Basil Twist is a world-famous puppeteer. His first full-length production, Symphonie Fantastique, flipped the audience's concept of the art form by existing entirely underwater in a massive tank. As he looks back on his decades-long career, we talk about what aging feels like, how losing a mentor changed him, and all the wonderful live shows he has collaborated on, and why seeing performances in-person matters. We explore the world of puppetry, and how the veil between being alive and not alive is so thin. He argues the audience does not need to suspend disbelief, but simply to believe.

Learn more about Basil's work and see a video of Stickman: https://basiltwist.com/

Quan Huynh's story details the resilience of the human spirit. His book, "Sparrow in the Razor Wire: Finding Freedom from Within While Serving a Life Sentence," is an open, honest look at his life while incarcerated for committing murder. Quan was paroled in 2015, and, just six months later, he started his first company. He has devoted his entire career to helping incarcerated people have the best shot at a second chance. His lessons of internal transformation, healing, and friendship are universal.

You can learn more about Quan and his work here: https://quanxhuynh.com/

This mother-daughter, writer-illustrator duo, has created two illustrated books together. The first stemmed from Hallie's painful realization that her mother would die someday. The second from Suzy's heartbreak when her husband of 30 years unexpectedly left her. The three of us talk about the ways that a break up is like a death, all the feelings that come with grief -- including rage -- and how to make your own ritual as a healing tool. Their grief literacy and dark sense of humor made this conversation relatable and models what is possible to talk about in families if only we have the courage.

You can follow Suzy on Instagram @hopkinssuzy and Hallie @hallithbates.

https://geni.us/whenyougetdumped

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/what-to-do-when-im-gone-9781632869685/

http://halliebateman.com/