Person Place Thing with Randy Cohen

As a young actor (Local Hero, Crossing Delancey, Animal House) he played Goldberg in The Birthday Party, overseen by Harold Pinter himself. One speech was particularly opaque. "I had no idea what it meant, but to say these words was to be Isaac Stern on the violin." Learning to trust the writer. Produced with the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

This interior designer is celebrated for her work on low-income housing projects, but not universally celebrated. Sometimes a client resists: "You're making it too nice for these people; these people will tear it up." Bringing good design to "these people." Music: Mireya Ramos, Sinhue Padilla. Presented with the Van Alen Institute.

This Israeli-American architect likes buildings, of course, but it's the spaces between buildings that he loves. "It's a blur between public and private, it's a stage, it's sort of an in-between territory, a threshold to the city, a place of in-between." Produced with the Center for Architecture. Music: Liz Hanley

Some architects want their buildings to endure unchanged for all eternity, but these partners embrace transformation: "We hope our La Brea Museum, 100 years from now, will be appropriated by somebody else." (By a mammoth with a sense of irony?) Produced with the National Academy of Design. Music: Mamie Minch.

As a kid, this mezzo soprano sang in a church choir with this implicit purpose: "To bring joy to people, and bring comfort to people, and help people feel what they need to feel." Not a bad approach to art or, for that matter, life.

Although utopia has not arrived, racial segregation has diminished since the reopening of the Apollo Theater in 1934, so is the place still needed? Absolutely, declares its Director of New Works: "The Apollo will always be necessary as long as we have stories to tell." Presented with the Ford Foundation and the Municipal Art Society. Music: Rashad Brown

The International Declaration of Human Rights is a blueprint for compassionate, egalitarian, democratic societies, says the president and CEO of American Jewish World Service, including this: "Article 24 is the right to a vacation. There are some amazing things in here." Sure, but where's its Second Amendment? Produced with the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. Music: Kevin Nathaniel Hylton, Salieu Suso

Dwight Garner, a New York Times book critic and author of The Upstairs Deli, shares his unique journey of finding joy in reading and food. He humorously recounts his pride in learning to love chicken feet. The conversation dives into the nostalgia tied to childhood foods and collectibles, exploring how these experiences shape culinary preferences. Garner emphasizes the importance of genuine food experiences versus mass-produced variants, bringing a thoughtful yet entertaining perspective on taste and everyday pleasures.

This magician had mixed feelings when he figured out how a colleague performed an illusion. "It was no less amazing to me when I knew how it was done, but it was disappointing." The austere joy of knowledge or the sensuous pleasure of mystery: a magician's dilemma. Produced with Lori Schwarz for KGB Bar's Red Room. Music: Reed Miller.

Her father, Walter, was the grand master of cat photography. "Growing up," she says, "when you told somebody what your parents did, it was just like: what?" Presented with Fotografiska, where his work can be seen through January in the exhibition Best in Show, Pets in Contemporary Photography. Music: Jordan McLean, Jose Escobar