Why are some of us drawn to scary stories? “Because we want to believe that we are strong enough to survive being scared.” In peeking into that dark side, we cultivate empathy. Few have had a bigger role in constructing imaginary worlds than renowned concept artist Iain McCaig. His work is truly the stuff of legend. We found his zest for illustration, telling stories, the creative process and living a creative life to be nothing short of infectious. Accountable only to his own validation, McCaig is an exemplar of living fully and illuminating a path for the rest of us to follow. We spoke of his illustrious career and his esteemed colleagues, as well as his myriad creative projects past, present and future. Unencumbered by a quest for truth, McCaig cannot NOT tell stories that make people smile. Despite, or perhaps because of, being left to live alone at 14 and surviving a heart attack, he is only afraid of being afraid. He left us with an irrepressible urge to draw our own stories - a skill, he insists, that we all possess. Join us to catch that itch.

In troubling times, the voice of articulate optimists can lift the spirit and light a way forward.  To this end, we met with feminist, movie maker, artist, thinker and founder of the Webby Awards, Tiffany Shlain.  As one who made her own documentary film, “The Tribe,” on Barbie and Jewish Identity 18 years ago, we began with her reflections on the recently released Barbie movie.  We transitioned into several of her creative projects, including Dendrofemonology, a Feminist History Tree Ring that recounts the “herstory” of women who initially enjoyed 10,000 years of power and goddess culture.  The intersectionality of her activism seeks rights for all humans because, in the end, Shlain believes in humans and in our ability to find the good in an ever-changing world. Shlain recommends navigating this unfamiliar territory with science, collaboration and grace. Technology is an extension of us, and while it can be used for ill, its powers for good emerge from pushing past our fear and engaging with it. The Webby Awards highlight this positive dimension.  Her inspiration comes from ideas that stand the test of time — like a day of rest.  Already we find that kids are smarter, and discovering new ways to become themselves.  Her next project on neurology will debunk many common metaphors about teenagers, who she sees as “emotionally brilliant.”  We reassert that children are our legacy.  In closing, we remember her father, Leonard Shlain, who encouraged us to think big and be present.  Join us.

We met with business magnate and patriotic philanthropist, David Rubenstein, to discuss his new PBS series - Iconic America. This entertaining and informative eight-part series is an exploration of our glorious and inglorious history as symbolized by eight key American icons. For students of history, our conversation illuminates some of the key stories revealed in the series, as well as some of their backstories and a little inside baseball. For fans of David Rubenstein himself, our conversation dipped into his origins, his motivations, his successes and his aspirations. Rubenstein is a believer and a beneficiary of the “American Dream,” and his philanthropy supports this country’s further perfection of the dream. Convinced that we ignored George Santayana’s advice and are making some of the same mistakes of our past, Iconic America is an enticing invitation to dig deeper and learn more. Join us.

We met with columnist, journalist, editor and author Pamela Paul for a conversation about her life of words.  We spoke of her career at the New York Times, and surveyed the topics of her columns and eight books.  At the outset, it seemed that our conversation would focus on writing.  Paul has written extensively on numerous thought-provoking and controversial topics, and she is equally eloquent speaking extemporaneously, especially on consumer culture or on a topic from a recent column or a book she happens to be reading.  As we delved into her book “How to Raise a Reader,” the questions from our audience began to flow in.  By the end, we found ourselves in a deep reflection on the writer’s creative counterpart - the reader.  The hour flew by, and left us with a renewed inspiration to pick up a book.  Join us.

We met with psychiatrist, professor emeritus and best selling author, Peter Kramer, to explore depression, antidepressants and his fiction and non-fiction body of work. His most recent novel is Death of the Great Man, a political who-done-it satire about the improbable clinical relationship between a narcissistic despot and his psychotherapist. Our conversation covered equal parts general psychiatry and book discussion. His clinical work has served and shaped Kramer’s work as a novelist. As Jennifer Egan described in an earlier Grey Matter episode, Kramer sees literature as a unique vehicle for putting ourselves into other peoples’ shoes. This is similar to the task of the psychotherapist, who seeks to assist patients by getting into their minds to spur them to self-examination. Spoiler alert - The Great Man is fashioned after Donald Trump. Among the many dimensions of the book, it wants us to think about standing behind and accepting someone who uses lying as a prime political technique. Other themes are selfishness versus selflessness, intimacy versus autonomy, death, truth, and the perils of giving way to despotism over the long term. Woven throughout the conversation is commentary on the efficacy of antidepressants and their impact on personality, depression as a multi-system disease, “retirement” when still working, psychiatrists giving advice, self-assessment, non-attachment, the Media’s portrayal of mental health, psychiatric diagnoses using bots, the fluidity of diagnoses, Freud, sidelining intellectuals, and the difficulty of “out-trumping” Trump. Join us.

We met with one of the foremost novelists of our time and Pulitzer Prize winner, Jennifer Egan, to discuss the medium of fiction, the novel, her process, her works and the role of the novelist in democracy writ large. In an age where AI has begun to encroach on seemingly sacrosanct domains of human endeavor like creative writing, Egan gives us hope that writing from human imagination will forever give us unrivaled access to the mind of another person. In what became a masterclass in Egan’s personal writing style, she illuminated how her own improvisation allows her to channel all the forces that exist around her and operate through her. The novel demands that we resist the forces of distraction that dilute us. Fiction delivers compressed knowledge, and preserves our mental agility and our ability to question authority. It is not only entertaining, it is a pillar of a healthy democracy. In her leadership of PEN America, she saw first hand how threatening fiction and the novel can be to autocratic regimes. While indifferent to literary reviews, Egan adores her readers and all they teach her. Most captivating are Egan’s methods of tapping into her unconscious and her imagination — the wellspring of her career. Find renewed determination to read deeply by listening deeply to our charming guest, Jennifer Egan. Join us.

Humor is not just fun and games. For Brian Copeland, award-winning actor, comedian, author, playwright and talk show host, it started as his best defense from bullying on the playground growing up as an African American kid in one of the most racially redlined suburbs in America. Brian went on to wield humor in artful ways throughout his career to tackle some of the thorniest topics of our times in his work, and specifically in his popular one-man-show “Not a Genuine Black Man.” Join us as we explore the mechanics of humor - the creative process, what makes a joke funny - Copeland’s encyclopedic memory of his remarkable journey through the entertainment world, as well as his reflections on the distance we’ve come and have yet to go to collectively acquire genuine understanding and empathy for each other. Join us.