Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, delivered this speech at Stanford’s commencement ceremony in June 2005. I somehow doubt that the graduating class could have truly appreciated what Jobs is saying here. (At that age, I couldn’t have.) But if you’re a little further down the road, you’ll understand that Jobs (who ironically never graduated from college) points to a simple set of guidelines that can make the difference between living a fascinating and so-so life. Sadly, these principles get lost all too often in the noise, inertia and blur of everyday life.
By the way, the podcast version of this speech consistently remains the number #1 podcast on Stanford’s iTunes site. You can download it in video here, or audio here.
With last year being the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, there was no shortage of podcasts dedicated to Mozart’s masterpieces. First, Radio Sweden (iTunes — Feed — Web Site) reissued a digital archive of Mozart recordings by the Royal Swedish Opera from the 1940s and 1950s. And, along very similar lines, Danmarks Radio (Feed — Web Site) issued podcasts of nine Mozart symphonies recorded by the Danish Radio Symphony
Orchestra. (You’ll find here symphonies numbers 15, 17, 23, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40, and 41. Since the web site is in Danish, we’d recommend accessing these high quality MP3’s through the rss feed listed above.) Lastly, we should mention here that, as part of last year’s festivities, The International Mozart Foundation published online for the first time the entirety of of Mozart’s musical scores.
Along with Mozart, you can find plenty of Beethoven. We have highlighted here before, but it’s worth noting again, Deutsche Welle’s podcastcollection called Beethovenfest (iTunes — Feed — Web Site). You’ll want to give it a look, and also see the podcast collection put together by the Boston Symphony Orchestra Conservatory (iTunes — Feed — Web Site). This educational series offers an extensive overview and recordings of Beethoven’s work, as well as that of Arnold Schoenberg. You can also catch more Beethoven (as well as a little Mozart and Bach) with the podcast series called The Concert (iTunes — Feed — Web Site), which features recordings from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Speaking of Bach, you may want to give some time to these two podcasts: Bach Podcast from Magnatune.com (iTunes — Feed — Web Site) and Bach Festival of Philadelphia(Feed — Web Site).
Let’s now leave you with a few other good finds: Wagner Operas Podcast (iTunes — Feed — Web Site) lets you listen in on recordings from the annual Bayreuth Festival, plus more. An Intimate Tour Through the Music of Yo-Yo Ma (iTunes — Feed — Web Site) offers essentially what the title says. Finally, we’d recommend Classical Performance (iTunesFeedWeb Site), which consists of classical music performances from WGBH’s Studio One in Boston; The New York Philaharmonic Podcast (iTunes — Feed — Web Site) which introduces you to the music and performers featured in the concerts of the New York Philharmonic; and From the Top. Live from Carnegie Hall Video Podcast (iTunes — Feed — Web Site), a podcast that showcases the top-notch skills and compelling stories of America’s best young classical musicians.
Blogs are abounding these days, and what’s unfortunately missing is an effective way to organize this new world of information and to make it accessible to others. Until a good, large-scale solution comes along (I don’t count Technorati or Google Blog Search as the real answer), some of this will get done the old fashioned way, the way Yahoo did it back in 1996 — that is, indexing by hand.
Last week, Stanford University launched the Stanford Blog Directory, which hopes to index the collective blogging wisdom coming out of the university community (faculty, staff, alumni, etc.). This small list will inevitably grow over time. But it already includes some blogs (in addition to Open Culture) that you may want to peruse. Let’s highlight a few:
Smart Energy Show: 6.6 billion people live on the earth today. 9.2 billion will be here by 2050. And, as time goes by, energy demand will inevitably push toward a breaking point. Smart Energy takes a close look at how we can meet “this rising demand without inflicting permanent damage” on our fragile environment. And it explains what science, governments and individuals can do to meet this challenge. The blog is written by Margot Gerritsena, professor in the Department of Energy Resources Engineering, and the blog posts are often accompanied by informative videos.
The Stem Cell Blog: Written by Christopher Thomas Scott, this blog examines the science, ethics, business and politics of stem cell research. Scott is particularly well positioned to do this. He is the Executive Director of Stanford’s Program on Stem Cells in Society and the author of Stem Cell Now: An Introduction to the Coming Medical Revolution. Plus he has taught a course called Straight Talk About Stem Cells that you can access on iTunes for free.
Philosophy Talk: Written by two Stanford philosophy professors, Ken Taylor and John Perry, this blog accompanies a weekly radio show (also called “Philosophy Talk”) that offers a “down-to-earth and no-nonsense approach” to philosophy that’s relevant to everyday life. Along the way, the blog/show explores philosophy that touches on our beliefs, relationships, passions and the world around us.
Mark October 1 on your calendar. That’s when Bob Dylan will release a new box set of his “greatest songs.” Now, cut over to the website designed to market the album, and you’ll find a couple notable pieces of video. First up, you can watch the video that accompanies Mark Ronson’s remixing of “Most Likely You Will Go Your Way (& I’ll Go Mine).” (Watch it on the website here or on YouTube here.) It’s apparently the first time Dylan has allowed a remix of any of his songs, and the song has been getting some airplay this week.
And then there is this video concept. Back in 1967, D. A. Pennebaker released Don’t Look Back, a well-known documentary that covered Dylan’s first tour of England in 1965. The opening segment of the film has Dylan standing in an alley, flipping through cards inscribed with lyrics from Subterranean Homesick Blues. (Also the beat poet Allen Ginsberg looms in the background. We’ve included the original video below.) Now, I’m mentioning this because the aforementioned website lets you re-work this video segment. Click here and you can re-write the cards that Dylan flips through, and then watch your edited version. It’s another form of re-mixing, I guess.
Below, we have some links recommended by our readers. Feel free to send other good bits our way. The more we give, the more we get. Just click here to send:
Sean Penn reads an excerpt from Bob Dylan’s autobiography, Chronicles, here. (Or check out the full audiobook version.)
Jared Diamond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse speaks at The Long Now Foundation about why civilizations have historically endured or failed. Two important factors include how they managed their natural resources and dealt with climate change. Does this ring any bells? Get the lecture here: (iTunes — Feed — MP3s)
Interview with Hal Varian, Chief Economist at Google (and UC Berkeley Professor), who talks (iTunes - Feed — MP3 — Web Site) about the internet as an “engine for democracy.”
Appearing in The New York Review of Books, this piece, entitled Citizen Gore, takes a look a Al Gore’s new book, The Assault on Reason, and how Gore, being freed up from politics, has been remarkably able to prod the conscience of the nation. For some, however, it’s not enough. Hence the recent “Draft Al Gore” campaign that has gotten underway.
Check out the Voodoo Music Festival coming up on October 26, 27 & 28 in New Orleans. The lineup of artists includes Rage Against The Machine, Common, Tiesto, The Smashing Pumpkins, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, M.I.A., Ben Harper, Wilco and more. To win passes to the show and some travel money, you can enter a contest here.
An organization called College Scholarships is offering a $10,000 scholarship this year for a college student who blogs about “unique and interesting information about you and/or things you are passionate about.” We’re not shilling for a nomination here, but perhaps you know an aspiring blogger somewhere who could use the extra cash.
This contest raises an interesting question: are there any college students out there who support their education through blogging? It’s not a far stretch from working part-time (or full-time) to help pay the bills, but blogging seems like an unlikely way to earn enough money to buy books, let alone pay tuition.
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