Obama Does Stand Up Comedy
From last night’s White House CorÂreÂsponÂdents’ DinÂner. (Also get WanÂda Sykes’ standup appearÂance here. Rather funÂny.)
These clips come from CSPAN’s YouTube ChanÂnel, which is includÂed in our IntelÂliÂgent YouTube Video ColÂlecÂtion
Jon Stewart on the Relevance of Cultural Magazines
| The DaiÂly Show With Jon StewÂart | M — Th 11p / 10c | |||
| We Don’t TorÂture | ||||
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Here’s Jon StewÂart talkÂing MonÂday night about the revÂeÂlaÂtion that AmerÂiÂca’s “extreme interÂroÂgaÂtion” techÂniques actuÂalÂly amount to torÂture. SomeÂhow he manÂages to work The New York Review of Books, The Paris Review, McSweeney’s and The Utne ReadÂer into the disÂcusÂsion. You’ll find it about 4 minÂutes in. PretÂty funÂny stuff, although the comÂmenÂtary is sad when you get right down to it.
On a more seriÂous note, Rahm Emanuel (highÂlightÂed in the video above) was almost cerÂtainÂly refÂerÂencÂing excelÂlent Mark DanÂner’s work in the NYRB, which you can find here.
The direct link to the StewÂart video can be found here.
Talent = 10,000 Hours + Luck
Take MalÂcolm GladÂwell’s new book, OutÂliers: The StoÂry of SucÂcess. Boil it down. Make it funÂny. And here you have our next video proÂduced by KirÂby FerÂguÂson. NB that there are a few words sprinÂkled in that won’t be safe for work (unless you work in a speÂcial kind of place).
David Sedaris Reads “Of Mice and Men”
David Sedaris fans, this is a quick one for you. Here, Sedaris reads from his newish book, When You are Engulfed in Flames. The stoÂry is called “Of Mice and Men” (his stoÂry, not SteinÂbeckÂ’s), and you can lisÂten to it here or via iTunes.
And just for good meaÂsure, I’m throwÂing in a pretÂty good Sedaris imperÂsonÂation. Call it “David Sedaris DelivÂers a PizÂza.”
Prague’s Franz Kafka International Named World’s Most Alienating Airport
A funÂny litÂtle piece from The Onion. Thanks to JB for sendÂing this along. Keep sendÂing us good items @openculture on TwitÂter, or via email at ma**@******re.com
Woody Allen’s Existential Lobster Bit
Woody Allen has a new comÂic piece in The New YorkÂer that weaves togethÂer lobÂsters, exisÂtenÂtialÂism and Bernie MadÂoff. It starts:
Two weeks ago, Abe Moscowitz dropped dead of a heart attack and was reinÂcarÂnatÂed as a lobÂster. Trapped off the coast of Maine, he was shipped to ManÂhatÂtan and dumped into a tank at a posh Upper East Side seafood restauÂrant. In the tank there were sevÂerÂal othÂer lobÂsters, one of whom recÂogÂnized him. “Abe, is that you?” the creaÂture asked, his antenÂnae perkÂing up “Who’s that? Who’s talkÂing to me?” Moscowitz said, still dazed by the mysÂtiÂcal slam-bang postÂmortem that had transÂmoÂgriÂfied him into a crusÂtacean. “It’s me, Moe SilÂverÂman,” the othÂer lobÂster said. “O.M.G.!” Moscowitz piped, recÂogÂnizÂing the voice of an old gin-rumÂmy colÂleague. “What’s going on?” “We’re reborn,” Moe explained. “As a couÂple of two-pounders.”.
Get the rest of the joke here.
Stephen Colbert’s History Lesson: Bring Angry Mob to AIG
CourÂtesy of Stephen ColÂbert, we get a litÂtle hisÂtoÂry lesÂson that reminds us how we fixed probÂlems once upon a time in AmerÂiÂca. Get the full episode here.
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