever- in her lyrics and her personal life. When companies need help refining or defining their identity, they call Michael Bierut.
Episode 11
Self Inventors
Thu, Dec 19, 2019
Thomas Heatherwick is the wunderkind of large-scale 21st century design. He is equally revered and resented. The writings of Alice McDermott uniquely express a particular form of Irish-American identity. For more than 4 decades, Dean Friedman has been reinventing himself creatively. But at heart, he's still a singer-songwriter.
Episode 12
Of Page and Stage
Thu, Dec 19, 2019
The works of playwright Sarah Ruhl rewrite history, and document tragedies from her own life. Michelle Dorrance is an embodiment of the history of tap dance- a uniquely American art form. Along with Hunter S.Thompson, Ralph Steadman is the Godfather of Gonzo journalism- a famous irreverent form.
Episode 13
Patricia Racette Concert Show
Fri, Jan 3, 2020
On this Articulate, we explore the life and art of Patricia Racette- a supremely talented singer and storyteller. Racette has been a celebrated opera leading lady for more than three decades, both on America's premier stages and in great opera houses around the world. But one thing that has set her apart as a performer is her love of a good yarn.
Episode 14
What Matters Most
Fri, Jan 3, 2020
Marina Benjamin writes to parse the questions that loom largest in her life. It's a self-examination, yes. But never self-obsession. Stefan Sagmeister has spent the past 40-odd years demonstrating how graphic design can make even the most abstract ideas tangible. And he does it with his own unique style-his own idiom. Donald Nally, conductor of the groundbreaking chamber choir, The Crossing, doesn't just want audiences to listen-he wants them to think about real-world issues and events.
Episode 15
Self, Aside
Fri, Jan 10, 2020
Stephanie Blythe was one of the fastest rising stars in opera when an anxiety disorder threatened to take her down. But she refused to let it be her undoing. The story of Gradiva, a sculpture that came to life, captured public imagination at the start of the 20th century. Today, the artist Diana Al-Hadid has resurrected her. As a young singer-songwriter, Nick Lowe was preoccupied with looking cool and getting famous. But, as Tori Marchiony reports, he didn't REALLY find his groove until he dropped the act.
Episode 16
Through the Fire
Fri, Jan 17, 2020
The Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall realized she was becoming a pop music cliché: on top, but unhappy. Tori Marchiony reports that it was then she decided it was time to change. Pam Tanowitz is among the finest choreographers in modern dance. But she refuses to put her feet up. Natasha Trethewey coped with the tragedies of her young life by turning them into exceptional poetry. But those wounds will never fully heal.
Episode 17
The Incomparable
Fri, Jan 24, 2020
Caroline Shaw is one of the most original new voices in contemporary music. Yet her latest project sees her turning her ears to, of all things, cover versions.
Episode 18
The Headliners
Fri, Jan 31, 2020
Aaron Sorkin is best known for his award-winning screenwriting: A Few Good Men, The West Wing, Moneyball, The Newsroom. But his first love is the theater. Singer, instrumentalist, and folk historian Rhiannon Giddens is on a musical mission: to remind us of what we all share, regardless of who we are or where we're from.
Episode 19
Power Through Purpose
Fri, Feb 7, 2020
John Darnielle has excelled as a front-man, songwriter, and author by overcoming an innately self-destructive personality. As a grownup, Elizabeth Acevedo realized that the books she needed as a child still didn't exist. So she wrote them herself. Meg Saligman's large-scale murals are difficult to grasp close-up. But the stories they tell are in the details.
Episode 20
From the Top
Fri, Feb 14, 2020
The best-selling author Jonathan Safran Foer writes to interrogate his own past and all of our futures. Today, the superstar graphic novelist Nate Powell is known for beautifully rendered comics with a strong moral core. But, as Tori Marchiony reports, for more than a decade he was dedicated to serving those with developmental disabilities. The Venezuelan-born conductor Gustavo Dudamel is on a mission to sow harmony, in the concert hall and beyond.
Episode 21
Life's Work
Fri, Feb 21, 2020
Tori Marchiony profiles former U.K. Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion. He's five decades in and still finding room to grow. Among the most highly regarded jazz pianists of his time, Vijay Iyer has made his instrument of choice an instrument of discovery. Susan Choi's books reflect her skepticism of authority. As Tori Marchiony reports, the National Book Award-winning author even questions the credibility of the characters she creates.
Episode 22
The Exceptionals
Fri, Feb 28, 2020
Billy Collins is one of the best-selling poets alive. Perhaps because his works effortlessly magnify the small details that make life worth living. The conductor Gemma New has followed opportunity around the world. As Tori Marchiony reports, a decade in, she's finally arrived. The award-winning writer Ming Peiffer forges works for stage and screen that deconstruct her own observations and experiences of life today. Sometimes that means embracing an unhappy ending.
Episode 23
Beyond the Status Quo
Fri, Mar 6, 2020
The highly distinguished musician, Esperanza Spalding does more than just make music-she's trying to change the world. Lee Child left his former life behind to author an unlikely hero: Jack Reacher, a vagrant vigilante who reaps justice for the underdog. Over the course of the past two decades, Child and Reacher have sold millions of books worldwide. The award-winning tenor, Nicholas Phan explores the world in song, merging cultures while uncovering immense value in all of our differences.
Episode 24
By the Horns
Fri, Mar 13, 2020
World-renowned architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien are united in vision and practice-in their lives together and in their work-a strong foundation for their partnership and buildings. Carmen Maria Machado is self-assured and outspoken, turning a mirror not only on herself but on society's unchallenged biases to create immersive fiction.
Episode 25
Wayfinders
Fri, Mar 20, 2020
Before she was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Elizabeth Strout spent decades finessing her unique narratives, often using her own upbringing as a touchstone. The celebrated violinist Pamela Frank was at the height of her career when she suffered a life-altering injury. After nearly a decade, she's playing again, with newfound purpose. Rennie Harris and street dance grew up together. Today, he's celebrated as the pioneer of hip-hop dance theater, but it took a while before he ever got paid.
Episode 26
The Roots of Creativity
Fri, Mar 27, 2020
Internationally renowned Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti was cast into the spotlight at age 16. Forced to grow up in the public eye, she often struggled. Now in her 30s, she looks back on those years with wry humor. The award-winning author Maaza Mengiste writes of an Ethiopian home she left behind, dismantling preconceptions and bringing to light some of that country's rich past. Once a wanderer pursuing creative endeavors, Dick Boak followed his instincts and created a role in the evolution of the Martin Guitar company, all the while becoming an ever more skillful artisan himself.
