This week on Magic Lessons, Elizabeth Gilbert advises Colleen, an advertising executive in New York City, who dreams of being a storyteller but fears it's a frivolous pursuit. Colleen hopes to create a one-woman show, mining stories from her childhood growing up in an Irish Catholic family that ran and owned a bar. Liz calls up the writer Gary Shteyngart for additional expertise on the pain and relief that comes with telling family stories.
Special Guest: Gary Shteyngart is the award-winning author of the novels Super Sad True Love Story, Absurdistan, and The Russian Debutante’s Handbook. Born in Leningrad, his memoir Little Failure is a candid and moving account of growing up as a Russian emigre in America. Find out more about him and his work at garyshteyngart.com.
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This week on Magic Lessons, Elizabeth Gilbert talks with Cecilia, a young poet in Florida. Cecilia fell in love with poetry in college and applied to a dozen MFA programs. She got rejected from every one. Devastated by the rejection she fell into great despair and wondered if she could still call herself a poet when these MFA programs deemed her talents insufficient. For extra guidance Liz brings in her friend, the poet and storyteller Mark Nepo, who has soulful advice for Cecilia. And later we hear from Cecilia about what she's been up to since her first magic lesson.
Special Guest: Mark Nepo is a poet, teacher, storyteller and the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Awakening. His most recent books include The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom that Waits in your Heart (Atria, July 2016), and Inside the Miracle: Enduring Suffering, Approaching Wholeness (Sounds True), selected by Spirituality & Health Magazine as one of the top ten best books of 2015. Find out more about him at MarkNepo.com
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This week on Magic Lessons, Elizabeth Gilbert enlists the comedian Michael Ian Black to help coach Keith, an improv comedy performer in Baltimore. A few years ago Keith fell hard for improv. He took every improv class in Baltimore and but there wasn't a regular space to perform. So he formed a troupe and found a venue, building a vibrant improv community called the Charm City Comedy Project. But, somewhere along the way, he neglected his own dreams of creating a one-man show.
Special Guest: Michael Ian Black is an actor, comedian, and host of the podcast "How To Be Amazing." On TV you can find him on The Jim Gaffigan Show and Another Period. He's also the author of the memoir Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine, (But Also My Mom's Which I Know Sounds Weird.) Find out more about him at MichaelIanBlack.org
This week's sponsors: Audible, The Great Courses Plus, and Stamps.com
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This week on Magic Lessons, Elizabeth Gilbert advises Anne, a photographer in Pennsylvania. For the last few years Anne has been documenting her brother's life. He's a veteran with PTSD and a recovering drug addict. She imagines turning all this material into a photo-essay exhibit or book, but she's afraid to take the next steps to make it happen. To help guide Anne, Liz calls up her friend Brandon Stanton, the photographer and creator of the photo series "Humans of New York.” Several weeks later, Anne reveals what she's been up to since getting all this advice.
Special Guest: Brandon Stanton is the photographer and creator behind Humans of New York. He is also the author of two number 1 New York Times-bestselling books, Humans of New York and Humans of New York: Stories. Find out more about him at HumansofNewYork.com
This week's sponsors: Casper, The Great Courses Plus, and Stamps.com
And use the promo code: Lessons