I recently spent very little money to listen to several smart and charming people confidently discuss some of their ideas and observations.
1/24: Ira Glass (NPR’s This American Life, Showtime) began his discussion in the dark at the Kimmel Center (2,500 capacity– not an empty seat!) He spoke passionately about the (almost lost) art of story telling (raise a question, action, action, action, reflection, answer the question.) His stories were powerful, compelling and often, quite hilarious. Glass curses the “topic sentence”, considering it the end of true discourse. His asides were witty and gossipy (in the absolute best sense of the word.)
Ira Glass video (Catch some of Ira’s ideas here.)
2/2: Malcolm Gladwell: (Outliers, Blink, The Tipping Point), Philadelphia Free Library author series. Gladwell, as always, was erudite and captivating. Diverse ideas about success and its barriers flowed freely (by way of an eye opening discussion about the ages of Canadian hockey players!) spurring myriad connections and insights.
In the midst of this whirlwind I began to wonder; is there any way that I can teach my 12-year-old daughter to someday view a future Malcolm or Ira as the hot guy?
2/4: Mark Bittman: (author of the utterly indispensable (and excellent gift for any occasion) How to Cook Everything , as well as the Minimalist columns/NY Times), Philadelphia Free Library author series. Once again, the auditorium, on a snowy evening, was full; people were waiting to listen to a cookbook author who was not going to discuss recipes.*** Instead, he proposed that for global/political, environmental, health and moral reasons we consider becoming “less meat-atarians.” His ideas were sensible, relevant and could cost us less money.
***I wouldn’t have minded a few recipes.
Is it the recession, coming in from the cold after the endless Bush years or a combination of world and personal factors that have so many of us craving new ideas and road maps for living? I came away from these evenings pondering the possibility of living life just a little differently.
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