Post by Bubbles_Few on Oct 21, 2008 7:39:36 GMT -8
I'm starting this thread so that we can exchange media resources we've found valuable. I don't expect everyone will find everyone's tastes meet theirs perfectly, but I'll bet we do find "channels," where we find we're in pretty tight alignment with a few people here. (I'll start a different thread to recommend art, like CD's, bands, TV shows and movies. This one will be strictly for information.)
I'll kick it off with the following recommendations for those who enjoy expanding their mind with new and sometimes challenging or even uncomfortable ideas:
www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/
Top Gear. From the BBC. The best car show in the world. They make two versions--one on cars we can actually buy, and another on exotics and supercars. They're the only show that's allowed to thrash the hell out of million dollar cars. Very funny too. Every episode includes doing something like filling a Renaut with rockets and shooting it off a ski jump, or hanging travel trailers from cranes and swinging them into each other like wrecking balls.
www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm
Consumer Reports Magazine. Non profit, with no advertising and bona fide experts doing the testing. They're very rarely wrong, and when they are, they're the first ones to let you know.
www.cbc.ca/spark/
Spark. Brilliant technology program produced through CBC radio. Very intelligent, very well researched and the stories are very much about the intersection between technology and humanism. For any techie, it's hard not to like.
www.cbc.ca/ideas/
Ideas. A CBC radio documentary series that is considered one of the best in the world. Every week I might hear one show that doesn't interest me, but most are thoroughly fascinating. They talk to the world's leading experts on everything from technology to medical ethics to spirituality. Like with all CBC Radio shows, you can download podcasts for listening at your leisure.
www.cbc.ca/quirks/
Quirks and Quarks. Bob McDonald's excellent science program on CBC radio. Want to hear about a woman who's slowed light down? Or how there's an insect that can launch itself at such a speed it experiences 14,000 G's? This is the show.
slate.com/
Slate Magazine. A mixture of commentators from all over the spectrum. Remarkably well written.
harpers.org/
Harper's Magazine. Definitely skews to what some call the "left," but I believe this is as unfair as saying Jon Stewart's Daily Show does. These are people against hypocrisy, not any given side. It's 120+ years old and exists on grants from several foundations, so they're not influenced by advertisers like I know from direct personal experience, that most outlets are, even if they wish they weren't.
www.thecorporation.com/
The Corporation. A documentary film about companies and why people should stop whining about them. It explains the history of corporations, how they function, and what directions--bad and good--that many take within their paradigm. It's won a ton of awards.
www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/
Why We Fight. Brilliant documentary that won the Peabody (one of, if not the, highest award in journalism).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fog_of_War
Fog of War. A film about Robert McNamara, the Donald Rumsfeld of the Vietnam war. Described as super-intelligent by even his detractors, McNamara was too sure of himself in his younger years and this Academy Award Winning documentary documents his new rules for engagement. For a talking head doc, it's stunningly captivating. Never met a person who wasn't moved by parts of it, particularly when it discusses the consequences Japan faced for entering the WWII.
www.neilpostman.org/
Amusing Ourselves to Death. Considered one of the seminal books on TV media, Postman was a brilliant thinker on a variety of subjects, which is why I've used the link to his org site--it also lists his other works, which are equally well-thought out and argued. His books on education and his collection of essays on how governments use language to sell dangerous ideas to their citizens are favourites of mine. While these books carry no real political leanings, they intend to make us less vulnerable to others manipulations. As a writer, I'm uncomfortably aware of how powerful the choice of words are in influencing what we believe.
www.hbo.com/billmaher/new_rules/
New Rules. Bill Maher's attack on everything illogical. Right, left, he doesn't care. A crazy indefensible idea gets exposed no matter who's espousing it. Funny and telling, whether he's reminding people that renaming "French Fries," in to "Freedom Fries" is ridiculous, or that having a tattoo in Japanese doesn't make you spiritual.
I'm sure there's more, but that's a decent list of things that caused me to change my mind on a variety of subjects. I hope some of you can steer me to even more resources that can help me use logic and reason to test my current ideas in order that I can get rid of the ones that can be illustrated to be false, foolish or short-sighted.
peace. bubs
I'll kick it off with the following recommendations for those who enjoy expanding their mind with new and sometimes challenging or even uncomfortable ideas:
www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/
Top Gear. From the BBC. The best car show in the world. They make two versions--one on cars we can actually buy, and another on exotics and supercars. They're the only show that's allowed to thrash the hell out of million dollar cars. Very funny too. Every episode includes doing something like filling a Renaut with rockets and shooting it off a ski jump, or hanging travel trailers from cranes and swinging them into each other like wrecking balls.
www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm
Consumer Reports Magazine. Non profit, with no advertising and bona fide experts doing the testing. They're very rarely wrong, and when they are, they're the first ones to let you know.
www.cbc.ca/spark/
Spark. Brilliant technology program produced through CBC radio. Very intelligent, very well researched and the stories are very much about the intersection between technology and humanism. For any techie, it's hard not to like.
www.cbc.ca/ideas/
Ideas. A CBC radio documentary series that is considered one of the best in the world. Every week I might hear one show that doesn't interest me, but most are thoroughly fascinating. They talk to the world's leading experts on everything from technology to medical ethics to spirituality. Like with all CBC Radio shows, you can download podcasts for listening at your leisure.
www.cbc.ca/quirks/
Quirks and Quarks. Bob McDonald's excellent science program on CBC radio. Want to hear about a woman who's slowed light down? Or how there's an insect that can launch itself at such a speed it experiences 14,000 G's? This is the show.
slate.com/
Slate Magazine. A mixture of commentators from all over the spectrum. Remarkably well written.
harpers.org/
Harper's Magazine. Definitely skews to what some call the "left," but I believe this is as unfair as saying Jon Stewart's Daily Show does. These are people against hypocrisy, not any given side. It's 120+ years old and exists on grants from several foundations, so they're not influenced by advertisers like I know from direct personal experience, that most outlets are, even if they wish they weren't.
www.thecorporation.com/
The Corporation. A documentary film about companies and why people should stop whining about them. It explains the history of corporations, how they function, and what directions--bad and good--that many take within their paradigm. It's won a ton of awards.
www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/
Why We Fight. Brilliant documentary that won the Peabody (one of, if not the, highest award in journalism).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fog_of_War
Fog of War. A film about Robert McNamara, the Donald Rumsfeld of the Vietnam war. Described as super-intelligent by even his detractors, McNamara was too sure of himself in his younger years and this Academy Award Winning documentary documents his new rules for engagement. For a talking head doc, it's stunningly captivating. Never met a person who wasn't moved by parts of it, particularly when it discusses the consequences Japan faced for entering the WWII.
www.neilpostman.org/
Amusing Ourselves to Death. Considered one of the seminal books on TV media, Postman was a brilliant thinker on a variety of subjects, which is why I've used the link to his org site--it also lists his other works, which are equally well-thought out and argued. His books on education and his collection of essays on how governments use language to sell dangerous ideas to their citizens are favourites of mine. While these books carry no real political leanings, they intend to make us less vulnerable to others manipulations. As a writer, I'm uncomfortably aware of how powerful the choice of words are in influencing what we believe.
www.hbo.com/billmaher/new_rules/
New Rules. Bill Maher's attack on everything illogical. Right, left, he doesn't care. A crazy indefensible idea gets exposed no matter who's espousing it. Funny and telling, whether he's reminding people that renaming "French Fries," in to "Freedom Fries" is ridiculous, or that having a tattoo in Japanese doesn't make you spiritual.
I'm sure there's more, but that's a decent list of things that caused me to change my mind on a variety of subjects. I hope some of you can steer me to even more resources that can help me use logic and reason to test my current ideas in order that I can get rid of the ones that can be illustrated to be false, foolish or short-sighted.
peace. bubs