Want the quick overview of what Apple has in the pipeline for ’08? Here it is:
The Second Amendment: Does It Really Let You Bear Arms?
What does the Second Amendment mean? It’s something that the Supreme Court has never really said. In this hour long video, Cass Sunstein, a very well known law professor from the University of Chicago, takes a crack at interpreting this amendment and seeing whether its original meaning actually confers the right to bear arms. Originalists/conservatives probably won’t like his conclusions, and they may be inclined to dismiss this as a talk given by another liberal elitist. But they should keep in mind that Sunstein actually saw the Bush administration’s wiretapping as having a plausible legal basis, and he’s had anything but a harsh assessment of John Roberts’ track record as a judge.
This talk was recorded on October 23, 2007.
Jimi Hendrix Vintage Footage
Astoundingly good footage of Hendrix playing Voodoo Chile live. The date is 1969, in London. (Video is added to our YouTube Playlist.)
Resolving the Omnivore’s Dilemma: Pollan’s New Book
Coming off of the runaway success of Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan has just published a logical sequel — In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. His new book tells us what to eat, what not to eat, and how to stay healthy. Generally speaking, his advice can be boiled down to a few words: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” But there is obviously much more to it than that. To fill in the gaps, you can buy the book or listen to two recent interviews with Pollan:
1.) The Leonard Lopate Show (January 9) : MP3 – iTunes – Feed – Web Site
2.) Science Friday (January 4): MP3 – iTunes – Feed – Web Site
Central Intelligence: From Ants to the Web
Sometimes order seemingly comes out of nowhere. It just materializes. It happens in ant colonies, in cities, on the web, in the brain. This episode of Radio Lab (MP3 – iTunes – Feed) takes a fascinating look at how groups organize and direct themselves without the help of a leader, or some kind of central command. The show includes conversations with biologist E.O. Wilson, economist James Surowiecki, and neurologists Oliver Sacks and Christof Koch. Also included in the mix is Deborah Gordon, a Stanford professor who has spent years studying ants, which are individually incompetent but do remarkably complex things as colonies. There’s more to ants than you’d first think, so we’ve also included below Deborah Gordon’s presentation at the TED Talks conference. It’s called “How Do Ants Know What to Do?” And it’s added to our YouTube Playlist.
The Long Shadow of Henry Kissinger
Although he hasn’t served in government for more than 30 years, Henry Kissinger still exercises more power internationally than Jimmy Carter, George HW Bush and Bill Clinton combined. That’s a strong claim, and it comes from Professor Jeremi Suri, who has a new book out on the former Secretary of State. In a wide-ranging and fast moving conversation (MP3 – iTunes – Feed), Suri talks about Kissinger’s legacy and how his realpolitik foreign policy shapes American decision making down to this very day.
Open Sourcing Congress
The truism goes that laws and sausages are the two things you don’t want to see being made. Nevertheless, if more of us paid attention to what our congressional representatives are really up to (and let them know when they screw up), we’d probably be a little happier with how the system works overall. Two thirds of Americans think we’re on the wrong track (if recent polls are to be believed), and with the presidential elections coming up there’s no better time to start paying attention.
All that’s a long run-up to mentioning a new website initiative called Open Congress designed to help the average citizen figure out what the heck is going on in Washington. Track representatives and bills that you’re interested in; interact with other users who share your concerns; sort through data by issue or industry. It just got a little easier to make your vote count.
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Open Culture scours the web for the best educational media. We find the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & educational videos you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between.
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