Curated playlist
Writers from New York City
- Hans L. TrefousseHans Trefousse once argued for eleven hours to make a Nazi commander surrender in Leipzig.
- Orson WellesOrson Welles burned ten reels of his own Don Quixote film. He felt the 1969 Moon landings made its ending obsolete.
- Gwyneth PaltrowGwyneth Paltrow won the lead in Emma with a perfect Texas accent. The director said it sold him.
- Langston HughesLangston Hughes's ashes rest beneath the floor of a Harlem research center.
- David A. BellHistorian David A. Bell argues nationalism was built, not natural. He traces it in France from 1680 to 1800.
- Bob IgerBob Iger began on television sets earning $150 a week and later ran Disney twice.
- David Seyfort RueggL. S. Cousins called Buddhist scholar David Seyfort Ruegg "certainly the leading scholar today" on one doctrine.
- L. Sprague de CampL. Sprague de Camp turned the word extraterrestrial into a noun. He also coined E.T. in a 1939 magazine article.
- David ByrneDavid Byrne was turned away from his middle school choir, which judged him "off-key and too withdrawn". That boy grew up to be an American musician, writer, visual artist and filmmaker. Over his career he has received an Academy Award, a…
- Bruce VilanchWhen Jack Palance did one-armed push-ups at the 1992 Oscars, Bruce Vilanch wrote new jokes on the spot.
- James MangoldJames Mangold studied acting because his CalArts teacher urged him to. It gave him a feel for performance.
- Carl SchurzCarl Schurz slipped back into Prussia in 1850 and broke a friend out of prison.
- Donald A. WollheimDonald A. Wollheim, the American science fiction editor, publisher, writer and fan, picked up a telephone in 1964 and called Professor J. R. R. Tolkien. According to Wollheim's daughter Betsy, Tolkien answered that he would never allow his…
- Claudia GoldinIn October 2023, the economist Claudia Goldin received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences "for having advanced our understanding of women's labor market outcomes". Only two women had won the award before her. None had ever won…
- Alan Dean FosterThe 1976 Star Wars novel carried only George Lucas's name, but Alan Dean Foster wrote it. He was hired as a ghostwriter.
- Edward Jay EpsteinAs a graduate student, Edward Jay Epstein published a 1966 book criticizing the Warren Commission.
- James GleickJames Gleick helped inspire Ian Malcolm, a character in Jurassic Park.
- Brown MeggsBrown Meggs heard a Beatles demo in 1963 and signed the group at once.
- George SteinerGeorge Steiner was born Francis George Steiner on the 23rd of April 1929. He was a literary critic, essayist, philosopher, novelist and educator, and he is described as both French and American. Harriet Harvey-Wood, a former literature…
- William BaumolEconomist William Baumol explained why string quartets keep getting pricier.
- Mario BataliMario Batali was roommates at Rutgers University with the actor James Gandolfini, years before either man was famous. Batali, born in 1960, became an American chef, writer and restaurateur whose name was once close to shorthand for Italian…