Before The Irish Goodbye became one of the most acclaimed debut novels of 2025, Heather Aimee O'Neill spent years quietly writing it while building a career helping other writers tell their stories. Here she discusses the vulnerability of ambition, the challenge of living an authentic life, and the strange transition from observer to protagonist.

Saxophonist and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin has become one of the most dynamic voices in jazz. In this wide ranging conversation with Leo Sidran she recalls some of her early professional experiences, and how the mentors, heroes, setbacks and aspirations that shaped her journey continue to inform her new album, We Dream.