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Over the past couple weeks, our readers have sent some new links our way. Here’s some of the good stuff that they’ve had to offer:
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Great Writers on Free Speech and the Environment
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The PEN American Center just wound up World Voices 2007, a conference featuring a slew of major authors, including Salman Rushdie, Don DeLillo, Neil Gaiman, and many more. One of the panels this year featured some literary heavy hitters reading works to raise awareness for environmental issues: Billy Collins, Jonathan Franzen, Moses Isegawa, Pico Iyer, Geert Mak, Marilynne Robinson, Roxana Robinson, Salman Rushdie, Gary Shteyngart, Janne Teller and Colson Whitehead all participated (mp3). The PEN organization works for literary freedom worldwide, and the conference keynote (mp3) features Israeli author David Grossman and Nobel Prize-winner Nadine Gordimer discussing the “Freedom to Write.” Considering the news in Turkey these days, you may also want to give last year’s lecture with Orhan Pamuk and Margaret Atwood a listen (mp3). The Center also has an iTunes podcast series and an audio archive, but since the conference just ended it will probably take some time for them to process the latest audio. iTunes Feed Site
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What Culture Blogs Are You Reading?
In the comings days, we plan to launch a new list of great culture blogs, ones that take a fresh look at books, movies, films, the humanities, and more. There is obviously a wide universe of blogs out there, and it’s a given that we’ll miss some good ones. So we wanted to ask you: What culture blogs are you reading? Which ones are your favorites, regardless of whether they’re well known or not. If you have some good tips, please **@******re.com/”>email us and lets us know what you’re reading and liking. Or drop us those thoughts in the comments section of this post below. Thanks in advance for your contributions, and stay tuned for our list.
Five Stanford Courses Available as Free Podcasts on iTunes
Over the past six months, Stanford has released several podcasts of full-fledged courses on iTunes. This past week, the university released yet another — The Geography of World Cultures. You can now download five courses in total, all for free.Below, you’ll find links to each course, plus descriptions of what ground each course covers. Please note that some of these courses can be downloaded in full right now, while others are being released in weekly installments. If you subscribe, you’ll receive all new installments when they come out.
For more podcasts from leading universities, please visit our University Podcast Collection.
Who was the historical Jesus of Nazareth? What did he actually say and do, as contrasted with what early Christians (e.g., Paul and the Gospel writers) believed that he said and did? What did the man Jesus actually think of himself and of his mission, as contrasted with the messianic and even divine claims that the New Testament makes about him? In short, what are the differences — and continuities — between the Jesus who lived and died in history and the Christ who lives on in believers’ faith?
Over the last four decades historical scholarship on Jesus and his times — whether conducted by Jews, Christians, or non-believers — has arrived at a strong consensus about what this undeniably historical figure (born ca. 4 BCE, died ca. 30 CE) said and did, and how e presented himself and his message to his Jewish audience. Often that historical evidence about Jesus does not easily dovetail with the traditional doctrines of Christianity. How then might one adjudicate those conflicting claims?
This is a course about history, not about faith or theology. It will examine the best available literary and historical evidence about Jesus and his times and will discuss methodologies for interpreting that evidence, in order to help participants make their own judgments and draw their own conclusions.
Thomas Sheehan, Professor of Religious Studies and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
Thomas Sheehan joined Stanford’s Religious Studies faculty in 1999 after teaching philosophy for 30 years in the United States and Italy. His interests embrace classical Greek and medieval philosophy, 20th-century German philosophy and its relation to religious questions, and Central American liberation movements. His many books and publications include: Becoming Heidegger (2006); Edmund Husserl: Psychological and Transcendental Phenomenology and the Encounter with Heidegger (1997); Karl Rahner: The Philosophical Foundations (1987); The First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity (1986); and Heidegger, the Man and the Thinker (1981).
2. Modern Theoretical Physics: Quantum Entanglement (Video)
The old Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics associated with Niels Bohr is giving way to a more profound interpretation based on the idea of quantum entanglement. Entanglement not only replaces the obsolete notion of the collapse of the wave function but is also the basis for Bell’s famous theorem, the new paradigm of quantum computing, and finally the widely discussed “Many Worlds” interpretation of quantum mechanics by Everett.
This course stands on its own, but also serves as a continuation of a year-long course looking at the basics of quantum mechanics, entanglement, Bell’s theorems, elements of quantum computing, quantum teleportation, and similar material.
Leonard Susskind, Felix Bloch Professor in Physics
Leonard Susskind received a PhD from Cornell University and has been a professor at Stanford since 1979. He has won both the Pregel Award from the New York Academy of Science and the J.J. Sakurai Prize in theoretical particle physics. His current research interests include the structure of hadrons, instantons, quark confinement, and quantum cosmology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
3. Virgil’s Aeneid: Anatomy of a Classic
The central text in the canon of Latin literature is Virgil’s Aeneid, an epic poem in twelve books composed more than two thousand years ago under the Roman emperor Augustus. The poem was an instant hit. It became a school text immediately and has remained central to studies of Roman culture to the present day. How can a poem created in such a remote literary and social environment speak so eloquently to subsequent ages? In this course we will discover what kind of poem this is and what kind of hero Aeneas is. Our studies will focus chiefly on the poem itself and on wider aspects of Roman culture. It will be essential to commit to reading the poem ahead of time, at a rate of about 100 pages per week. We will use the energetic translation by Robert Fitzgerald.
Susanna Braund, Professor of Classics
Susanna Braund arrived at Stanford from Yale in 2004. Prior to that, she taught in the UK for twenty years, at the universities of Exeter, Bristol, and London. She is the author, editor, and translator of numerous books and papers on Latin literature, especially Roman satire and epic poetry, including an introductory volume entitled Latin Literature (Routledge, 2002). Her passion for making connections between antiquity and the modern world is reflected in her regular radio broadcasts for KZSU called “Myth Made Modern.”
4. Geography of World Cultures
Despite the supposedly homogenizing effects of globalization, people continue to be joined together and divided asunder by the languages they speak, the religions they follow, and the ethnic identities to which they belong. Such cultural features all have specific geographies, tied to particular places. But while cultural-geographical terms such as “the Arabic world” and “the Islamic world” are used ubiquitously, many people remain uncertain where such “worlds” are and how they differ from each other.
The purpose of this map-intensive course is to explore the locational dynamics of the world’s languages, religions, and ethnic groupings. We will examine every world region, seeking to understand how places vary from each other with regard to the cultural attributes of their inhabitants. The course will explore the historical forces that have generated cultural diversity, and will carefully examine the processes of contemporary transformation.
Martin Lewis, Lecturer in History, Interim Director, Program in International Relations
Martin Lewis received a PhD from UC Berkeley in geography. He is the author or co-author of four books, including The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography (with Karen Wigen) and Diversity Amid Globalization: World Regions, Environment, Development (with Lester Rowntree, Marie Price, and William Wyckoff).
5. The Literature of Crisis
Most human lives contain major turning points: crises that transform an individual’s future development. On a much larger scale, cultures undergo crises too: political, intellectual, and religious changes that alter forever the course of human history. This course will focus on both kinds of crisis.
We will consider the personal upheavals brought about by the political, social, religious, and erotic ties of our authors and their characters. These crises were pivotal moments which dramatically altered the trajectory of their lives. Moreover, each of our texts reflects not only a personal crisis but also the turbulence of its cultural environment; and each develops a unique strategy for coping with it.
In addition to offering a unique introduction to these great texts, this course aims to provide a conceptual and historical framework enabling you to address crises in your own life and in the modern world with a greater degree of understanding and, perhaps, a clearer sense of how to survive them.
Marsh McCall, Professor of Classics
Marsh McCall has taught at Stanford for 30 years and was the founding Dean of Stanford Continuing Studies. He received the Dinkelspiel Award for Outstanding Service to Undergraduate Education and the annual Phi Beta Kappa Undergraduate Teaching Award.
Martin Evans, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor in English
Born in Cardiff, Great Britain, in 1935, Professor Evans emigrated to the United States in 1963 after earning his B.A., M.A., and D.Phil. degrees at Oxford University. His first post in this country was as an Assistant Professor of English in the Stanford English Department, and he has been on the faculty here ever since. From 1977–81, he served as Associate Dean of Humanities and Sciences, from 1981–86 as the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the English Department, and from 1988–91 as Chairman of the English Department.
Get more free Stanford courses here.
10 Unexpected Uses of the iPod
New technologies often have unintended uses. Take the Ipod as a case in point. It was developed with the intention of playing music (and later videos), but its applications now go well beyond that. Here are 10 rather unforeseen, even surprising, uses:
1. Train Doctors to Save Lives: A new study presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology indicates that iPods can double interns’ ability to identify heart sounds that are indicative of serious heart problems (i.e., aortic or mitral stenosis). By using the iPod to repeatedly listen to recordings of normal and abnormal heart beat patterns, interns can effectively hear when something is going awry.
Or how about this for another medical application: Will Gilbert, who heads up the bioinformatics group in the Hubbard Center for Genome Studies, stores the entire human genome on his iPod. As you can read in Wired, he has found that the iPod is a great way to store the gene sequence, all 3 billion chemical letters of it, and, compared to using a network, he can access data more quickly with the little Apple gadget. [Thanks to one of our readers for pointing this one out.]
2. Bring Criminals to Justice: On an experimental basis, a United States federal district court has started using iPods to hold copies of wiretap transmissions in a large drug-conspiracy case. Why? Because it’s easier than storing the recordings on cassette tapes or CDRoms; the defendants and attorneys can access and work through the recordings with ease; and it can all be done in a secure environment.
3. Get Yourself Into Serious Shape: Many joggers love how their iPods can provide entertainment that will spice up a monotonous routine. But probably few know that you can use the iPod to plan training routes for their runs. TrailRunner lets runners do precisely that. This free program helps you plan your route and then loads your iPod with maps, distances, and time goals.
4. Tour Around Great Cities: iSubwayMaps lets you download subway maps from 24 major cities across the globe. They range from New York City, Paris and Berlin to Moscow, Tokyo and Hong Kong. (Get the full list here.) To take advantage of these maps, your iPod will need to support photos, but that shouldn’t be a problem for most recent iPods.
We’ve also talked recently about a venture called Soundwalk that provides engaging, somewhat offbeat audio tours of New York and Paris (plus Varanasi in India). In New York, they offer individual tours of Little Italy, the Lower East Side, Times Square and the Meat Packing District, among other places. In Paris, they take you through the Marais, St. Germain, Pigalle, Belleville, and the Palais Royal. Each audio tour is narrated by a celebrity of sorts and can be downloaded for about $12.
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5. Calculate the Right Tip: If you’re a little math challenged, you can use your iPod when you’re out to dinner to calculate the correct tip. TipKalc helps you figure out both the tip and the grand total on your bill, and it even lets you split your check up to five different ways.
6. Record Flight data: According to a report in Flight Global, a company called LoPresti Speed Merchants has announced plans to use iPods as flight data recorders in light aircraft. The little white box will serve as the “black box” within the airplanes and will have the ability to record over 500 hours of flight time data. Does this mean that iPods can survive plane crashes? Who would have thunk it.
7. Throw a Meaner Curveball: Jason Jennings, a pitcher for the Houston Astros, started using a video iPod last year to review his pitching frame by frame and to improve his overall technique. He also reviews video of all opposing batters before each game. Since incorporating the iPod into his training, he has since seen his ERA go down, and other teams — notably the Marlins and Mariners — have looked into using the iPod in similar ways.
8. Learn Foreign Languages: iPods are becoming more commonplace in university classrooms, with students using them to record lectures, take notes, and even create electronic flash cards. (See in depth article here.) The gadgets are also being used to help students formally study music and learn foreign languages. Now, if you’re a regular Open Culture reader, you’ll know that you don’t need to be a university student to learn foreign languages with the help of an iPod. With the help of our podcasts collection, you can pick up most any language on your own.
9. Learn to Love and Buy Wine: Here’s a novel way to get introduced to wine. For $35, you can download an audio file called Mark Phillips Wine Guide onto your iPod. This primer will, among other things, teach you how to describe, taste, and buy wine, and you’ll come away with a certain je ne sais quoi.
10. Test Cheating: Yes, unfortunately technology can be used for bad as well as good. It was widely reported just this past week that students are apparently using the iPod to cheat on exams. During tests, they’ll apparently sneak earbuds into their ears and tap into valuable formulas, class notes, voices recordings, etc. Others will even write out crib notes and enmesh them within song lyrics.
Bonus: The iPod as Flashlight: During the major blackout in 2003, many New Yorkers improvised after nightfall and used the light generated by their iPods to get around their apartments. It was a makeshift way of doing things. But now there is a more formal way of using your iPod to light your way. For about $13, you can purchase Griffin’s iBeam, an attachment that will quickly turn your iPod into a combo flashlight and laser pointer. As they say, be prepared.
Authors@Google: Video Talks From the Epicenter of the Universe
| More good news for book fans: Google has launched a new collection of videos called Authors@Google. The videos feature talks by authors, writing across many genres (literary fiction to science fiction, sociology to technology, politics to business) who have made recent visits to Google campuses.You can access the talks via a new homepage, or just go immediately to the video archive itself. And there, you’ll find talks by Martin Amis (House of Meetings) and Jonathan Lethem (You Don’t Love Me Yet: A Novel), but also ones by Strobe Talbott, Bob & Lee Woodruff, Senator Hillary Clinton, and Carly Fiorina.To get a better feel for Authors@Google, we’ve included a clip below from Jonathan Lethem, who wrote Motherless Brooklyn, a favorite of mine that offers a truly unique, literary take on the traditional detective novel, and which always leaves me feeling a bit homesick for Brooklyn. For more information on Authors@Google, click here.Tell a Friend About Open Culture |
David Halberstam’s Last Speech and Supper
 As many know by now, David Halberstam, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, was killed in a car accidenton Monday just a few short miles from the Stanford campus. As the obits were all quick to point out, Halberstam made his name during an era that paralleled our own, during the Vietnam War. And he did it by reporting facts and truths about the war that inconveniently contradicted the rosy, disingenuous claims that were officially coming out of Washington. As The New York Times said about its former correspondent, “His dispatches infuriated American military commanders and policymakers in Washington, but they accurately reflected the realities on the ground.” Halberstam’s account of how America got it wrong in Vietnam were all famously recounted in 1972 bestseller The Best and the Brightest.
Halberstam spent this past Saturday night dinning in the company of fellow journalists from UC Berkeley, just after giving a speech (mp3 — transcript) at the university (see original event page here). On Wednesday, Radio Open Source (mp3) talked with Halberstam’s supper guests — Orville Schell, dean of the Berkeley graduate program in journalism; Mark Danner of The New York Review of Books; and Sandy Tolan of NPR — and they reconstructed their dinner conversations, which touched on the Iraq war, the comparative state of journalism during Vietnam and Iraq, and Halberstam’s sense of mortality following his heart attack last year. They also recalled Halberstam’s dogged approach to journalism and how he resisted the temptation to line up behind the government position during times of war, even when faced with the threat of being called unpatriotic. Of course, if you watched Bill Moyer’s PBS expose on Wednesday, you’ll know that we’re not seeing enough of this these days. Give this segment a listen (get mp3 here), and also spend some time watching the video clip below. Here, you get Halberstam reflecting on his days as a 28-year old reporter in Vietnam and the significant pressures that the American government brought to bear against him, all of which leaves you thinking — plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. |
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