An episode from 12/13/23: There’s a certain lesson I’ve learned from sports figures, poets, and critics, and I was reminded of it while watching Bradley Cooper’s new movie about Leonard Bernstein, Maestro. What does it mean that the attention and opportunities that so many aspiring musicians and conductors dream of, only ever lands on a few people, like Bernstein? And what does it mean that the earliest dreams of actors—which include being able to portray figures like Bernstein, and to recreate and embody defining moments in their lives—also only ever lands on a few people, like Bradley Cooper? While talking about this, I play an excerpt from a New Yorker interview with Bradley Cooper from last month. I end the episode with a small question for all of us: considering how easy it is nowadays to find a new book, movie, podcast, or album, has anyone out there developed a disciplined way of saying no, of stopping, of creating time when absolutely nothing of culture can intrude? You can support Human Voices Wake Us here, or by ordering any of my books: Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. Email me at [email protected].

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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