The New York City Urban Debate League is the largest in the nation. Over the past ten years, it has helped over 100 New York City schools get access to debate training for students. Francis and Erick are two middle school students who participate in the league. They share their Brief But Spectacular take on debate and democracy.

Camille Tagle is co-founder and creative director of FABSCRAP, which is a textile recycling nonprofit. Textiles generate 21 billion pounds of waste that goes into landfills every year, and FABSCRAP works to divert that waste, either by downcycling or giving the fabric new life. Tagle shares her Brief But Spectacular take on textile waste and fashion sustainability.

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.