Person Place Thing with Randy Cohen

In this new kind of interview show, Randy Cohen talks to guests about a person, a place, and a thing they feel strongly about. The result: surprising stories from great talkers. Learn more at http://personplacething.org/

Harold Holzer 07/25/2026

Harold Holzer If this historian could go back in time and attend any of Lincoln’s speeches, he’d pick the Cooper Union address rather than the one you (I?) think: “Why go to Gettysburg and stand around for hours for a two-and-a-half minute speech?” Plus Lincoln’s choice of weapons when challenged to a duel. Presented with Roosevelt House. Music: Hubby Jenkins. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/42211895

Alondra Nelson 07/18/2026

Alondra Nelson This social scientist and policy advisor finds hope in local resistance to data centers. “These are our neighbors saying we thought we had no power, but we know where AI sits in our lives, and we can say something about it.” I’m still uneasy about my toaster-oven. Presented with the Park Avenue Armory. Music: Hubby Jenkins. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/42135595

Herb Gould 07/11/2026

Herb Gould “Eye surgery now is so marvelous,” says this ophthalmologist. “I’m amazed.” At age 97, he’s one of the innovators who made it amazing, and he found time to go out for beers with Wernher von Braun and perform Shakespeare (not simultaneously). Produced with New York’s Amateur Comedy Club with the sponsorship of Thomas Campbell Jackson. Music: Ray Lustig. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/42042835

James Snyder 07/04/2026

James Snyder Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington does not convey his actual appearance, says the Jewish Museum’s director. “It’s the way Washington wanted to present himself.” The dubious task of the society painter, plus 3,500 years of Jewish life expressed as art. Listen quickly. Music: Pete Rushefsky, Jake Shulman-Ment. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/41960325

Sandy Neubauer and Alan Klein 06/27/2026

Sandy Neubauer and Alan Klein They note that the leaders of the Irish rebellion of 1916 “wrote plays and poems and were well known in Irish literary circles.” I’d be happy to have leaders who went to a play or read a poem. The curators of Risings: The Irish Literary Revival and the Making of a Nation, presented with the Grolier Club. Music: Cashel Day-Lewis. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/41837150

Peter Aigner, Ted Knudsen 06/20/2026

Peter Aigner, Ted Knudsen These historians note that our Revolutionary War was also a civil war. “In New York and Philadelphia and Charleston, it really was neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother.” Not what I learned in cold-war high school. But what is? Produced with the Gotham Center for New York City History, and without the Ultimate Fighting crowd. Music: Anne and Ridley Enslow. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/41708675

Christopher Payne 06/13/2026

Christopher Payne A little sadness tints his exultant photographs of subway repair shops: “I’m one step ahead of the wrecking ball, whether it’s a factory that’s going to close or a process that’s going to change. It’s heart-breaking.” Presented with MTA Arts and Design and the New York Transit Museum. Music: Dingonek Street Band. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/41631880

Fake Abe Lincoln 06/06/2026

Fake Abe Lincoln When he asked Frederick Douglass to the White House, did he serve snacks? “We did offer some refreshments, perhaps tea and bread.” Tea and bread? Great Emancipator, chintzy host. A conversation with the 16th President, as portrayed by ChatGPT: call him AI-braham Lincoln. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/41557575

Marta Aznavoorian 05/30/2026

Marta Aznavoorian From the day she was born, her father was determined to make her a musician: “When I was brought home, my father piped classical music throughout the house and in our bedrooms. All night. Newborns! We were newborns!” Today she’s a pediatrician. No no, a pianist. And a fine one. Presented with Yamaha Artist Services of New York. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/41473435

Bishop Katrina Foster (pt 2) 05/23/2026

Bishop Katrina Foster (pt 2) The Lutheran Bishop of New York esteems the subway. “It doesn’t discriminate based on age, race, gender identity, religion, lack of religion, none of those things.” Not just a public good, “a manifestation of the kingdom of God.” The second of a two-part episode recorded at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. Music: Ashley Wool, Arden Strasser. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/41402060

Bishop Katrina Foster (pt 1) 05/16/2026

Bishop Katrina Foster (pt 1) The Lutheran Bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod has a complex and nuanced view of God but unbridled affection for His son: “I’m a big fan of Jesus; we go way back.” The first of a two-part episode recorded at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. Music: Ashley Wool, Arden Strasser. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/41318275

Carly Fox and Dennis Slade 05/09/2026

Carly Fox and Dennis Slade These veterinarians enjoy their work. He says, “I’m always excited when someone from exotics says, ‘Hey, do you have time tomorrow? We need to try to get a screw out of a macaw.’” A sentence never before spoken in all of human history. Produced with the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center. Music: Valerie and Ben Turner. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/41233130

Jennifer Tipton 05/02/2026

Jennifer Tipton After a lifetime as a lighting designer for theater and dance, much of it working with gels, she received this honor: “There was a color that was named after me. They don’t make it anymore.” And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges. Presented with the Paul Taylor Dance Company. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/41125480

Helen Shaw 04/25/2026

Helen Shaw The chief theater critic of the New York Times is a model of sophistication, but she didn’t begin that way. “I was an extremely nerdy, very braces-wearing, awkward girl from Kansas.” Not just braces-wearing, very braces-wearing. The making of an analytical mind. Presented with the Hunter College Office of the Arts. Music: Leonardo Reyna. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/41012945

David Greenspan 04/18/2026

David Greenspan Having received many awards, this actor and playwright says that winning need not be so great nor losing so dreadful. “Some people can win something and lose their minds. I don’t know that losing has to be destructive.” We spoke at the Brick Theater after a matinee of his solo performance in without mirrors. Music: Ira Khonen Temple. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/40921655

Lana Turner 04/11/2026

Lana Turner This Harlem fashion icon owns more than 600 hats. “There were times I would leave my house, get down the hill, and recognize it’s the wrong hat.” She’d turn around and march back up that hill, with the dedication of a true artist. Harlem, history, and hats. Produced with the Maysles Documentary Center. Music: Warner Meadows. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/40811725

Anjan Chatterjee 04/04/2026

Anjan Chatterjee His research on the neuroscience of aesthetics suggests that people crave the human touch. “If they think something is made by a person, they like it more; if they think it’s made by a machine they don’t like it.” He does not mention Twinkies. Or the late Joan Rivers. Presented with the Viñoly Foundation. Music: Rupert Boyd, Laura Metcalf. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/40731845

Elizabeth Way 03/28/2026

Elizabeth Way This scholar says, “What made American fashion different is that it was to be wearable, comfortable, practical.” But not on the red carpet at the Oscars, she did not add. We spoke in conjunction with her exhibition Art X Fashion currently at the Museum at FIT. Music: Stephanie Jenkins. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/40650575

Kinan Azmeh 03/21/2026

Kinan Azmeh I'm reluctant to declare an artist a success or failure. This Syrian-born composer and clarinetist has a better characterization: doing well. “Staying true to what I wanted to do, and leading a fulfilled artistic life.” And he does. Presented with the Hunter College Office of the Arts. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/40565760

Rev. Winnie Varghese 03/14/2026

Rev. Winnie Varghese The Cathedral of St. John the Divine is an Episcopal church and more, says its Dean. “I have Jewish, Hindu, Muslim friends who pray here, because it feels like a holy place.” My house shall be a house of prayer for all nations, said Jesus, quoting Isaiah, quoting God. Music: Daniel Ficarri. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/40459745

the late Aaron Copland 03/07/2026

the late Aaron Copland As portrayed by Michael Boriskin, director of Copland House. “I decided from the time I was in my mid-twenties that there was no such thing as a rival or a competitor, that we were all colleagues.” So modest, and yet so dead. A conversation from beyond the grave. Sort of. Music: Siwoo Kim, Alexis Pia Gerlach, Michael Boriskin. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/40350140

Charles Renfro 02/28/2026

Charles Renfro Can architecture be witty? At that scale? At those prices? This architect ponders. “It can certainly be smart, and it can do unexpected things, which doesn’t necessarily make it witty. That might make it clever,” he says wittily. Presented with the Center for Architecture. Music: Hubby Jenkins. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/40264420

Richard Nelson 02/21/2026

Richard Nelson This playwright directed his When the Hurly Burly’s Done in Kyiv. “It’s about six young women putting on a play in the middle of a war, to be performed by six young women putting on this play in the middle of a war.” There was an opening-night air raid. Presented with the Hunter College Office of the Arts. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/40185645

LaFrae Sci 02/14/2026

LaFrae Sci The leader of the Willie Mae Rock Camp describes a device she uses to teach girls about blues and STEM: “It is a collision of culture and technology and future possibilities.” One of those robot vacuum cleaners? Her electronic banjo. Electronic Banjo! Music: Thea King. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/40107545

Ali Velshi 02/07/2026

Ali Velshi “There are only two reasons to be a journalist,” says this one, “To bear witness—to see things that your viewers or readers or listeners can’t see themselves—and then to use that to hold power to account.” No mention of the food in the greenroom. Austere! Presented with the Hunter College Office of the Arts. Music: Ashley Jackson. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/40028315

Andrew Kimball 01/31/2026

Andrew Kimball As head of NYC’s Economic Development Corporation, he guided massive projects. “I knew in my twenties that I wanted to be in urban economic development. I actually knew from being a little kid.” When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a cowboy. Presented with the Department of Records and Information Services. Music: Karl Schwarz /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/39945085

Carlos Simon 01/24/2026

Carlos Simon “My father was a pastor. My grandfather was a pastor. My great-grandfather was a pastor.” Why didn’t this composer go into the family business? Perhaps he did. “I’m doing some of the same things as my father, just not in the same place.” Music sacred and secular at Klavierhaus. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/39861215

Adrian Untermyer 01/18/2026

Adrian Untermyer This preservationist speaks movingly about his great great grandfather, Samuel Untermyer, “the super-lawyer who took on Hitler.” It’s the comic book Michael Chabon was born to write. A conversation at and about Woodlawn Cemetery. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/39775295

Janine Barchas, Mary Crawford 01/10/2026

Janine Barchas, Mary Crawford These Jane Austen scholars note that she long had a diverse readership, but in post-war America that changed. “Publishers pushed her to women specifically. Just like they made pink Cadillacs, they made pink Janes.” (Caution: do not read and drive.) Produced with the Grolier Club. Music: Reid Jenkins. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/39682250

Paola Antonelli 01/03/2026

Paola Antonelli The Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA enjoys work that surprises, up to a point. “I don’t like gigantic provocations, I like small provocations, the ones that sneak up on you.” Jolted awake, not pummeled into submission. Presented with the Viñoly Foundation. Music: Ethel—Ralph Farris, Kip Jones, Corin Lee, Dorothy Lawson. /episode/index/show/personplacething/id/39599070

Person Place Thing with Randy Cohen

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