This episode focuses on opera producer Sarah Caldwell, a conductor, impresario and stage director from Arkansas. The book is called Challenges: A Memoir of My Life in Opera, and by Caldwell, with contributions by Rebecca Matlock.

The book tells how Caldwell worked to make opera performances come alive in ways no one had tried before. She was known to add live animals and water features to performances. She also traveled to the country of the opera's origin to conduct research and gather the sights and sounds of the area to make her performances as true to life as possible for audiences. Along the way, she met dignitaries and even had a reporter from Time magazine tag along on one of these research excursions. In addition, the Library of Congress assisted her during research of ancient China.

She even befriended Imelda Marcos along the way and was burned in effigy alongside her. So, yeah. If you haven't gathered already, Sarah Caldwell was a strong-willed, opinionated and interesting lady. We cover some things about her work and her life in this week's episode.