Series 1: Arts and entertainment, 2006-2014, inclusive

In this interview, Marianne Engberg talks about moving to Brooklyn as a young family in the 1970s and how their early part of her and her husband's careers were focused on trying to establish themselves in New York City. She describes how the couple fell in love with Brooklyn, their movement from the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights to the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, and the differences, trials, and joys of living in Fort Greene for over thirty years. She reflects on the role race has played in her neighborhood, how the neighborhood has changed in the past decade, and what gentrification has done to their area. Interview conducted by Alexis Taines Coe.

In the interview, Nelson George takes in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn from several perspectives. Moving in a mostly chronological approach, he recalls trips with his mother to the Abraham & Straus department store on Fulton Street and visits as an independent young adult to a girlfriend in the neighborhood. George remembers the floor plan of his first Fort Greene apartment in the 1980s, and a theft that took place just outside his window. He reflects on the culturally vibrant time of African American artists inhabiting the area and how their departure opened a void that was filled by a new upper-middle class and young professionals starting families. George's friends Spike Lee, Chris Rock, and Vernon Reid all figure into his personal connections with the neighborhood. In much of the final half-hour, he gives his points of view on several Fort Greene landmarks and shares how affected he was as a young writer by living in the same Fort Greene where Richard Wright once wrote. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan.

In this interview, Anne Newman speaks about much of her early adult life as a graduate student seeking acting roles and her lucky break at becoming a finalist in a Miss Rheingold contest in 1959. She also recalls pivotal moments like meeting her first husband, modeling, becoming a mother, getting into television production on The Great Space Coaster show, marrying her best friend and third husband, and volunteering. Newman considers the unique social significance of the beauty contest in the late 1950s, contrasts that with political campaigns and reality shows circa 2008, and reflects on her early recognition of her feminism and how that empowered her choices through much of her life. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan.

In the interview, Frank Palescandolo talks of the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn's past; restaurants that used to be there, the different ethnicities of the people that visited the beach, and the amusement parks that the area is famous for: Luna Park, Steeplechase Park, and Dreamland. He reflects on the restaurant his family had at Coney Island while he was growing up, Villa Joe's, and remembers his early days in the area; talking about his parents' lives as younger people, the house and restaurant they built, and the small farms that neighbors kept on vacant neighborhood lots. He laments the closing of the restaurant in 1975 and the way in which Coney Island has suffered in recent years. He discusses the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn in the 1950s; the teenage gangs there, the crime that was rampant in the area, and how he came to know many of the men involved in that underworld through his social work. He discusses his novel Rumble on the Docks, which takes place in Red Hook and deals with gangs and the gang violence endemic to the neighborhood in the late twentieth century. He recounts how he started writing because he was stuck in bed with the flu, and how he spent roughly thirty years prior to this 2009 interview as a writer. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan.

In the interview, Gina Ingoglia Weiner talks about her family and her family's history as well as her career as a children's books writer and illustrator. She tells her parents' stories; her mother, Denis Gerdes spent some formative years in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, and her father, Frank Ingoglia was born in Brooklyn and grew up in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn and later New Jersey. Weiner relates the various moves of the couple; New York City, then Philadelphia, and later New Hyde Park, Long Island, and traces their jobs and careers. She also goes further into her family background, covering her grandparents and a great grandmother. Weiner talks about her education, and some of her children's books, as well as meeting her husband Earl when they were both attending Dickinson College, and their decision to move to Brooklyn Heights in 1968. She discusses her career moves, work highlights, and creative process; taking note of her work for the Golden Books imprint, stories inspired by Disney properties, and Brooklyn Botanic Garden publications. In closing, she describes what volunteering means to her and welcomes a future opportunity to discuss her board service and experiences at Brooklyn Historical Society. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan.