Podcasts about Max Ritvo

Suleika Jaouad was diagnosed with cancer at 22. She made her illness the subject of a New York Times column and a memoir, Between Two Kingdoms. She and Steve talk about what it means to live with a potentially fatal illness, how to talk to people who've gone through a tragedy, and ways to encourage medical donations. SOURCE:Suleika Jaouad, author. RESOURCES:"The Art of Survival," by Jennifer Senior (The Atlantic, 2024).American Symphony, film by Matthew Heineman (2023).Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted, by Suleika Jaouad (2021)."Max Ritvo, Poet Who Chronicled His Cancer Fight, Dies at 25," by John Schwartz (The New York Times, 2016).“Life, Interrupted,” column by Suleika Jaouad (The New York Times, 2012-2015).The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green (2012).Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America, by Barbara Ehrenreich (2009).The Isolation Journals, newsletter by Suleika Jaouad. EXTRAS:"John Green's Reluctant Rocket Ship Ride," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022)."Does Death Have to Be a Death Sentence?" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).

Welcome back to the 156th episode of The Cup which is our a weekly (give or take, TBD, these are unprecedented times) performing arts talk show presented by Cup of Hemlock Theatre. With the theatres on a come back we offer a mix of both reviews of live shows we've seen and continued reviews of prophet productions! For our 156th episode we bring you a Duet Review of the Canadian premiere of Letters From Max, a ritual, written by Sarah Ruhl (adapted from the 2018 book of letters between herself and Max Ritvo), presented by Necessary Angel Theatre Company, directed by Alan Dilworth, and starring Maev Beaty and Jesse LaVercombe. Join Jillian Robinson and Ryan Borochovitz, as they discuss the importance of connection, being open to ritual, and resisting opacity. Letters From Max is playing The Theatre Centre (1115 Queen St W, Toronto, ON) until December 3rd, 2023. Tickets can be purchased from the following link: https://theatrecentre.org/tickets/?eid=106867 This review contains SPOILERS for Letter's From Max. It will begin with a general non-spoiler review until the [00:12:02] mark, followed by a more in-depth/anything goes/spoiler-rich discussion. If you intend to see the production, we recommend you stop watching after that point, or at least proceed at your own risk. Follow our panelists: Jillian Robinson – Instagram: @jillian.robinson96 Ryan Borochovitz – [Just send all that love to CoH instead; he won't mind!] Follow Cup of Hemlock Theatre on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter: @cohtheatre If you'd like us to review your upcoming show in Toronto, please send press invites/inquiries to coh.theatre.MM@gmail.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cup-of-hemlock-theatre/support

In this episode of Just the Right Book with Roxanne Coady, Sarah Ruhl joins Roxanne Coady to discuss her new book, Smile: The Story of a Face, out now from Simon & Schuster. Subscribe and download the episode, wherever you get your podcasts! ________________________________ Sarah Ruhl is a playwright and writer of other things. Her fifteen plays include In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play), The Clean House, and Eurydice. She has been a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Tony Award nominee, and the recipient of the MacArthur “genius” Fellowship. Her plays have been produced on- and off-Broadway, around the country, internationally, and have been translated into many languages. Her book 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write was a New York Times Notable Book. Her other books include Letters from Max, with Max Ritvo, and 44 Poems for You. She has received the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Samuel French Award, Feminist Press Under 40 Award, the National Theater Conference Person of the Year Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, a Whiting Award, a Lily Award, and a PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for mid-career playwrights. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama, and she lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Tony Charuvastra, who is a child psychiatrist, and her three children. You can read more about her work at SarahRuhlPlaywright.com. Roxanne Coady is owner of R.J. Julia, one of the leading independent booksellers in the United States, which—since 1990—has been a community resource not only for books, but for the exchange of ideas. In 1998, Coady founded Read To Grow, which provides books for newborns and children and encourages parents to read to their children from birth. RTG has distributed over 1.5 million books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What am I missing? I ask, patting my chest pocket.

Tom's guest today is the writer Sarah Ruhl. She is among the top 20 most frequently performed playwrights in the country. She has been nominated for a Tony award and twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She has also published a terrific collection of essays, a book of poems, and a memoir of her friendship with the poet Max Ritvo. Her new book is a memoir of sorts as well, which chronicles her struggle with Bell's Palsy, a disease that caused part of her face to freeze. The book is a delight. Ruhl walks us through some of the most harrowing and difficult times of her life, poignantly and insightfully, sharing discoveries she makes about herself, and about how all of us think about ourselves. It's called Smile: The Story of a Face.  Sarah Ruhl and Tom recorded their conversation earlier, so we aren't able to take any calls or comments today. She joined us on our digital line from her home in Brooklyn, New York. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Empowering Religious Voters to Ask for Change within Their Political Party (0:36)Guest: Justin Giboney, Founder and President of AND Campaign Democrats are in full political shopping mode right now, looking for the right candidate to take on President Trump in 2020. The likely choices –Biden, Warren, Sanders, Buttigieg -present a quandry for primary voters who are more conservative on social issues, but also don't see their values represented in President Trump. (Originally aired July 15, 2019) Dust is Deadlier than You Might Think (16:13)Guest: Gabriel Filippelli, Professor of Earth Sciences and Founding Director of the Center for Urban Health at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Director, 360 Dust Analysis Project for the U.S. and CanadaThere's a smell I always associate with this time of year –it's not pumpkin spice or mulled cider. It's the smell of hot dust coming from my vents as I crank the heater back on for winter. Dust is all around us –inside and outside the home. But we know surprisingly little about what it's actually made of. An international collaboration of scientists is collecting samples to get at the truth about dust. NOTE -- They have a new website where you can send you samples: https://www.360dustanalysis.com/ (Originally aired July 9, 2019) Autopilot Really Does Not Mean You Can Take a Nap in Your Tesla (33:19)Guest: Matthew Avery, Director of Research, Thatcham ResearchThe price to get the “full self-driving” feature on a new Tesla just went up a thousand bucks. But here's the thing: There's no such thing as self-driving car on the market today. Even though Tesla's marketing its Autopilot system and Cadillac has Super Cruise and Audi has Traffic Jam Pilot. So if these aren't self-driving cars, what are they, exactly? (Originally aired July 9, 2019) Pollution & Dementia (51:12)Guest: Nicolai Kuminoff, Associate Professor of Economics, Arizona State UniversityThere's a kind of pollution called PM2.5, tiny particles in the air, just a fraction the width of a human hair. Their tiny size allows them to sneak past the body's natural defenses and they've long been known to cause respiratory problems. But a new study now links these tiny particles with increased risk of dementia. (Originally aired Septemer 24, 2018) A Story of Friendship, Letters and Loss (1:07:19)Guest: Sarah Ruhl, Playwright, Professor at the Yale School of Drama, Co-author of “Letters from Max: A Book of Friendship”“When we find the right friend at the right time in our life, or the right teacher, or the right student, our lives are changed forever.” That's a line from a New York Times essay by playwright Sara Ruhl. For her, that friend was Max Ritvo. Together they've published a series of letters and poems exchanged during the short four years they were acquainted. In 2016, Max died of bone cancer. He was 25. (Originally aired January 18, 2019)

So pleased to have Finn Menzies in the Poetry Pharmacy this week! Finn prescribes Max Ritvo‘s AFTERNOON which can be found here, and I reciprocate with Jim Ferris‘s FACTS OF LIFE (read Jim’s poem here). We also read and talk about a poem from Finn’s debut collection Brilliant Odyssey Don’t Yearn. Finn Menzies is an out transgender teacher in Seattle, WA. He received his MFA from Mills College. He is the creator of FIN Zine, a bi-annual zine dedicated to his journey through transition. Finn’s debut collection, Brilliant Odyssey Don’t Yearn is out with Fog Machine. You can order it on Amazon. His poetry can also be seen in Gigantic Sequins, Quiet Lightning, SUSAN /the journal, Open House, SPORK, HOLD: a journal, The Shallow Ends, and various other journals. Annually, Finn facilitates UNdoing Ego a workshop on meditation and generative writing. [Theme music for the podcast is from Vladimir Martynov’s The Beatitudes played by the wonderful coversart on YouTube]

Sarah Ruhl is a MacArthur Fellowship recipient and a famed playwright. As a professor, she met Max Ritvo, who went on to become a published poet. She recounts the story of their friendship and how they used letters to make a connection and comfort one another while Ritvo faced the end of his life.

Tom's guest is the acclaimed playwright, poet and author, Sarah Ruhl. Her latest book is called Letters from Max: A Book of Friendship. It’s a collection of her correspondence with Max Ritvo, who took a playwriting class with Sarah at Yale University. Max Ritvo was a poet who had begun attracting a significant following before he died of cancer at the age of 25. Sarah Ruhl is a playwright who has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She’s also a MacArthur Award winner who has been nominated for a Tony Award. She’s on the faculty of the Yale School of Dram

Playwright Sarah Ruhl reads Max Ritvo‘s poem “Refuge for Sarah” from her book, Letters From Max: A Book of Friendship, and talks with Carrie Fountain about their relationship, his poetry, and  the value of empathy and friendship today.

Playwright Sarah Ruhl reads Max Ritvo‘s poem “Refuge for Sarah” from her book, Letters From Max: A Book of Friendship, and talks with Carrie Fountain about their relationship, his poetry, and  the value of empathy and friendship today.

Playwright Sarah Ruhl reads Max Ritvo‘s poem “Refuge for Sarah” from her book, Letters From Max: A Book of Friendship, and talks with Carrie Fountain about their relationship, his poetry, and  the value of empathy and friendship today.

Sara Ruhl is a distinguished playwright and author, Tony award nominee, and two time Pulitzer Prize finalist. In 2012, exuberant and opinionated Max Ritvo took her playwriting class at Yale University, proving himself a highly gifted poet. Max was also in remission from pediatric cancer. Over the course of four years, Sara watched Max blossom as his illness returned and his health declined, exchanging a series of letters with him that changed the way she looked at life, death, and the unexpected connections one makes along the way. She shares these urgency and humor filled exchanges in Letters From Max: A Book of Friendship. Sara's plays have won numerous awards, and have been produced all over the country and internationally, including on Broadway.

In a special archival edition, the editors discuss Max Ritvo’s “Dawn of Man” published in the September 2016 issue of Poetry.

For our October Narrative Medicine Rounds, we celebrate the work of the late poet Max Ritvo (1990-2016), whose acclaimed book of poems Four Reincarnations (Milkweed Edition, 2016) was written in New York and Los Angeles over the course of a long battle with cancer. We use the word "presence" in the title because the goal is to bring Max Ritvo into the room—not just through his poetry, but through his presence, so movingly captured in videos and audio recordings that allow him to read his own poetry for the audience. Poet Lucie Brock-Broido, who is Director of Poetry in the School of the Arts at Columbia University, will introduce the poet's work, providing context and connecting the many facets of Ritvo's work and world. The idea of "presence" also comes into play because the essence of his poetry is a presence-ing, a bringing near and being present in spite of any journeying off and going far. He is a poet of exquisite embodiment, a fact that is crucial to his essence and especially relevant for Narrative Medicine, which concerns itself with the power of the embodied presence, in spite of illness and even in the face of death. Ritvo's poetry and presence are death-defying, as expressed in Ritvo's own words: "Let room mean death or room mean life, but let the room always be full." Max Ritvo was also the author of the chapbook AEONS, chosen by Jean Valentine to receive the Poetry Society of American Chapbook Fellowship in 2014. Ritvo's poetry has appeared in the The New Yorker, Poetry, and the Boston Review, and as a Poem-a-Day for Poets.org. His prose and interviews have appeared in publications such as Lit Hub, Huffington Post, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. Three of his poems will appear in the next issue of Parnassus; A Public Space has one of his poems in a forthcoming issue as well. Milkweed Editions has announced the 2018 publication of Letters from Max, a book of his correspondence with playwright Sarah Ruhl, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. Lucie Brock-Broido is a poet, whose most recent book of poems, Stay, Illusion (Alfred A. Knopf), was a Finalist in Poetry for the 2013 National Book Award, 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Her previous collections include Trouble in Mind, The Master Letters, and A Hunger. Her poems have appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, Parnassus: Poetry in Review, The American Poetry Review, Poetry, The Nation, The New Republic, Best American Poetry, and The New Yorker. Brock-Broido has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and two National Endowment for the Arts Awards. She is Director of Poetry in the School of the Arts at Columbia University. Narrative Medicine Rounds: Speaking of Heaven: The Poetry and Presence of Max Ritvo. October 4, 2017 5-7PM Location: Faculty Club of Columbia University Medical Center, Physicians & Surgeons Building, 630 W. 168th St., 4th Floor, New York, NY

Poet Max Ritvo returns to the Dr. Drew podcast for a very emotional and honest discussion about the progression of Max's disease and much more, later Dr. Drew goes one on one with the fans answering listener phone calls.

Our friend Max Ritvo passed away August 23, 2016. We learned so much from our conversations with him, and we hope that this interview gives you a sense of the beauty — and humor — he saw in the world.  One of our first guests on the show last fall was the young poet Max Ritvo. Ritvo, 25, has spent years living with Ewing’s Sarcoma, an incurable cancer. Meanwhile he’s gotten married, taught at Columbia University, and performed in an improv comedy group. His first book of poetry, Four Reincarnations, comes out this fall. One work from that book, “Poem to My Litter,” was just published in the New Yorker. But Ritvo is more than his accomplishments. He’s someone who reminded us that there are many different ways to look at death, and dying, and some of them make you actually laugh out loud. He came back to visit us a few weeks ago on what he called his “farewell tour.” Even in his final days, Max says he keeps his sense of humor alive. “When you laugh at something horrible, you're just illuminating a different side of it that was already there. If you make something sad funny you're much more likely to remember it. It’s a mnemonic device that makes our suffering rhyme with joy.” We invited an artist, Nate Milton, to animate two of Max’s poems: Poem to My Litter   Afternoon  

Our friend Max Ritvo passed away August 23, 2016. We learned so much from our conversations with him, and we hope that this interview gives you a sense of the beauty — and humor — he saw in the world.  At 24, Max Ritvo has a lot going for him. He's a gifted poet with a teaching job at Columbia University and a manuscript that he's shopping to publishers. He's a new husband. He's a comic in a darkly funny experimental improv group. But he's also a cancer patient whose prognosis isn't good. Max was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma when he was 16. He got the news after going to the hospital with a fever and a pain in his side. The doctors at first thought it was pneumonia — but then Max woke up in the cancer ward. Only Human's host, Mary Harris, with Max Ritvo after an interview session. (Molly Messick/WNYC) "I remember thinking, 'This is so terrible! I'm just a young, acrobatic, wiry, handsome bloke of sixteen!'" he says. "'And they must have run out of beds elsewhere, and they're putting this virile healthy young man with a great crop of hair among all these decrepit old people with cancer milling about. And it's so sad for them.'" Max finds humor not only in the hard story of his diagnosis, but also the way we talk about illness. He jokingly calls himself an "inspiring cancer survivor." It's a genuine effort to make us laugh — and it's a reminder that we should be better and smarter than the usual platitudes. Watch Max's "guide to health, fitness and fun."   Many of you listening have your own experiences with cancer — and the experience is different for everyone. Tell us your story. Leave a comment here or visit our Facebook page. //

Matt Ritvo sits down with Dr. Drew to discuss his poetry and shares his story of being diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma.