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Alan Alda

Bio: 
Alan Alda has earned international recognition as an actor, writer and director. In 2005, he had the distinction of being nominated for an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy - and making the New York Times bestseller list - all in the same year. For eleven years he was the inimitable Hawkeye Pierce on the M*A*S*H TV series. On film, he appeared in Martin Scorsese's \"The Aviator,\" for which he received a nomination for an Academy Award. On television, he won his sixth Emmy for the final season of \"The West Wing,\" playing Arnold Vinick, the Republican candidate for President. He is the author, most recently of, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself. His previous book was the New York Times bestseller Never Have Your Dog Stuffed.

An Evening With Alan Alda

If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look On My Face?
In Conversation With Lisa Wolpe
Monday, June 12, 2017
00:38:53
ALOUD
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Episode Summary

Alan Alda, the award-winning actor and bestselling author, discusses his decades-long quest to understand the intricacies of communication. With his trademark humor and candor, Alda’s new book, If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?: My Adventures in the Art and Science of Relating and Communicating, chronicles communication breakdowns in his own life from a life-changing misunderstanding with a dentist to learning how to make science relatable to the masses as host of PBS’s Scientific American Frontiers. Drawing on improvisation training, theater, and storytelling techniques from a life of acting, and with insights from recent scientific studies, Alda equips himself with a range of tools to relate to others more effectively. Sharing with audiences his strategies to build empathy and improve the way we communicate, Alda will demonstrate the art of conversation as he talks with Lisa Wolpe—a master communicator in her own right as an actress, director, teacher, and the Artistic Director and Founder of the Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company.

Participant(s) Bio

Alan Alda has earned international recognition as an actor, writer, and director. He has won seven Emmy Awards, received three Tony nominations, is an inductee of the Television Hall of Fame, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in The Aviator. Alda played Hawkeye Pierce on the classic television series M*A*S*H, and his films include Crimes and Misdemeanors, Everyone Says I Love You, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Bridge of Spies, and many more. Alda is an active member of the science community, having hosted the award-winning series Scientific American Frontiers for eleven years and founded the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University. Alda is the author of two bestselling books, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I’ve Learned and Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself.

Lisa Wolpe is an actress, director, teacher & playwright, and is the Artistic Director of Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company, which she founded in 1993. Honors include the Shakespeare Theater Association’s “Sidney Berger Award”, “Sustained Excellence” awards from the L.A. Drama Critic and from Playwrights Arena, the Key to Harlem, a Congressional Certificate of Merit; NBC News’ “Local Hero”, Jacob Bronowski Award for Theater Excellence, Whittier College’s Distinguished Artist Award, Colorado Shakespeare “First Scholar” and UC Boulder’s “Roe Green Distinguished Scholar”. Acting credits include Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare & Company, Orlando Shakespeare Festival, and San Diego Repertory Theater.

Two Actors, Two Authors, Two Lives

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
01:00:00
ALOUD
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Episode Summary

Alda and Farrell, former co-stars of M*A*S*H, both authors of recent memoirs, re-unite to discuss art, activism, family, money, and fame.

Participant(s) Bio
Alan Alda has earned international recognition as an actor, writer and director. In 2005, he had the distinction of being nominated for an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy - and making the New York Times bestseller list - all in the same year. For eleven years he was the inimitable Hawkeye Pierce on the M*A*S*H TV series. On film, he appeared in Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator," for which he received a nomination for an Academy Award. On television, he won his sixth Emmy for the final season of "The West Wing," playing Arnold Vinick, the Republican candidate for President. He is the author, most recently of, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself. His previous book was the New York Times bestseller Never Have Your Dog Stuffed.

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