Five minutes with...

November 20, 2010 11:39 AM

Five minutes with AC Grayling, Alain de Botton, Brian Cox and Sir Terry Pratchett.
posted by philipy (8 comments total)

I could listen to Alain de Botton forever! But I'll take 5 minutes where I can get it. Thanks.
posted by bluestocking at 11:52 AM on November 20, 2010 [2 favorites]

Don't you mean 20 minutes with...?
posted by Catblack at 1:05 PM on November 20, 2010

AC Grayling is the kiddie.
posted by Decani at 1:45 PM on November 20, 2010

STP's sword made of meteorite.
posted by hortense at 7:22 PM on November 20, 2010

Thanks for this. 5 minutes with Terry Pratchett are better than a kick in the shin.
posted by irisclara at 9:49 PM on November 20, 2010

The one with Alain de Botton made two interesting points. Which is not bad for 5 minutes of talking.
How he doesn't want his children to become intellectuals. Since according to him that is a way of coping with fear.
And how he's interested in the philosophy that touches on self-help. As he rightly mentions; a pejorative term (among intellectuals).
posted by joost de vries at 11:36 AM on November 21, 2010

Wow - these are all great but Alain de Botton is always a favourite for me. His notion of intellectualising as a response to disturbance resonates.
posted by honey-barbara at 5:25 AM on November 22, 2010

What I love about these "5 minutes with..." interviews is how they manage to get the essence of a person and several of their most interesting ideas across in such a short time.

There's plenty more good ones on the original site, but I limited the post to four that seemed to complement each other nicely.
posted by philipy at 3:41 PM on November 22, 2010