So if I'm thinking about this talk, I'm wondering, of course, what is it you take away from this talk? What story do you take away from Tyler Cowen? One story you might take away is the story of the quest. "Tyler came here, and he told us not to think so much in terms of stories." That would be a story you could tell about this talk. It would fit a pretty well-known pattern. You might remember it. You could tell it to other people. "This weird guy came, and he said not to think in terms of stories. Let me tell you what happened today!" and you tell your story. Another possibility is you might tell a story of rebirth. You might say, "I used to think too much in terms of stories, but then I heard Tyler Cowen, and now I think less in terms of stories!" That too, is a narrative you will remember, you can tell to other people, and it may stick. You also could tell a story of deep tragedy. "This guy Tyler Cowen came and he told us not to think in terms of stories, but all he could do was tell us stories about how other people think too much in terms of stories."
Tyler Cowen's TED talk on the danger of storytelling. (transcript
here)
posted by storybored
on Dec 26, 2011 -
50 comments
Proust is a way for you and your family to share and preserve your stories, one question at a time.
The site takes its name from the
Proust Questionnaire. Stories can be viewed in several different ways and be set as private or
public.
posted by unliteral
on Jul 19, 2011 -
17 comments
One day in 1984 character actor
Stephen Tobolowsky (
Groundhog Day, the original, unaired pilot of
Buffy The Vampire Slayer) was walking down the street when
Jonathan Demme pulled up and asked if he wanted to see a movie he was finishing. Tobolowsky accepted: taking his girlfriend
Beth Henley, they went to the
Academy Linwood Dunn Theatre to watch the rough cut of the movie,
Stop Making Sense. The audience in the otherwise empty theatre consisted of
Tobolowsky, Henley, and Demme, along with members of
Talking Heads, including
David Byrne and
Tina Weymouth. Later,
Byrne passed
Tobolowsky on his
bike and asked if he wanted to work on a
new movie. Interest sparked again, and during the ensuing collaboration Tobolowsky shared his past experience of psychic phenomena. Inspired, Byrne went on to write
Radio Head. The song was heard by
Thom Yorke and became the name of his
band. All of this is a true story, based on
puzzling evidence.
[more inside]
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul
on Jul 17, 2011 -
46 comments
Hobo Lobo of Hamelin is a thing by a dude, who’s all like, “I’m Gonna Make a Thing.” And then he did. Or is doing. Or, you know, whatever. This dude can be found on the internet. He websites to put food on his family. A wonderfully crafted and designed illustrated book for the digital age.
posted by netbros
on Jul 2, 2011 -
26 comments
Leslie Slape has been a professional storyteller for more than 20 years. This column will feature some of her favorite short folktales from around the world. Come on, snuggle up in the rocking chair, and get ready for a story. [more inside]
posted by infini
on May 30, 2011 -
8 comments
I don't watch American Idol. I'm not even remotely interested. But I did happen across
this clip of barista Chris Medina, who impressed me less with his singing during his audition (which is great) than with his heart (SLYT; 4.55). Excuse me, but I've got something in my eye.
posted by bwg
on Jan 29, 2011 -
85 comments
"He sits at a table and spins his yarn, his only requisites being a small stick, the so-called 'wakening-rod' xingmu (in Yangzhou storytelling called 'talking stopper' zhiyu), a handkerchief and a fan."
A comprehensive guide to the art and tradition of
Chinese Storytelling — with photographs, text, audio and video clips illustrating elements of performance.
posted by unliteral
on Sep 21, 2010 -
3 comments
TV and Parables of Our Times: Speaking of Faith ( a weekly radio program about "religion, meaning, ethics, and ideas") looks at how tv deals with issues in contemporary life. A link to the main episode (MP3) is on the page along with various support media.
posted by Brandon Blatcher
on Nov 18, 2009 -
6 comments
They were in the stairwell that led down to the commode, a dangerous place in its time, the Grand Central Station Men’s, but for different reasons. I saw the dirt tracks leading there, and I left the monkeys in the chandelier and followed them. I kept to the tracks careful as I could. There were pits and corrugations everywhere in the old tile, any one of which could hide a man killing gob of explosive. At my back I heard Spot complain: “Leave ‘em be, Blacks. We’ve warned ‘em, ain’t we? If they blow themselves up, it ain’t on us.”
UXO, BOMB DOG by Eliot Fintushel (single-link short fiction)
posted by grobstein
on Jun 15, 2009 -
15 comments
Real time Dracula "
Experience Bram Stoker's Dracula in a new way -- in real time. Dracula is an epistolary novel (a novel written as a series of letters or diary entries,)" Whitney Sorrow is posting each entry in real time starting on
May 3rd the date of the first diary entry.
[via]
posted by Mitheral
on May 4, 2009 -
27 comments
Make this Christmas special. Spend it in
Ralphie's house! Bunny suit and Lifebuoy soap included. For an extra fee, the owner will convince you to lick a metal pole and then shoot your eye out.
[more inside]
posted by miss lynnster
on Nov 17, 2008 -
41 comments
Jerry Clower (
Wikipedia article) started telling his funny stories to boost sales when he was a seed and fertilizer salesman. He went on to become a successful comedian and Grand Ole Opry star.
[more inside]
posted by Daddy-O
on Aug 7, 2008 -
16 comments
Kajima's floor-by-floor slow demolition is one of those rare things in life that leaves you truly speechless....After all, seeing the video of a 20-floor building submerging into the asphalt as if it was liquid is something that belongs to a sci-fi movie. [more inside]
posted by Pater Aletheias
on Jul 15, 2008 -
30 comments
In 1974 - or 1976, depending who you ask -
Armistead Maupin began writing "an extended love letter to a magical San Francisco” in the form of a serialized, fictional drama published originally in the Pacific Sun, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner, originally called
"The Serial" which then became collectively known as
Tales of The City.
It is a suprisingly beautiful, deep, emotional, cosmopolitan and
lasting tale about life in San Francisco in the turbulent, heady days of the 1970s and 1980s.
Widely credited with and cherished for helping spread a little of the openess, tolerance and acceptance that San Francisco is now famous for. It then became a series of books -
Tales of the City,
More Tales of the City,
Further Tales of the City,
Babycakes,
Significant Others,
Sure of You - and lastly, the spin-off tale of
Michael Tolliver Lives. Almost exactly twenty years after first publishing, it then became
an excellent miniseries from the United Kingdom's Channel 4, which
aired in the United States on PBS, but not without
protest or limitations.
[more inside]
posted by loquacious
on May 4, 2008 -
39 comments
Over 2000 classic tales and fables including
Aesop's Fables,
Bulfinch's Mythology,
Indian "Why" Stories, tales by
Oscar Wilde,
Beatrix Potter,
Rudyard Kipling,
Louisa May Alcott,
L. Frank Baum and
Harriet Beecher Stowe and stories about
Abraham Lincoln,
Robin Hood and
Baron Munchausen. And more! The
folk and fairytale collection is particularly rich, with hundreds of stories from all over the world.
posted by Kattullus
on Apr 1, 2008 -
15 comments
Best Story Ever is a series of clips featuring various celebrities --
Henry Rollins,
Lewis Black,
Dee Snider,
Chuck D,
Ron Jeremy,
Bret "The Hitman" Hart, and many more -- telling their best stories. Some are lame, some are funny. But hey, what's your best story ever?
(It can't be lamer than Alan Thicke's, can it?)
posted by cog_nate
on Mar 31, 2008 -
63 comments
