Schedules and Boundaries
EssayCast
When Benjamin Franklin wrote his autobiography, he made the interesting choice to include a graph that detailed his weekly schedule. In giving himself the solitude to work, he accomplished much. As we have grown accustomed to having fewer and weaker boundaries, interiority has declined. In this time the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be a perfect time to begin a habit of the great creators and plan our days.
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Altruism and the larger self
EssayCast
Typically, people view altruism as the opposite of selfishness. If we reimagine our notions of self and other and imagine that one's sense of self is developmentally dynamic, altruism is simply as state of self so large that it encompasses more than the physical being possessed of consciousness. With sociopathy and narcissism on the small side of self, we can choose greater solipsism or larger community.
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Documentary film as a tool for peace
EssayCast
For a long while, it seemed that there were two categories of homemade videos; cute videos of cats and babies and those that appeal to schadenfreude where bears fall from trees or people are hit by cars. The documentary, once marginal, has become the great usurper. Serial programming must now vie for budgets against the docuseries. As a result, the world has grown more intimate and the exotic has become familiar. In this essaycast, I suggest the potential for film as a tool for world peace.
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Busking in the time of the Coronavirus
EssayCast
Public art, specifically street music, is an often under appreciated component of a rich urban culture. As many people are forced into a shelter-in-place lifestyles with the outbreak of COVID-19, busking has disappeared. However, in New York City, where the state's governor has implemented a more stratified social distancing, busking may be a lifeline for both artist and viewer. I speak with J.P. Couling about his experience playing music in the parks and subways of the city that never sleeps.
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Protocol and the human NPC
EssayCast
Non-Playing Characters, or, NPC's are a feature of video games. I suggest that there exist human NPC's who follow protocol rather than think for themselves. Here I discuss the what it is to live under the yoke of technology.
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secrets, image, and the end of interiority
EssayCast
Compartmentalization resulting from parsing public and private leads to a form a social bondage. Transparency becomes anathema as people ceaselessly monitor their public image. Interiority does not emerge as expression, but is locked in secret sadness.
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futbols from the sky and national mythology
EssayCast
A sport that merely requires a ball and a field may still be beyond the reach of many children too poor to afford food. Dropping footballs from drones to people all over the world may do great good for the disenfranchised. Further, these parcels from the air might be used to disseminate queues to the history of ideas. Special guests, Nemo D'Qrill, Charlie Hawksfield, Chris Mason, Maria Owen, & Sonja Teszler.
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Twitter, the instrument of POTUS
EssayCast
With no moderation, the Twitter channel allows the president of the United States to command the attention of billions without filter. Never before has the unilateral dissemination of words been so extreme and so quick. The office of the POTUS would be far less effective in its destructive power without the social media giant, Twitter, being so dismissive of it's own rules. Special guest Sonja Teszler. First episode of season two.
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seven escapist systems in denial of science
EssayCast
With the fading of understanding in science in the past decades, many have turned to systems of belief which contradict facts and reason. Today's essay explores the narative of surrounding enlightened periods of time. Sonja Teszler is my special guest as we discuss the decline of civilization.
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Animals don't ask questions
EssayCast
Starting with the putative notion that animals don't interrogate, but rather express or plea, I look at the spectrum between meditative interiority and frantic banter. I argue that our culture demands tempo above truth and comfort over truth. I finally suggest that the pauses in dialog are the key to insight.
info_outlineHere I share an essay I wrote in 2005 about the nature of choice in an increasingly narrow existence given the rise of portable technology. Cole Porter sings as well. Hiawatha versus the modern person.