Michael R. Jackson is a Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright and composer. His musical, “A Strange Loop,” started as a personal monologue he wrote shortly after graduating from NYU and it debuted on Broadway 18 years later. He shares his Brief But Spectacular take on writing from the inside out for our arts and culture series, CANVAS.

The nation is in the midst of a teacher shortage, and at the end of another school year, burnout is causing many more teachers to call it quits. Micaela DeSimone is a 6th-grade English teacher in a charter school in Queens, New York. She shares her Brief But Spectacular take on teacher burnout and explains how the past few years have changed her views on what was once her dream job.

Each year, 22,000 young people age out of foster care without family structures in place to support them. It's an issue Sixto Cancel is working to address. He's the founder and CEO of Think of Us, a nonprofit organization that aims to change child welfare systems across the country. He's also experienced foster care himself. He shares his Brief But Spectacular take on kinship care.

Michelle Zauner is a Korean American author and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of alternative pop band Japanese Breakfast. Zauner shares her Brief But Spectacular take on making the ordinary beautiful.