Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, the new book by David Sedaris has hit the stands last week. And now thanks to The Guardian we get Sedaris himself reading a story/chapter from the collection, “The Mouse and the Snake.” It runs nearly 10 minutes. Start playing below…
For a brief moment yesterday, the internet was abuzz. David Bowie? Now doing standup comedy? Bowie himself seemed to confirm it on Twitter. But then the truth came out. It was all a hoax, the work of comedian Ed Schrader. Listen below:
Related: Don’t miss little this video of a 3 year old having a “Want David Bowie” meltdown. Watch video here, and stay with it until the 1:30 mark…
Everywhere you turn, there’s a review of Jonathan Franzen’s new novel, Freedom. Most appear in print, and they’re buttoned down. Not this one. It’s a little different. The video above features Ron Charles, The Washington Post’s fiction critic, taking his own approach.
Speaking of Franzen and book reviews: Franzen appeared on San Francisco radio earlier this week. And the conversation was moving along quite smoothly until Franzen was asked about Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times book critic. That’s when the knives came out. You can catch the comments below at the 33:20 mark…
[gplayer href=“https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/forum/2010/09/2010–09-13b-forum.mp3” ] Jonathan Franzen Interviewed on KQED Forum. September 13, 2010 [/gplayer]
Thanks Malena for the tip!
Coming to a theatre near you. If only …
P.S. You can download Jane Austen’s novels for free. Find them in our collection of Free Audio Books, which Makeuseof.com was kind enough to feature earlier today.
via Zadi Diaz
File under comedy. It’s slightly cheeky, at times little crass, but how often do the comedy and philosophy worlds collide? I mean, really?
S. Peter Davis also has three minute takes on Descartes, Hume, Aristotle, Locke, Galileo, Pythagoras, and Aquinas.
via Metafilter
Today, we’re revisiting a classic Monty Python skit. The scene is the 1972 Munich Olympics. The event is a football/soccer match, pitting German philosophers against Greek philosophers. On the one side, the Germans — Hegel, Nietzsche, Kant, Marx and, um, Franz Beckenbauer. On the other side, Archimedes, Socrates, Plato and the rest of the gang. The referee? Confucius. On May 9, this match was recreated by The Philosophy Shop, a group dedicated to promoting philosophy among primary schoolchildren. The Telegraph gives you more details.
Meanwhile, on a more serious note, you can download free philosophy courses in audio & video. Just visit our post, Download 90 Free Philosophy Courses and Start Living the Examined Life, to get started…
Related Content:
Monty Python’s Best Philosophy Sketches
Noam Chomsky Slams Žižek and Lacan: Empty ‘Posturing’
On the lighter side…
On a more serious note, if you want some free audio books by the Brontë’s (including Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre), simply find them in our collection of Free Audio Books.
Thanks to @wesalwan for sending our way.
Conan O’Brien’s Silicon Valley tour winds up at Google as part of his “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour.” In this setting, you can really see his comic/improvisational talents come alive (more so than on late night TV). Give it a watch and tell me if you don’t get a good laugh…
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