Jodi Kantor and Andrew Sullivan in Conversation (Full)

Investigative reporter Jodi Kantor and provocative political commentator Andrew Sullivan united for a tête-à-tête on the rapidly changing cultural landscape in the wake of Kantor’s momentous, Pulitzer Prize-winning 2017 New York Times story exposing Harvey Weinstein’s decades of alleged abuse toward women. That story set off a worldwide reckoning that empowered victims to come forward with the truth about men who had been abusing their power in a wide range of fields for years. Sullivan, whom we are honored to welcome for a third appearance on the Barn stage, has spoken out fearlessly as well, at times challenging the most far-reaching effects of the #MeToo movement on privacy and sexuality. We anticipate a timely and riveting conversation.

Sponsored by Sharon Fay, Maxine Schaffer, Arthur Cohen and Daryl Otte

Monica Lewinsky and Ari Melber in conversation

Social activist, public figure, and author Monica Lewinsky will join us for an intimate conversation in the Hawthorne Barn with Emmy Award–winning journalist and NBC host Ari Melber. Together, they will reflect on matters both public and private related to the culture of bullying and how public perspective on women’s stories has evolved in the #MeToo era. And as a one time key witness in the Ken Starr investigation of President Clinton, Lewinsky will share her unique (and very timely) insights on how an independent counsel probe of the White House works.

Monica Lewinsky Monica Lewinsky is a social activist, a global public speaker, a consultant and contributing editor to Vanity Fair. She advocates for a safer social media environment and addresses such topics as digital resilience, privacy, cultivating compassion, overcoming shame, and equality for women. Her 2015 TED talk, “The Price of Shame,” has been viewed nearly 14 million times. She has also spoken at the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit and given the Ogilvy + Inspire Lecture at Cannes Lions. In her national work against bullying, Lewinsky created the campaigns #ClickWithCompassion and #DefyTheName. She is a founding board member of the Childhood Resilience Foundation, an advisory board member of Project Rockit, and an ambassador for The Diana Award’s Anti-Bullying Program and Bystander Revolution.

Ari Melber, an attorney and writer, is the host of “The Beat with Ari Melber,” which airs nightly on MSNBC at 6:00 p.m. EST. He also serves as MSNBC’s chief legal correspondent and an NBC News legal analyst. Melber received a 2016 Emmy Award for his reporting on the Supreme Court.

*Note: This event was completely off-record meaning no video or audio recording devices were permitted.

Sponsored by: Mass Cultural Council

Isaac Mizrahi and Alan Cumming in Conversation (full)

We were delighted to host award-winning performer and author Alan Cumming interviewing the outrageously versatile Isaac Mizrahi, fashion legend turned actor-director-TV host on Saturday, May 19, 2018 in Provincetown's Hawthorne Barn. Their conversation featured tales from the upbringing and prolific careers of both men, each a unique persona in his field, focusing on Mizrahi's second-act success in the entertainment industry.

J.T. Rogers and Rajiv Chandrasekaran in Conversation (full)

Tony Award-winning playwright J.T. Rogers (Oslo) and seasoned foreign correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekaran (National Book Award finalist for Imperial Life in the Emerald City) sat together on June 9, 2018 in the Hawthorne Barn to discuss the intersection of politics, war, journalism, and art.

J.T. Rogers and Rajiv Chandrasekaran: Select Topics

Tony Award–winning playwright J.T. Rogers (Oslo) and seasoned foreign correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekaran (National Book Award finalist for Imperial Life in the Emerald City) sat together on June 9, 2018 in the Hawthorne Barn to discuss the intersection of politics, war, journalism, and art. In these select topics, they talk about how they evoke characters and places in their writing, balancing facts and creativity, and how they keep their optimism when working on challenging topics.

Robert Pinsky and Monica Youn: Select Topics

Former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky joined poet Monica Youn to share recent work and exchange ideas, along with moderator Elizabeth Bradfield, local poet and naturalist on June 9, 2018 in the Hawthorne Barn. In the videos below they discuss the poets' use of etymology, myths and retelling stories in their own works.

Robert Pinsky and Monica Youn: Poetry Readings

Former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky joined poet Monica Youn to share recent work and exchange ideas, along with moderator Elizabeth Bradfield, local poet and naturalist on June 9, 2018 in the Hawthorne Barn. In the videos below Monica Youn and Robert Pinsky each read from their collections of poetry. Monica Youn reads ‘Portrait of a Hanged Woman,’ ‘Redacre,’ and ‘Goldacre.’ Robert Pinsky reads ‘Creole’ and ‘Shirt.’

Robert Pinsky and Monica Youn: Poetry and Conversation (Full)

Former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky joined acclaimed poet Monica Youn to share recent work and exchange ideas, alongside moderator Elizabeth Bradfield, local poet and naturalist on June 9, 2018 in the Hawthorne Barn.

Michael Cunningham and Daniel Mendelsohn: Select Topics

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Cunningham and the internationally best-selling essayist, critic, and translator Daniel Mendelsohn discussed how writers turn consciously to literature itself as a way of broadening their own horizons on Sunday, May 27, 2018 in Provincetown’s Hawthorne Barn as part of Twenty Summers' annual month-long arts festival. In the select topic videos below, the two writers each talk about writing Michael’s novel The Hours and Daniel’s memoir An Odyssey, along with a discussion on translation and what it’s like writing books about books.

Michael Cunningham and Daniel Mendelsohn in Conversation (Full)

Making literature out of literature: Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Cunningham and the internationally best-selling essayist, critic, and translator Daniel Mendelsohn discussed how writers turn consciously to literature itself as a way of broadening their own horizons on Sunday, May 27, 2018 in Provincetown's Hawthorne Barn as part of Twenty Summers' annual month-long arts festival.

Isaac Mizrahi and Alan Cumming: Select Topics

On Saturday, May 19, 2018, actor Alan Cumming interviewed fashion icon Isaac Mizrahi in the Hawthorne Barn in Provincetown, Mass. as part of Twenty Summers' annual month-long arts festival. In each video below they discuss four different topics: Cabaret and Performing, Trump and Celebrities Spiraling, Art vs Commercial Work, and What's Next for each of them.

Jill Ciment and Amy Hempel in Conversation

Peter Bohlin and William Rawn in Conversation

World-renowned architects Peter Bohlin and William Rawn discussed the current and future role of architecture and their experiences designing buildings private and public for art and commerce and living and visiting.

Production Credits: Filming by Sean Gannett Productions Audio by Chris Blood Edited by Filipp Kotsishevskiy

Sharon Olds and Mark Doty in Conversation

June 10, 2017

Iconic poets Sharon Olds and Mark Doty read from their influential collections, and discuss the secrets behind their fearless craft. This event took place on June 10, 2017, and was moderated by Provincetown poet Kelle Groom.

Production Credits: Filming by Sean Gannett Productions / Audio by Chris Blood / Edited by Filipp Kotsishevskiy

David France & Andrew Sullivan in Conversation

In 2012, author and journalist David France released the documentary How to Survive a Plague, the culmination of his decades-long coverage of the U.S. AIDS crisis. It won a New York Film Critics Circle Award and was an Oscar nominee. Last fall he published his book of the same title. In reviewing it for the New York Times, provocative political commentator Andrew Sullivan called it “the first and best history” of the courage behind the fight to end AIDS “and a reminder that if gay life and culture flourish for a thousand years, people will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’ ” In bringing them together, we experienced a bracing discourse on politics, culture, history, and more.

Boston Pride co-presented this event.

Production Credits: Filming by Stone Dow and Lise King, Sean Gannett Productions Audio by Chris Blood Edited by Filipp Kotsishevskiy

Junot Díaz & Jacqueline Woodson in Conversation

Authors Junot Díaz and Jacqueline Woodson join us for a conversation in the Barn that delves into the divisive politics of our age and what it means to be an American fiction writer of color today. Junot Díaz, whose work has been honored with a Pulitzer and a MacArthur, joins Jacqueline Woodson, whose books for readers of all ages have won prizes including a National Book Award and a Coretta Scott King Award. From his Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao to her Brown Girl Dreaming, from his activist work in the Dominican-American community to her stories for teenage readers about what it means to grow up black and gay, Diaz and Woodson are writers who know how to raise their voices when it counts.

WCAI was a media sponsor for this event.

Production Credits: Filming by Stone Dow and Lise King, Sean Gannett Productions Audio by Chris Blood Edited by Filipp Kotsishevskiy

Richard Russo & Hannah Tinti in Conversation

On May 20, 2017, Twenty Summers was proud to bring together the accomplished and widely admired Richard Russo and Hannah Tinti, each on tour for a new book: Russo for Trajectory, a quartet of novellas; Tinti for her second novel, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley, praised in the Washington Post as “a master class in literary suspense.” In addition to writing ten other books, including the Pulitzer prize–winning novel Empire Falls and the best-selling memoir Elsewhere, Russo is a veteran screenwriter. His novel Nobody’s Fool was made into a movie starring Paul Newman and Jessica Tandy. Tinti is also the author of an internationally acclaimed story collection, Animal Crackers, and The Good Thief, winner of the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. She is a cofounder and executive editor of the journal One Story and of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Italy. She was recently named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture. Russo and Tinti, friends as well as kindred authors, discuss life, literature, and anything else they please.

Twenty Summers cofounder Julia Glass moderated.

Media sponsorship by WCAI.

Production Credits: Filming by Stone Dow and Lise King, Sean Gannett Productions Audio by Chris Blood Edited by Filipp Kotsishevskiy

Alysia Abbott and Joan Wickersham in Conversation

Twenty Summers welcomed authors Alysia Abbott (Fairyland) and Joan Wickersham (The Suicide Index) to the Barn, who have both written critically acclaimed memoirs about the fathers they loved and lost too soon. The two authors discussed their memoirs, their writing lives, and their other work in this deeply personal and fascinating conversation. WCAI was a media sponsor for this event.

Production Credits: Filming by Stone Dow and Lise King, Sean Gannett Productions Audio by Chris Blood Edited by Filipp Kotsishevskiy

How Drawing Provincetown Shaped Hans Hofmann

As the latest installment of our ongoing tribute to the painters who worked and taught in the Hawthorne Barn when it was an art school, Marcelle Polednik, a museum director and curator, and Karen Wilkin, experienced art critic and curator, discussed and presented images from Hans Hofmann: Works on Paper, an exhibit they curated for MOCA Jacksonville in Florida, demonstrating the ever-evolving work of Hofmann and the inspiration he drew from Provincetown itself.

This event and video were made possible by generous support from the Renate, Hans and Maria Hofmann Trust.

Production Credits: Filming by Stone Dow and Lise King, Sean Gannett Productions Audio by Chris Blood Edited by Filipp Kotsishevskiy

Garance Doré Interview

Writer, illustrator, and photographer Garance Doré visited the barn on June 11, 2016, to discuss the current state of fashion, style, and her career with Twenty Summers co-founder Ricky Opaterny. Doré's eponymous blog reaches millions of readers, and the New York Times Magazine has called her the "guardian of all style." She has won the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Eugenia Sheppard Media Award and is the author of the 2015 bestseller Love Style Life.