Bill T. Jones changed the face of modern dance. Known for provocative works that blend traditional and modern influences, he’s one of the most adventurous and celebrated dancer-choreographers. Jones spoke with Eleanor Wachtel in 2010 about his early life in upstate New York, being inspired by social movements of the 1960s and '70s, his collaboration with Arnie Zane, and two shows that look at the legacy of Abraham Lincoln in the 21st century.

Celebrating the 100th birthday of the masterful Canadian short story writer, Mavis Gallant. Born in Montreal, Gallant lived and worked in Paris for most of her life. She sold her first short story to The New Yorker magazine, where her fiction, reportage and political commentary appeared over the next 50 years. In the late 1970s she published her acclaimed story collection, From the Fifteenth District, set in the aftermath of the Second World War. This interview originally aired on January 13, 2008.

As a boy aboard a ship to Canada, Karim Rashid won a children's art contest — with a picture of luggage. Today the Egyptian-born, New York-based Rashid is one of the best-known figures in the world of industrial design, creating products that are unusual, stylish and functional. From waste baskets and snow shovels to teacups and martini glasses, his distinctive, playful approach has won him many awards. But he argues above all for design that's democratic and relevant to our lives today. Karim Rashid spoke to Eleanor Wachtel in 2016.

Once described as "cooler than Warhol, more enduring than Lucien Freud," David Hockney is one of the most influential British artists of our time. From naturalistic paintings of Los Angeles swimming pools, to huge landscapes of his Yorkshire homeland, his work is innovative and unmistakable. Hockney spoke to Eleanor Wachtel in 2011 in Toronto, where he was exhibiting new paintings created on an iPad.

From Lebanon, filmmaker Nadine Labaki. Her most recent film, Capernaum — about refugees and the impoverished lives of children — was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. Her first two features focus on the lives of women, including Caramel, a comic social drama set in a beauty parlour, which Labaki both directed and stars in. She spoke with Eleanor Wachtel in 2018 at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Cree artist Kent Monkman is known for his provocative challenges to the representation of Indigenous peoples in Western Art, which often feature his two-spirit artistic persona, Miss Chief. Monkman's work is widely exhibited in Canada and internationally, including at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Through the summer of 2022, he has exhibitions at the National Gallery of Canada and in the fall, at the Royal Ontario Museum. This episode originally aired on April 19, 2016.

Selin is back! The bright and curious heroine of Elif Batuman’s acclaimed debut novel, The Idiot, is now in her second year at Harvard, still hungry for experience. From awkward sexual encounters to depression to ongoing questions of how to live and to become a writer – in Batuman’s new novel, Either/Or, that quest leads Selin to some uncomfortable places, but also to self-discovery. Batuman's first book, The Possessed, traced her passion for all things Russian. Her novel, The Idiot, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

James Runcie's latest novel, The Great Passion, imagines a year in the life of Johann Sebastian Bach, culminating with the writing and first performance of his St. Matthew Passion in 1727. Told through the eyes of a fictional, 13-year-old student, it explores the man behind the legendary composer: an ambitious working musician and father of eight, coping with grief and loss, through faith and music. Runcie is also the author of the popular Grantchester Mystery series.

Joachim Trier has been hailed as one of the most interesting and dynamic new voices in European cinema. His film The Worst Person in the World is the latest in his loosely described “Oslo trilogy”–compelling character studies set in the changing landscape of his hometown. Trier has described the movie as “a coming-of-age film for grown-ups who feel like they still haven’t grown up.” It’s been nominated for numerous prizes including the Oscar for Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay.

From novels such as Annie John and Lucy, to her notable nonfiction, Jamaica Kincaid's work is highly autobiographical, chronicling everything from her childhood in Antigua to her brother's untimely death from AIDS. Inspired by the life of her father, Kincaid's 2002 novel Mr. Potter tells the story of an illiterate taxi driver living in Antigua. Jamaica Kincaid spoke to Eleanor Wachtel in Toronto in 2002. This episode originally aired on September 22, 2002.