Kelly Corrigan’s dad always used to tell her she was going to write the “great American novel.” At age 36, she was diagnosed with cancer, and soon after, her father got the same bad news. The prognosis unleashed a panic in her, which she harnessed through her writing. Corrigan, a New York Times bestselling author, gives her Brief But Spectacular take on the power of words.

Michelle Collins finds it annoying that funny women always have to talk about being a funny woman. "We're not charity cases; we're talented," she said. Collins gives her Brief But Spectacular take on being tall, makeup, white men on late night TV and why you should stop asking her what it feels like to be a woman in comedy.

Kathleen Collins was one of the first African-American women to direct a feature film, but her work wasn’t widely released before her death from cancer in 1988. Nearly 30 years later, her daughter Nina Collins had the film restored, and now it’s finally getting critical recognition. Collins gives her Brief But Spectacular take on her mother’s life and legacy in cinema.

Who better to teach American literature than a resident alien who was born in Zambia? That’s how Namwali Serpell, a self-identified outsider, sees it. Serpell, a writer and associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, gives her Brief But Spectacular take on being an immigrant.