[applause] >> louise glÜck.use] the 2015 national humanities medal to louise glÜck for giving lyrical expression to our inner conflicts. her use of verse connects us to the myths and the ancients, the magic of the natural world, and the essence of who we are. [applause] >> terry gross. [applause] the 2015 national humanities medal to terry gross for her artful probing of the human experience. her patient, persistent questioning in thousands of interviews over four decades has pushed public figures to reveal personal motivations behind extraordinary lives, revealing simple truths that affirm our common humanity. [applause] >> james mcbride. [applause] the 2015 national humanities medal to james mcbride for humanizing the complexities of discussing race in america. through writings about his own uniquely american story and his works of fiction informed by our shared history, his moving stories of love display the character of the american family. [applause] >> louis menand. [applause] the 2015 national humanities

louise glÜck. berry gordy. santiago jimÉnez. moisÉs kaufman. ralph lemon. audra mcdonald.ames mcbride. louis menand. the eugene o'neill theater center. elaine pagels. the prison university project. luis valdez. abraham verghese. jack whitten. isabel wilkerson. we also honor wynton marsalis, who unfortunately could not make it here today, and morgan freeman, who undoubtedly is off playing a black president again [laughter] [applause] he never lets me have my moment. he's always, like -- [laughter] all of today's honorees work in an age where the stories we tell and the technologies that we use to tell them are more diverse than ever before, and as diverse as the country that we love. every human being has hundreds of separate people living inside his skin. it echoes what whitman once wrote about america, that we are large, containing multitudes. it's what's so great about this country -- that there is no single, set way to contribute. all of us belong. all of us have a story to tell. even when you think your story is too different, too strange, too unique, there's someone o