Vice Slang

Mar 2008

(46 min)

Tom Dalzell, author of “Vice Slang” discusses on slang.

Since 1983, Dalzell has devoted “a considerable portion” of his life to the study of American slang, and is recognized as a national expert. He has authored two books on slang, Flappers 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang (Merriam-Webster, 1996) and The Slang of Sin (Merriam-Webster, 1998). Dalzell is the senior editor of The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, a two-volume dictionary to be published by Routledge of London in 2005.

The Ten-Cent Plague

Mar 2008

(49 min)

Writer David Hajdu discusses his book “The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America.”

Authors@Google: Dr. John Medina

Apr 2008

(52 min)

Molecular biologist Dr. John Medina shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work:

Most of us have no idea what’s really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know–such as the brain’s need for physical activity to work at its best.

How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget–and so important to repeat new information? Is it true that men and women have different brains?

Authors@Google: Steve Ettlinger

Feb 2008

(58 min)

The author presents:

Like most Americans, Steve Ettlinger eats processed foods. And, like most consumers, he often reads the ingredients label—without a clue as to what most of it means. So when his young daughter asked, “Daddy, what’s polysorbate 60?” he was at a loss—and determined to find out.

From the phosphate mines in Idaho to the corn fields in Iowa, from gypsum mines in Oklahoma to the vanilla harvest in Madagascar, Twinkie, Deconstructed is a fascinating, thoroughly researched romp of a narrative that demystifies some of the most common processed food ingredients—where they come from, how they are made, how they are used—and why. Beginning at the source (hint: they’re often more closely linked to rock and petroleum than any of the four food groups), we follow each Twinkie ingredient through the process of being crushed, baked, fermented, refined, and/or reacted into a totally unrecognizable goo or powder with a strange name—all for the sake of creating a simple snack cake.

Authors@Google: Eric Abrahamson

Mar 2008

(50 min)

The professor of management at Columbia Business School discusses his book A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder.

Authors@Google: Laila Lalami

Mar 2008

(47 min)

The auther presents her book Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits.

Authors@Google: Sarah Murray

Mar 2008

(55 min)

Murray, a Financial Times contributor, takes a look at the literal journey of food through multilayered essays of the history of food transportation:

From the banana export business of Central America (which was rife with America’s economic gain and political manhandling) to the creation of the barrel (which revolutionized transcontinental trading and contributed a new dimension to the art of winemaking), the dozen chapters each start with a straightforward item-the shipping container, a tin can, a tub of yogurt, etc.-and delve into topics of greater significance like globalization, empire building, localized farming and food aid programs.

For example,

her essay on the amphora, a container used to carry olive oil throughout the ancient Roman Empire, not only depicts the social and economic importance of olive oil in Roman times but also leads into the contemporary debate of regional designation of origins for foods like Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese or Newcastle brown ale.

It was one of the not-yet-written-book-i-want-to-read.

Authors@Google: Garr Reynolds

Mar 2008 

 
(1 hr 12 min)

Of course i can use it: 

Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds, creator of the most popular Web site on presentation design and delivery on the net — presentationzen.com – shares his experience in a provocative mix of illumination, inspiration, education, and guidance that will change the way you think about making presentations with PowerPoint or Keynote.

But i can’t get a copy of the book…

Authors@Google: Rory Stewart

(50 min)

The author is such a crazy man…

In January 2002 Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan-surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. Along the way Stewart met heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders and foreign-aid workers. He was also adopted by an unexpected companion-a retired fighting mastiff he named Babur in honor of Afghanistan’s first Mughal emperor, in whose footsteps the pair was following. Through these encounters–by turns touching, confounding, surprising, and funny–Stewart makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance that shape life in the map’s countless places in between.

…that some day i wish to be.

Authors@Google: Sonja Lyubomirksy

Mar 2008

(39 min)

Sonja Lyubomirksy discusses her book “The How of Happiness: A Practical Guide to Getting the Life You Want.”