Freeport Speech: The Many Ways in Which Art and Literature Impact Our Lives

Jeffrey Brown, senior arts and literature correspondent for the PBS News Hour, leads a conversation with AO Scott, critic at large for the New York Times Book Review, and novelist Richard Russo about how writers and artists help translate the world around us and impact our lives. In examining the intersection of art and literature with life, these three cultural luminaries will help highlight the broader impact of art and literature on our social and political identities.

Maine Public is very pleased to be a media sponsor of this experience. Click here to order tickets or go to FreeportSpeech.org for additional information. Maine Public Members do receive a special ticket discount. Use the code MP2025 to when ordering tickets. Net proceeds from this event will go to benefit Wolfe’s Neck Center.

About the Speakers:
 
Jeffrey Brown is an American journalist and senior correspondent for the  PBS News Hour. Brown’s reports focus on arts and literature, and he has interviewed numerous writers, poets, and musicians. Brown studied Classics at the University of California, Berkeley, and received a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia. Brown began work at the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour in 1988 and served in a variety of roles as a reporter and producer in economics, national affairs and general events, until he was named the PBS NewHour’s arts correspondent in 2002 and chief correspondent for arts, culture and society in 2013. Brown published a collection of poetry called The News in 2015. Brown has won a News & Documentary Emmy Award and Peabody Award, among other accolades.

AO Scott is an American journalist and cultural critic. He started his career at The New York Review of Books. In 2000, he began writing film reviews for  The New York Times and became its chief film critic in 2004. In 2023, he moved to The New York Times Book Review as a critic at large, writing about literature and ideas. His love of film was sparked during an extended visit to Paris in his teens during which he frequented independent movie theaters scattered on the Left Bank. Scott cited the growing gap between audience and critic as an impetus for his return to the book world. Scott has taught at Wesleyan University and is the author of the book Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Pleasure, Beauty and Truth.
 
Richard Russo is a novelist, short story writer, screenwriter and teacher. He is the author of ten novels and, in 2002, received the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls. He is a master at capturing small-town life, often setting his work in Maine. Several of his works have been adapted into television series and movies. His most recent book, to be released in May 2025, is a collection of essays titled Life and Art that explores how life and art inform each other and how the stories we tell ourselves about both shape our understanding of the world around us. Russo has a PhD from the University of Arizona and taught literature for a time at Colby College. He and his wife are residents of Maine.