Taylor Swift's induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame captivated audiences with her call to trust intuition, while Stephen Sondheim's musical genius continues to bring order and beauty, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra innovates by providing soundtracks for mixed-reality games in blood donation centers.
The evolving media landscape is explored through Alex Wright's 'Empire of Ink', detailing how new technologies and disruptive personalities unsettle traditional media, alongside a graphic novel that captures the lives of 19th-century Vermont lesbians through rich historical records.
Peter Gallagher's absurd reinterpretation of 'Heathcliff' has found a passionate new audience, demonstrating modern takes on pop culture, while Margarita Mora, a 91-year-old Venezuelan weaver, passionately maintains ancestral indigenous and Spanish textile traditions to create surprisingly modern work.