Open Culture » Video – Politics/Society

Fora.TV Goes Mobile

Dan Colman — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:17:00 +0000

Yesterday, YouTube EDU went international, and FORA.TV went mobile. FORA is an excellent resource for smart video (you’ll find it in our collection of Top Intelligent Video Sites), and now it has launched its new mobile web site. Just point your mobile browser to m.fora.tv, and you can start watching smart video on the move. The mobile site works well on the iPhone, and hopefully that holds true for other smart phones. For more intelligent mobile content, please check out our Free iPhone app, and send it along to a friend. To access the app, you can always use the shortened link: http://bit.ly/opencultureapp

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Fora.TV Goes Mobile is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

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For MLK on His Birthday

Dan Colman — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:02:27 +0000

The full “I Have a Dream” speech. The place: The Lincoln Memorial. The Date: August 28, 1963. The Why: To bring about many small changes in American society, which eventually and collectively bring us to Tuesday. Take it away Martin:

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For MLK on His Birthday is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

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The Clash of Civilizations (and the Passing of its Author)

Dan Colman — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 08:12:21 +0000

When the twin towers were taken down in September 2001, America looked to make sense of what happened. And it wasn’t long before many started turning to The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, a book written by Samuel Huntington, the Harvard poli sci professor who passed on last week.

The book itself was an elaboration upon a controversial article that Huntington published in Foreign Affairs in 1993. In the opening lines, he wrote: “World politics is entering a new phase… It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.” Particularly he suggested, it would be the “West versus the Rest,” and within the latter category, he lumped in Islam.

Below, we have posted Huntington’s 1997 appearance on the Charlie Rose show, where he expanded on his world view. You can also get Edward Said’s general retort, The Myth of the Clash of Civilizations, here and Noam Chomsky’s thoughts on the concept here.

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The Clash of Civilizations (and the Passing of its Author) is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

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We Didn’t Start the Fire, or The World From 1949 to 1989

Dan Colman — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 23:44:20 +0000

If you could sync up a photo with every name and event mentioned in Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” you’d have a montage that offers a pretty good glimpse into the second half of the twentieth century. That’s what a University of Chicago grad student figured out when he put this viral video together. We’ve added it to our YouTube playlist. Thanks Bob for the tip!

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We Didn’t Start the Fire, or The World From 1949 to 1989 is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

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Woody Allen and the Reverend Billy Graham In Conversation

Dan Colman — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:25:38 +0000

Here we have the odd couple. The agnostic filmmaker and one of America’s most influential religious figures engaged in a lively conversation. It’s actually a rather gentlemanly exchange from the late 1960s, and it’s added to our YouTube playlist. Part 1 appears below, and you can get Part 2 here.

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Woody Allen and the Reverend Billy Graham In Conversation is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

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Electing a US President in Plain English

Dan Colman — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 05:44:59 +0000

We’re less than two weeks away (finally, at long last) from the next US presidential election, and that means that it’s a good time to decipher America’s convoluted electoral system. So here’s a piece from The Common Craft Show, which does it in a fairly creative way:

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Electing a US President in Plain English is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

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Noam Chomsky vs. William F. Buckley, 1969

Dan Colman — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:33:57 +0000

Is there such a thing as the benign use of international force? It’s a question that Noam Chomsky and William F. Buckley, leading thinkers from the left and right, took up in 1969. And, of course, the whole question of Vietnam loomed in the background. As you’ll see below (and in Part 2 here) the debate is remarkably civil. And when Buckley threatens to punch Chomsky in the face, it’s said much more lovingly than when he offered to do the same to Gore Vidal in 1968.

As an interesting aside, when Buckley died earlier this year, Chomsky revisited the 1969 debate and Buckley’s legacy and essentially saw him looking a lot better than his conservative heirs — although I’m not sure that Chomsky was really passing along a deeply felt compliment here.

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Noam Chomsky vs. William F. Buckley, 1969 is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

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A Brief History of the 1929 Crash

Dan Colman — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:04:40 +0000

With the gyrations of the world markets, 1929 was suddenly very present last week. All too present. What really went down in ‘29? Below we present “The Crash of 1929,” a documentary that aired as part of PBS’ The American Experience Series. Part 1 appears below. You can get the remaining parts here: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.

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A Brief History of the 1929 Crash is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

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The 2nd Presidential Debate in Ten Easy Minutes

Dan Colman — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:12:35 +0000

In case you missed it, here’s a paired down version of last night’s second presidential debate in all of its uninspiring glory:

via Talking Points Memo

The 2nd Presidential Debate in Ten Easy Minutes is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

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A Brief History of Disbelief

Dan Colman — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:12:55 +0000

Jonathan Miller’s Brief History of Disbelief is a BBC production (2005) that offers television’s first sustained look at the hidden history of atheism. The three-part documentary takes you from unbelievers within Ancient Greece, to the re-emergence of disbelief in 15th and 16th century Europe, through to the French Enlightenment, Revolutionary America and the rise of Darwinian thought. We’ve posted Part 1 below. You can watch Parts 2 and 3 here and here.

This video comes our way via onlinedocumentaries4u.com

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A Brief History of Disbelief is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

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