Richard J. Davidson had an intuition early on: the mind was fundamental to the human experience. “If we wanted to promote a different way of seeing the world, we needed to change our minds.” Here he outlines his personal journey and how it intersects with his work, why he sees this as a crucial moment for humanity and what mind training can do to help, why “reality is a movie”, how his relationship with the Dalai Lama has informed his choices, what it means to meditate with compassion, and what jazz bassist Charles Mingus has to do with any of this. 

Chris Potter is an incredibly influential saxophone player. Downbeat Magazine has called him “one of the most studied (and copied) saxophonists on the planet”. In this introspective and philosophical conversation he talks about art, the search for something new, what motivates him today, what he sees as his role, responsibility and contribution to the history of jazz.

Writer David Maraniss on his process, approach, technique, and the values that inform his work. What does it mean to be a nonfiction story teller?  Where does he feel most at home? When is it time to go swimming? Why is the lost art of letter writing so important to historians. Can we really ever really know what someone else is thinking? 

The multifaceted Ben Sidran on falling in love with bebop as a young boy, counter culture in the 1960s, jazz as a form of journalism, how to get paid like a musician, his proudest moments, writing a misunderstood rock and roll anthem, getting to Carnegie hall, facing fears, and what he learned from his heroes.