Virginia Rose, who has been using a manual wheelchair for more than 40 years, knows how difficult it can be to enjoy nature as a disabled person. With her organization "Birdability," Rose finds ways to increase access to nature for people of all abilities and help others find community. She offers her Brief But Spectacular take on finding independence while birdwatching. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Singer-songwriter Syd is one of the pioneering and most prominent voices to sing about same-sex relationships in R&B music. She has now released solo music after working with hip-hop collective Odd Future, and her own Grammy-nominated band The Internet. Syd offers her Brief But Spectacular Take on her path to being an artist. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Christine Catipon is clinical psychologist at the University of California, Irvine Counseling Center. Growing up Filipina, she says that people around her did not want to talk about mental health. Catipon is now working to dismantle barriers that keep people away from this crucial therapy. She shares her Brief But Spectacular take on Asian American mental health. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

As wildfires continue to rage in the western United States, we look at how these increasingly common events are affecting the people in the midst of them. Lucy Walker is a documentary filmmaker whose most recent work, "Bring Your Own Brigade," follows residents after the disastrous Camp Fire in California. She offers her Brief But Spectacular take on the power of documentary filmmaking. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

As long as he can remember, author Viet Thanh Nguyen has been interested in how stories about his home country of Vietnam are told in America. In his own works, including the Pulitzer-winning novel "The Sympathizer," he centers on the voices of refugees like himself. He offers his Brief But Spectacular take on writing and memory. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Roxane Gay has used writing as a means to untangle and communicate her own trauma since childhood. Now a successful author, professor and mentor to many, she advises young women and aspiring writers on how to harness their voices. Gay shares her Brief But Spectacular take on effective ways of being heard. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Columbia University professor Farah Jasmine Griffin was deeply troubled by the political turmoil happening across the U.S. during the 2016 presidential campaign. She began writing a literary memoir, "Read Until You Understand," which explores what democracy means for the lives and work of Black authors and activists, and herself. Here's her Brief But Spectacular take on Black life and literature. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Michelle Sugihara is the executive director at the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) and has long been a champion for Asian representation both on and off the screen. As part of our arts and culture series, CANVAS, Sugihara shares her "brief but spectacular" take on changing the world through stories. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Muslim women in the U.S. experience discrimination in many aspects of their lives, including health care. Sahar Pirzada has made it the mission of her work at a national nonprofit to fight the medical mistreatment Muslim women experience. She gives her brief but spectacular take on why gendered Islamophobia matters in the larger conversation around reproductive justice. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

"Time Is a Mother" is Ocean Vuong's second collection of poems being released this week. A winner of major literary prizes and a MacArthur Fellowship, Vuong searches for life among the aftershocks of his mother's death. He shares his brief But Spectacular Take on "reclaiming language for joy" as part of our arts and culture series, "CANVAS." PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders