The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life

The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life

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HELEN WHYBROW
Writer · Shepherd · Organic Farmer

There are two ways that I measure diminishment in the natural world, a world we all have the ability to see and sense no matter where we live. The first is ecological: a loss of vitality, complexity and stability. This can be studied and measured, but it can also be perceived by simply listening and noticing. Nature has a voice that sings in different registers and in those registers you can hear health or struggle, presence or absence. The second way I measured diminishment is in the human experience-- loss of beauty, of meaning, of pattern language these also become more available to us as we watch and listen take in what surrounds us.  

Game Over: Metrics, Big Data & Why We Need to Stop Keeping Score w/ C. THI NGUYEN - Highlights

Game Over: Metrics, Big Data & Why We Need to Stop Keeping Score w/ C. THI NGUYEN - Highlights

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To be in the process of making things, to be in the process of talking to people about what things mean… The creative process is actually, I think, the most meaningful part of life, but it's very hard to measure. When we get shoved towards a world that demands easy measurables, it's very hard to optimize away from the creative process and optimize towards things that are more static.

 The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game with C. THI NGUYEN

 The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game with C. THI NGUYEN

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To be in the process of making things, to be in the process of talking to people about what things mean… The creative process is actually, I think, the most meaningful part of life, but it's very hard to measure. When we get shoved towards a world that demands easy measurables, it's very hard to optimize away from the creative process and optimize towards things that are more static.

Trust, Education & Writing as Resistance w/ AL KENNEDY - Highlights

Trust, Education & Writing as Resistance w/ AL KENNEDY - Highlights

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Author · Activist ·  Stand-Up Comedian AL KENNEDY · Author of Alive in the Merciful Country

The thing that puzzled him was why people don't agree to be fully expressed while they're alive. Why does it only happen in their last moment? Why wouldn't you live being fully expressed? If you have love, eventually you're going to win. It's not that people aren't going to die. It's not terrible things aren't going to happen. But if you stay with that and you stay centered in that, you'll get through and you will not have turned into a monster in order to overcome monsters.”

The Art of Fiction, Democracy & Truth with AL KENNEDY

The Art of Fiction, Democracy & Truth with AL KENNEDY

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Author · Activist ·  Stand-Up Comedian AL KENNEDY · Author of Alive in the Merciful Country

The thing that puzzled him was why people don't agree to be fully expressed while they're alive. Why does it only happen in their last moment? Why wouldn't you live being fully expressed? If you have love, eventually you're going to win. It's not that people aren't going to die. It's not terrible things aren't going to happen. But if you stay with that and you stay centered in that, you'll get through and you will not have turned into a monster in order to overcome monsters.”

SIRI HUSTVEDT on Love, Grief & Her Late Husband PAUL AUSTER - Highlights

SIRI HUSTVEDT on Love, Grief & Her Late Husband PAUL AUSTER - Highlights

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Author SIRI HUSTVEDT Remembers Her Late Husband, PAUL AUSTER

Grief happens because you don't stop loving the person who died. The person doesn't exist in your reality anymore. The everyday is not colored and shaped by this other human being, but you don't stop loving the person. So grief is a particular kind of unrequited love. And probably without that dynamic relationship with this person, I would be someone else. And he would've been someone else. I mean, Paul died before me. But we were, I think, hugely important to the drama of becoming in our own lives.

Ghost Stories · A Memoir of Love & Grief

Ghost Stories · A Memoir of Love & Grief

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Author SIRI HUSTVEDT Remembers Her Late Husband, PAUL AUSTER

Grief happens because you don't stop loving the person who died. The person doesn't exist in your reality anymore. The everyday is not colored and shaped by this other human being, but you don't stop loving the person. So grief is a particular kind of unrequited love. And probably without that dynamic relationship with this person, I would be someone else. And he would've been someone else. I mean, Paul died before me. But we were, I think, hugely important to the drama of becoming in our own lives.

Who Are We? What Makes Us Care? Jim Shepard, Neil Patrick Harris, John Patrick Shanley & Artists Share Their Stories

Who Are We? What Makes Us Care? Jim Shepard, Neil Patrick Harris, John Patrick Shanley & Artists Share Their Stories

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We explore the internal dialogues of artists and writers to ask what it means to step into someone else's shoes and expand our sense of solidarity through stories. Jim Shepard, Neil Patrick Harris, Katie Kitamura, Laura Eason, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Benoit Delhomme, Etgar Keret, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Adam Moss, John Patrick Shanley and Nicholas Kristof share their stories.

The Healing Power of the Arts: Longevity, Immunity & Wellbeing w/ DAISY FANCOURT - Highlights

The Healing Power of the Arts: Longevity, Immunity & Wellbeing w/ DAISY FANCOURT - Highlights

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DAISY FANCOURT · Author of Art Cure · Director of WHO Collaborating Centre on Arts & Health · Prof. Psychobiology & Epidemiology at UCL

Within society we seem to have separated the arts out, so they’re not so much a part of our daily lives. As I’ve become a mother and I have children now, it’s been really eye-opening to rediscover lots of arts things that I’d stopped doing in my own childhood. But now coming back to them I think probably the most meaningful one for me is one I describe in the book, which is about my younger daughter, Daphne, who was premature and unfortunately got incredibly ill with meningitis and was in intensive care when she was just a few days old.

ART CURE: How the Arts Can Transform Our Health with DAISY FANCOURT

ART CURE: How the Arts Can Transform Our Health with DAISY FANCOURT

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Author of Art Cure · Director of WHO Collaborating Centre on Arts & Health · Prof. Psychobiology & Epidemiology at UCL

Within society we seem to have separated the arts out, so they’re not so much a part of our daily lives. As I’ve become a mother and I have children now, it’s been really eye-opening to rediscover lots of arts things that I’d stopped doing in my own childhood. But now coming back to them I think probably the most meaningful one for me is one I describe in the book, which is about my younger daughter, Daphne, who was premature and unfortunately got incredibly ill with meningitis and was in intensive care when she was just a few days old.

The Wisdom of Nature: Artists & Scientists on The Beauty & Fragility of Our Planet

The Wisdom of Nature: Artists & Scientists on The Beauty & Fragility of Our Planet

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Artists & Scientists on The Beauty & Fragility of Our Planet

The Earth is talking. Are we listening? In this special edition, we hear from our guests from across the arts and sciences. From composers and poets to forest ecologists and climate envoys, they tell the story of our planet. Moving beyond the data of destruction, we explore the intelligence of nature, the ethics of what we eat, and the empathy required to save our future.

Speaking Out of Place - DAVID PALUMBO-LIU on Reclaiming Our Political Voices - Highlights

Speaking Out of Place - DAVID PALUMBO-LIU on Reclaiming Our Political Voices - Highlights

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Stanford Professor, Author & Host of Speaking Out of Place DAVID PALUMBO-LIU on the urgent need to reclaim our political voices and the forces that silence dissent

There is a dispute about what the American Dream is or how it would play out in different circumstances. The American dream has essentially been narrowed into a white Christian nationalist notion of things so that everything that falls outside what they imagine that to be is not only undesirable, but should be the subject of extermination, deportation, and detention. I am heartened by the fact that more of our 'better angels' are emerging with a more capacious and expansive notion of what the American dream could be.

Reclaiming the American Dream with DAVID PALUMBO-LIU – Stanford Professor, Author & Host, Speaking Out of Place

Reclaiming the American Dream with DAVID PALUMBO-LIU – Stanford Professor, Author & Host, Speaking Out of Place

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Stanford Professor, Author & Host of Speaking Out of Place DAVID PALUMBO-LIU on the urgent need to reclaim our political voices and the forces that silence dissent

There is a dispute about what the American Dream is or how it would play out in different circumstances. The American dream has essentially been narrowed into a white Christian nationalist notion of things so that everything that falls outside what they imagine that to be is not only undesirable, but should be the subject of extermination, deportation, and detention. I am heartened by the fact that more of our 'better angels' are emerging with a more capacious and expansive notion of what the American dream could be.

The Writer's Voice: Novelists, Poets, Memoirists & Editors Share Their Stories

The Writer's Voice: Novelists, Poets, Memoirists & Editors Share Their Stories

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VIET THANH NGUYEN, ADA LIMÓN, JAY PARINI, JERICHO BROWN & ADAM MOSS Share Their Stories

How do writers develop their voice? How are writing and the arts paths back to the self, showing us what is important in life?

Writers on Memory, Language & the Power of the Unconscious

Writers on Memory, Language & the Power of the Unconscious

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Katie Kitamura, Paul Lynch, Daniel Pearle, Hala Alyan, T.C. Boyle, Adam Alter, Shehan Karunatilaka, Daniel Handler a.k.a Lemony Snicket, and Ada Limón share their stories

How can we use negative spaces in fiction to engage with readers’ imaginations? How are memory and trauma passed onto us through language? How do we become more than the stories we tell ourselves?

The AI Wager: Betting on Technology’s Future w/ Philosopher, Author SVEN NYHOLM - Highlights

The AI Wager: Betting on Technology’s Future w/ Philosopher, Author SVEN NYHOLM - Highlights

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Conversation with SVEN NYHOLM, Prof. of Ethics of AI, LMU Munich · Lead Investigator, AI Ethics, Munich Center for Machine Learning · Author of Humans and Robots · The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

 I think we're betting on AI as something that can help to solve a lot of problems for us. It's the future, we think, whether it's producing text or art, or doing medical research or planning our lives for us, etc., the bet is that AI is going to be great, that it's going to get us everything we want and make everything better. But at the same time, we're gambling, at the extreme end, with the future of humanity  , hoping for the best and hoping that this, what I'm calling the AI wager, is going to work out to our advantage, but we'll see.

The Ethics of AI w/ SVEN NYHOLM, Lead Researcher, Munich Centre for Machine Learning

The Ethics of AI w/ SVEN NYHOLM, Lead Researcher, Munich Centre for Machine Learning

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Conversation with SVEN NYHOLM, Prof. of Ethics of AI, LMU Munich · Lead Investigator, AI Ethics, Munich Center for Machine Learning · Author of Humans and Robots · The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

 I think we're betting on AI as something that can help to solve a lot of problems for us. It's the future, we think, whether it's producing text or art, or doing medical research or planning our lives for us, etc., the bet is that AI is going to be great, that it's going to get us everything we want and make everything better. But at the same time, we're gambling, at the extreme end, with the future of humanity  , hoping for the best and hoping that this, what I'm calling the AI wager, is going to work out to our advantage, but we'll see.

BASQUIAT: The Price of Fame w/ Author DOUG WOODHAM - Highlights

BASQUIAT: The Price of Fame w/ Author DOUG WOODHAM - Highlights

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A Conversation with Author DOUG WOODHAM
Managing Partner, Art Fiduciary Partners

All of the great artists are there for a reason: because they rebelled in some way. They created a visual vocabulary that felt fresh and new, which excited people. So, the great artists are not built on sort of anthills of sand. They're built on things of substance and of meaning. Though this is not a sufficient condition to become an icon, it's a necessary but not sufficient condition. I think you have to have an interesting and vivid personality or personal narrative that makes you interesting for people to talk about and want to learn about. I think you also have to have a support network of galleries, curators, and collectors who are excited about your work and want to push it forward, not wanting it to be forgotten. Basquiat's visual vocabulary is distinctive and stands out relative to what was being done in the 1980s. That's the sort of strong hill on which his reputation is built. Basquiat benefited from being the first black artist of note who got pushed forward. As in many things, the first benefits.

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: The Making of an Icon with DOUG WOODHAM, Fmr. President of Christie's Americas

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: The Making of an Icon with DOUG WOODHAM, Fmr. President of Christie's Americas

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A Conversation with Author DOUG WOODHAM
Fmr. President of the Americas at Christie’s · Managing Partner, Art Fiduciary Partners

All of the great artists are there for a reason: because they rebelled in some way. They created a visual vocabulary that felt fresh and new, which excited people. So, the great artists are not built on sort of anthills of sand. They're built on things of substance and of meaning. Though this is not a sufficient condition to become an icon, it's a necessary but not sufficient condition. I think you have to have an interesting and vivid personality or personal narrative that makes you interesting for people to talk about and want to learn about. I think you also have to have a support network of galleries, curators, and collectors who are excited about your work and want to push it forward, not wanting it to be forgotten. Basquiat's visual vocabulary is distinctive and stands out relative to what was being done in the 1980s. That's the sort of strong hill on which his reputation is built. Basquiat benefited from being the first black artist of note who got pushed forward. As in many things, the first benefits.

On Mind Games, Power & Obsession - Showrunner HOWARD GORDON & Writer DANIEL PEARLE - Highlights

On Mind Games, Power & Obsession - Showrunner HOWARD GORDON & Writer DANIEL PEARLE - Highlights

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Starring CLAIRE DANES & MATTHEW RHYS
A Conversation with Showrunner, Exec. Producer HOWARD GORDON & Exec. Producer Writer DANIEL PEARLE

And I think there's also just something about an unfettered or uncensored id that is so captivating. We all have that fantasy of doing exactly what we want with no consequences and sort of letting that go. I think when you see an athlete at the peak of their game, doing that embodied thing and living that dream, or when someone has actually done horrible things that you would never allow yourself to do, there is a fascination there. I had one teacher who said, "Anyone who drives you crazy or that you just cannot stand in life, put them in a play or put them in a scene, and the audience will love them." If someone has really gotten under your skin and you just cannot stand them, and you have a visceral reaction—like, "I just hate this person"—make them a character, and the audience will make them everyone's favorite character. There is something to that.