The most successful works to date of singer-songwriter and playwright Anais Mitchell and writer Douglas Stuart have been decades in the making. Mitchell created "Hadestown," the box office-smashing, multi-Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. Stuart wrote the Booker Prize-winning, best-selling novel "Shuggie Bain." Segment 1: The Slow Road Anais Mitchell spent more than a decade creating her multi-Tony Award-winning musical "Hadestown." So all-encompassing was her task that it took an intervention by her husband for her to declare it complete. Segment 2: The High Road It took writer Douglas Stuart years to come to terms with his difficult early life in Glasgow. With perspective gained by moving to the United States, his youth eventually became the basis for a Booker Prize-winning, best-selling novel.

Even after fifty years of accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize at 26 for his Doonesbury comic strip, Garry Trudeau reckons he may have gotten too much too young. And despite her mastery of the written word, Joyce Carol Oates is skeptical about how well conversation can express the complexities of thought and emotions. Segment 1: The Wit and Wisdom of Garry Trudeau. Even after fifty years of accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize at 26 for his Doonesbury comic strip, Garry Trudeau reckons he may have gotten too much too young. Segment 2: The Purposeful Life of Joyce Carol Oates. Despite her mastery of the written word, Joyce Carol Oates is skeptical about how well conversation can express the complexities of thought and emotions.

Natalie Merchant has experience enough for several lives: teen rock star, fiercely independent solo artist, mother, wildly successful environmental campaigner. And she's done it all in her own inimitable style.

A fatal accident in his teens would come to define life for Darin Strauss. Also, from champion skier to acclaimed composer, Steven Mackey has never lost his rhythm. Segment 1: Darin Strauss: A Present Passed. A fatal accident in his teens would come to define life for Darin Strauss, until telling his story publicly provided some relief. Segment 2: Steven Mackey: Through His Fingers. From champion skier to acclaimed composer, Steven Mackey has never lost his rhythm.

Singer-songwriter Valerie June has been knocked down but never out by heartbreak, illness, and hardship. Now in his early 60s, choreographer and dancer Stephen Petronio has built a life and a body of work by deciding whose rules he was prepared to follow. Segment 1: Valerie June: Sometimes Down, Never Out. Singer-Songwriter Valerie June has been knocked down but never out by heartbreak, illness, and hardship. Segment 2: Stephen Petronio Tells It From a Mountain. Now in his early 60s, choreographer Stephen Petronio has built a life and a body of work by deciding whose rules he was prepared to follow.

Writer Tochi Onyebuchi and visual artist Stephen Powers are both trying to change the world, one word at a time. Segment 1: Tochi Onyebuchi: The Search for Better Worlds Tochi Onyebuchi imagines worlds that never were, but always grounds them in this one. Segment 2: Stephen Powers: Thoroughly Modern Cave Painter Stephen Powers wants the murals he creates to be democratic and reflections of the communities they occupy.

Playwright Sarah Gancher and folk musicians Jay Ungar & Molly Mason travelled far to find home. Segment 1: Sarah Gancher: The Funny Thing About Grief. Sarah Gancher believes it is a spiritual act to make someone laugh. But this idea was born out of grief. Segment 2: Jay Ungar & Molly Mason: A Sense of Place. For folk musicians Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, who have been partners in life and in music for more than four decades, playing together privately has fixed many a tiff.

Poet Terrance Hayes and clarinetist Anthony McGill have been resolute in pursuit of their destinies. Segment 1: The Rhymes and Reason of Terrance Hayes. Poet Terrance Hayes has been hailed for his fearlessness in pushing the boundaries of convention but in life he's learnt to practice caution. Segment 2: Anthony McGill: Blowing It Up. It took Anthony McGill five attempts to become Principal Clarinet of the New York Philharmonic. Failure was never an option.

Deborah Eisenberg and Shira Erlichman fought inner conflicts in search of personal peace. Segment 1: Deborah Eisenberg: Love Without Haste. Feeling like an outsider for much of her life has been a driving force in much of Deborah Eisenberg's work. Segment 2: Shira Erlichman: Be/Hold. Shira Erlichman's bipolar disorder went undiagnosed for years. Naming it was just the start of her journey to self-acceptance.

Early on, singer-songwriter David Gray and writer Aleksandar Hemon struggled to be heard at home. But when they found acceptance abroad, their own countries-and the world-soon caught up. Segment 1: David Gray's Life in Slow Motion. It took David Gray ten years to achieve global success. It took him even longer to come to peace with it. Segment 2: Nowhere Man. Exiled from his homeland, Aleksandar Hemon witnessed from afar the horrors of the Bosnian war. He vowed to never let the world forget.