David Gergen has served four different American presidents (Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton), and he now heads the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. Last month Gergen, known for being a measured observer of politics, spoke before the Commonwealth Club of California and issued a very sober warning: America faces monumental problems. But unfortunately our capacity to address them has never been so diminished, and we’re this close to heading into a civilizational decline. Just what is limiting our ability to handle these problems? If you cut to the chase, it’s a mediocre generation of Americans – politicians, business leaders, media moguls, citizens – habitually putting personal interests first and the greater good second. It’s not a pretty picture, but Gergen suggests a few ways out of the woods. (Hint: education counts here.) You can stream the talk here, grab it on iTunes, or listen below. And if you think there’s nothing you can personally do to make this generation a better one, I suggest you watch the last few minutes of this Robert Sapolsky video.
America on the Brink
Karen Armstrong Weighs In on the Ground Zero Mosque Debate
America, as a nation, has some big fish to fry these days. But the energy is being focused right now on a symbolic question. Can the nation tolerate the building of an Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero almost a decade after the 9/11 attacks? Or, more to the point, can America uphold one of its core values – religious tolerance? The debate has smoldered on throughout the summer, and we’ve seen the hard right and left condemn the Cordoba Initiative and Islam more generally. On the right, Newt Gingrich has talked about how we’re facing an “Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization.” And built into his thinking is the assumption that when Christians commit abhorrent crimes, it’s a perversion of the religion, not an indictment of its essence. But the same charity doesn’t get extended to the Islamic minority faith in the country. Meanwhile, Sam Harris on the secular/atheist left gets in bed with Gingrich when he says “there is much that is objectionable—and, frankly, terrifying—about the religion of Islam and about the state of discourse among Muslims living in the West.” If it matters, the main difference between Harris and Gingrich is Harris’ consistency, which boils down to a consistent contempt for religion. (Partially Examined Life takes a much closer look at Harris’ arguments here).
All of this makes me wonder: What would someone who actually knows something about Islam say about the whole affair? So here you have it. Karen Armstrong, one of the most well known thinkers in the field of comparative religion, a former Catholic nun, and the author most recently of The Case for God, offering her thoughts on the matter above.
Good Capitalist Karma: Zizek Animated
Slavoj Zizek, one of today’s most influential philosophers/theorists, spoke earlier this year at the Royal Society of the Arts (RSA). And now RSA has posted the video online with their patented animated treatment. Like other recent RSA speakers, Zizek makes modern capitalism his focus. This time, we see how contemporary capitalism has essentially reworked Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic, or that strange relationship between money making and personal redemption. Zizek’s critique isn’t utterly damning. (No one will run to the barricades.) Nor do I think he intends it to be. But the observations hold a certain amount of interest, especially when placed alongside Barbara Ehrenreich and David Harvey’s related RSA talks.
You can find the full 30 minute lecture (sans cartoons) here, or download the video as an mp4 here.
Michael Sandel on Justice, Aristotle & Gay Marriage
We have mentioned him here many times before. Michael Sandel teaches philosophy at Harvard, including the ever-popular course, “Justice,” taken by some 14,000 students during the past two decades. (The legendary course is now freely available online.) Speaking at the Aspen Institute not too long ago, Sandel gave a very abbreviated version of the course. Call it “Justice in Under an Hour.” (My title, not his.) And, by the time he wrapped things up, he got down to a timely question in America. Is it just for the state to withhold the institution of marriage from same sex couples? What would Aristotle (who laid the foundation for western thinking about justice) have to say about this question? And how do Sandel’s Harvard students grapple with it? The full presentation is available above; the particular section on gay marriage is here.
Looking for free philosophy courses? Have a look through the Philosophy section of our big collection of Free Online Courses.
Richard Dawkins & John Lennox Debate Science & Atheism
No one debates quite as well as an Oxford professor. And so today we feature two Oxford profs – atheist biologist Richard Dawkins and Christian mathematician John Lennox – debating God and science in … of all places … Birmingham, Alabama. The debate turns largely on a question raised in Dawkins’ 2006 bestseller, The God Delusion: To what extent can religious belief and serious scientific discovery go hand-in-hand? The debate is lively, and the thought serious. A good way to spend 90+ minutes. And Brazilian readers, you’re in luck. You get subtitles. If you would like to purchase a copy of the debate, you can buy it through the Fixed Point Foundation, the Christian organization that organized the event. You can also watch a version of the debate on the Fixed Point web site here.
Related Content:
50 Famous Academics & Scientists Talk About God
50 Famous Academics & Scientists Talk About God — Part II
Pete Seeger, 91, Performs BP Protest Song
Bless the man. Pete Seeger, now 91, is still doing it, putting protests into song. On July 24th, he appeared at a Gulf Coast Oil Spill fundraiser at The City Winery in New York City. There, he performed a song he co-wrote with Lorre Wyatt: “God’s Counting on Me, God’s Counting on You.” All proceeds went to the Gulf Restoration Network. This one is for you, Bob…
What is WikiLeaks?
WikiLeaks has done it again. This weekend, the whistle-blowing website released 92,000 military documents that vividly illustrate why the US military campaign in Afghanistan has achieved so little success. Among other things, the release shines a light on Pakistan’s intelligence apparatus, which has provided strategic support to the Taliban, helping it coordinate attacks against US troops and assassinate Afghani leaders. (Meanwhile, Pakistan officially claims to be an ally of the US.) The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, called this release “the nearest analogue to the Pentagon Papers” published during the Vietnam War. “It provides a whole map, if you like, through time, of what has happened during this war.”
This is not the first time that WikiLeaks has made news lately. In April, the site released footage showing US troops launching a seemingly unjustified air strike in Iraq, killing 12 people, including 2 Reuters journalists. (Click here and scroll to bottom for video.) And last year, WikiLeaks helped get “Climategate” rolling when it published memos from climate scientists – memos that gave conservatives ammo to argue that global warming is a fiction.
So what is WikiLeaks all about? On July 14, NPR’s Fresh Air interviewed Philip Shenon, an investigative reporter previously at the New York Times, and now contributing to The Daily Beast. During the 35 minute conversation, they enter the secret world of WikiLeaks and answer your questions. You can stream the interview here, grab it on iTunes, or listen below.
[gplayer href=“https://public.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2010/07/20100714_fa_01.mp3” ] [/gplayer]
Sources for this post: The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian
Roman Polanski on Making Chinatown
This morning, the Swiss rejected US requests to extradite Roman Polanksi. This decision effectively brings to a close a rather dark chapter in his personal life and lets the conversation return to his filmmaking. Enter our video above, which features Polanski talking about the making of Chinatown, his 1974 neo-noir film, starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston, that landed eleven Academy Award nominations. Thanks Mike for sending this our way…
Support Us
We're hoping to rely on loyal readers, rather than erratic ads. Please click the Donate button and support Open Culture. You can use Paypal, Venmo, Patreon, even Crypto! We thank you!
About Us
Open Culture scours the web for the best educational media. We find the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & educational videos you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between.
Advertise With Us
