“Can we challenge the forces of unconscious white privilege and implicit bias, to come out of the closet and be held accountable?” Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson says asking that question is his job. Dyson gives his Brief but Spectacular take on white privilege and the American amnesia over race.

It took poetry and a community of writers of color to get Jess X. Snow to overcome her stutter. Now, the child of Chinese immigrants -- who writes about the nature of migration -- feels like she is the first person in her family to be able to tell their story without fear of censorship. The artist and poet gives her Brief but Spectacular take.

Legendary writer and producer Norman Lear was responsible for some of America’s most popular and groundbreaking sitcoms, like “All in the Family,” “Maude” and “The Jeffersons.” Lear, 94, gives his Brief but Spectacular take on what it means to live a joyfully stressful life.

Being a shy, gay man from Montana, Bill Bowers says he knew about silence from early on. When he heard there was an art form devoted to being silent, he knew he had found his calling. Bowers offers his Brief but Spectacular take on being a mime and making room for quiet.