Monday, August 10, 2009

Zeina Abirached

Interview with Zeina Abirached, a comic book artist who talks about her memories of growing up in war-torn Beirut, unaware that there was a western half of the city beyond the wall at the end of her street.
She reads letters sent between her mother and grandfather, between France and Lebanon during the war.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Michel Onfray

Michel Onfray's rapid-fire lecture style is hypnotic and captivating for the way he repeats each concept in three phrases using three alternate adjectives. This year's series of lectures is part of the series entitled "The Genius of Hedonism" and is devoted to the development of the idea of the "superman". I always think of Nietzsche when I hear the term, and never really understand quite what is meant. Nietzsche is present in these lectures, and Onfray promises more to come, but for the first sessions he focuses on the precursors to Nietzsche's superman. Six are devoted to Jean Louis Guyau.