THINGS OF BEAUTY p3: McWhorter / Anderson / Robin

My week has been spent in NYC cleaning and packing in 90 degree heat so there hasn’t been much time for sitting and reading. The following pieces of new media beauty brushed past my ears despite abnormal circumstances and gave me reason to pause and pay attention.

LAURIE ANDERSON IN CONVERSATION

Laurie Anderson in conversation with Neil Gaiman. Watching this interview felt like watching a relic from a bygone world. So much has changed and yet the conversation and ideas are incredibly meaningful.

John McWhorter CONVERSATIONS WITH TYLER

At some point in the hot, nasty week of packing, I decided I needed to exercise after a month of laziness. It was 5pm and 93 degrees. I ran south on riverside drive and was miserable every second of it. This podcast was the reason I stuck with it. Tyler Cowen (brilliant) interviewing John McWhorter (brilliant). I generally listen to every episode of this podcast immediately upon release, however, this particular conversation appeared on March 11th, 2020 just as the outbreak was ringing alarm bells. In the scramble to arrange an escape, I missed it. My loss. Anyway, despite my embarrassing level of fitness, I was able to complete the run because of this conversation, thereby making it beneficial to both my physical health and my mental mind. 

William Robin SOUND EXPERTISE

The first post I wrote linked to William’s post about blogging. William Robin is an American musicologist and writer. He was my camp counselor when I attended the Northwestern High School Music Institute and has been a long term intellectual inspiration, modeling both clarity and curiosity. This is the first episode of his new venture Sound Expertise, a podcast about musicologists and their ways of seeing and hearing. Excellent all around.