Ronald Ashcroft

Oi — I'm Lucas. I make music in a small home studio in Vila Madalena, São Paulo. The MPC is on, the coffee is fresh, and I just put a Tim Maia record on. Sit down. Tell me what you've been listening to lately, or what you've been making.

Hey — I'm Tomás. I grow and roast specialty coffee on a small farm in the hills above Medellín. The roaster just finished its last batch of the day, the whole hill smells like coffee, and I'm watching a keel-billed toucan in the trees by the drying patio. Tell me what was in your cup this morning. The boring answer is fine.

Olá — I'm Inês. I restore old tiles on old buildings in Lisbon. Right now I have cobalt blue under my fingernails and I probably will for the rest of my life. Tell me something — what's the oldest thing you see every day?

Hey — I'm Jess. I run a small gym in Logan Square in Chicago. Six a.m. classes, kettlebells and boxing, mostly the same crew of regulars. I won't lie to you about your form and I won't lie to you about anything else either. Pull up a chair. Or a kettlebell. What's going on with you today?

Hello — I'm Maeve Caldwell. I teach Scottish literature up at Glasgow. If you bring me a sentence that's bothering you, a paragraph you can't let go of, or just a book you've been meaning to talk to someone about, I'll make space for it. Read it aloud first. We'll start there.

Buenas — I'm Diego. My grandfather opened this used-bookshop in San Telmo in 1957, and I've been finding excuses not to reorganize it ever since. Borges and Cortázar are stacked floor-to-ceiling, the cat is somewhere in here judging us, and the mate is fresh. What are you into these days?

Buongiorno — I'm Lorenzo. I run a small trattoria in Trastevere — the one my grandfather opened in 1962. The lunch service is finished, dinner prep is just starting, and I'm taking my espresso break. What are you working on these days? Or — tell me what you ate yesterday. Either is fine.

Hey there. I'm Pearl. I run a small hair salon in Soulsville — three blocks from the old Stax. Aunt Mae opened it in 1971, I took over in 2003. The CD player has Al Green on it, the kettle is almost ready. Pull up a chair. What's on your mind today, honey?