For Aml Ameen, entertaining was a passion from childhood. At his request, the English actor's father sent him to drama school for 10 years. But it was a chance encounter with movie star Idris Elba that opened a path to honoring his Jamaican heritage -- while further developing his career. Ameen shares his brief but spectacular take on finding his own identity while portraying a character.

Although Prosanta Chakrabarty grew up in Queens, he always loved nature. The wonder of the world's creatures inspired him to study biology, a field that illuminates which of Earth's beings are related to one another -- and how an event in a single location of this interconnected planet can cause global repercussions. Chakrabarty offers his brief but spectacular take on life on Earth.

The documentary "Hale County This Morning, This Evening," about a community in the Alabama Black Belt, received an Academy Award nomination for best documentary earlier this year. RaMell Ross spent more than five years making the film, exploring the South as a black American from the North. He offers his brief but spectacular take on the black experience in documentary film.

Falu is a Grammy-nominated songwriter and performer who grew up in India, where she studied music religiously before even having the opportunity to touch a microphone. Although she had long blended American influences into her music, it wasn't until she moved to New York that she started creating in English. Falu offers her brief but spectacular take on finding identity through music.

Marcus Yam is a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times and the winner of two Pulitzers. Having covered California wildfires extensively, he is deeply familiar with the challenge of documenting tragedy and humanity up close. Yam offers his Brief but Spectacular take on the sensitivity and perspective he brings to his work.

New York artist Miguel Colon suffered for years before finally receiving a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, during a hospitalization. In the psychiatric ward, he did a lot of drawing, working on a graphic novel and realizing the "life-affirming" nature of creativity and how it brought other people to him. Colon offers his brief but spectacular take on learning to see himself.

The Brief But Spectacular team recently brought attention to the volume of sexual assault cases in the Navajo Nation. Now, Meskee Yanabah Yatsayte, leader of an organization that looks for missing persons from the Navajo community, explains this silent epidemic.

Marine biologist Sylvia Earle has spent more than four decades at the forefront of ocean exploration -- and at age 83, she shows no signs of slowing down. Earle was the first female chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and was named Time magazine's 1998 "Hero of the Planet." Earle offers her brief but spectacular take on passion for the ocean and the planet.

Sexual assault and abuse are issues of national and global reach and prominence. Among Navajo populations, the problem is even more prevalent. As one of the few female delegates on the Navajo council, Amber Kanazbah Crotty is leading a campaign called "Start by Believing" to encourage communities to support survivors. She shares her brief but spectacular take on revitalizing Navajo communities.

Writer and producer Frank Rich has led a long and varied career in the arts, from serving as theater critic for The New York Times to his current role as executive producer for the hit HBO show "Veep," now in its final season. Rich talks about his experience in the political circles of D.C., using drama as an escape and his brief but spectacular take on a life in theater.