Who Would You Like to Meet?

At a luncheon in Chicago, I was seated next to Jesse Owens in 1956. We didn't reminisce about his track and field victories at Hitler's 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. We discussed why attitudes toward race were different in suburban Chicago and other areas of the city.

     The Atlantic magazine ends each issue on its last page by asking readers to respond to a question. In June, 2018, the question was: "Which two historical figures would you most like to introduce to each other?" It is a question young and old anywhere in the world can and should pose to each other.

     Reader responses reminded us to recognize the enduring influence of people from diverse backgrounds, such as Julia Child, Albert Einstein, Louis Braille, and Mother Teresa.

     Why readers wanted to hear the conversations of the people they introduced revealed interesting topics. One wondered what Alexander Hamilton would tell Lin-Manuel Miranda he got right and wrong in his prize-winning musical.

     Another wanted Barack Obama to show Abraham Lincoln "the fruits of his enormous accomplishment."

     What would Leonardo da Vinci and Nikola Tesla chat about over coffee, a woman wondered. And then, someone thought William Shakespeare and Mae West would realize they both live on through their quotable remarks.

   

Posts about TIME's 100 Most Influential People

• Lin-Manuel Miranda and Stephen Curry: "Stage Your Life"
• Pope Francis: "Why Is the Pope Going to Philadelphia?" "Warning to Students: Don't Cheat," "Good News from Cuba," "We Have a Pope"
• Christine Lagarde: "When to Buy/Sell in the World Market"
• Angela Merkel and Hillary Clinton: "What Are You Wearing in the New Year?"
• Jin Liqun: "China's Corruption Crackdown, New Bank Backing, and Release of PR Activists"
• Barack Obama: "Good News from Cuba," What Moscow Could Learn from History"
• Xi Jinping: "Time to Revisit China's and the World's Foreign Currency Exchange Rates," "China's Corruption Crackdown, New Bank Backing, and Release of PR Activists," "Let's Visit China"
• Aung San Suu Kyi: "Who Are Your Country's Super Heroes?" "Hope for the Future"
• Hillary Clinton: "It Takes a World to Raise a Child"
• Vladimir Putin: "What Moscow Could Learn from History," "Hearing Voices from Mexico and Russia," "Hope for the Future"
• Kim Jong Un: "Corruption Has Consequences," "Nuclear Straight Talk," "Reasons to Celebrate Global Victories," "Hope for the Future"