Anna Deavere Smith

NPR did a story on her new theater piece today and there's a YouTube up, but I think the audio is better. She's also an artist in residence for the Center for American Progress. I've admired her for years.

Let Me Down Easy began eight years ago, when the Yale School of Medicine invited Smith to be a visiting professor and interview patients, doctors and administrators — people like Ruth Katz, who was being treated in the hospital and was told by an oncology fellow that her medical records had been misplaced. He doesn't seem to think that's an unusual occurrence — though when he asks Katz about her employment, and she tells him she's one of the medical school's deans, her files turn up within half an hour.

Here's Terri Gross' interview with her.