Second Acts: Life’s Short, Do What You Love

Step into the world of stonemasonry, where centuries-old techniques meet the physical demands of preserving buildings and monuments. A celebration of the patience and pride that go into mastering an often-overlooked trade.

After leaving his job at The New Yorker, Patrick Bringley trades office life for the quiet galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What begins as a search for solace becomes an unexpected education in art, human connection, and the pleasures of slowing down.

Before becoming a Jesuit priest, James Martin held an assortment of jobs, including a stint in corporate America. His winding professional journey is a reminder that finding your calling sometimes requires a few detours.

A New York journalist finds himself trading city streets for farm fields. Between planting, harvesting, and getting his hands dirty, he discovers an unexpected education in patience and the natural world. A thoughtful account of finding purpose in unfamiliar work.

After years of working multiple jobs, Jeannine Cook takes a chance on a longtime dream and opens Harriett’s Bookshop in Philadelphia. Her journey from exhausted employee to independent bookseller celebrates the power of literature and the communities that gather around it.

Journalist Bonny Reichert decides to follow her culinary ambitions and enrolls in cooking school. What begins as a career change becomes a deeply personal exploration of food, family, and the memories passed down through generations.

What really happens behind a public library reference desk? Dorothy Lazard draws on decades of experience at Oakland Public Library to share the memorable patrons, unexpected questions, and everyday encounters that make librarianship anything but ordinary.

Meet a small-town mortician who genuinely loves his unusual profession. From the practical details of funeral preparation to the peculiar questions people ask about death, Victor Sweeney offers a surprisingly funny and compassionate glimpse into life at a funeral home.

What can the clothes we make tell us about ourselves? Through a collection of handmade garments, Maddie Ballard explores the pleasures of sewing, the stories stitched into our wardrobes, and the creative satisfaction of making something entirely your own.

From the streets of Washington, D.C., to the skies above them, Rodney Stotts recounts his unlikely journey to becoming one of America’s few Black master falconers. A remarkable story of second chances and finding purpose through a passion for birds of prey.

Dive into the story of Pleasant Rowland, former elementary school teacher and visionary woman behind the American Girl company. Rowland disrupted the toy industry and shaped girlhood for an entire generation.

Tim Pope was there from the beginning, before music videos became slick corporate products, when anything felt possible. I Shoot Rock Stars is his music-obsessive-turned-guerrilla-filmmaker’s wild ride inside the birth of the pop video – smuggled cameras, blown budgets, and no idea too strange to try.