Neil Gaiman

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Dressed in black and based in the US, Neil Gaiman has, in the past decade, become an author hero among readers of all ages, including the 1.8 million who follow him on Twitter. In prize-winning, best-selling novels including Coraline, Neverwhere, American Gods and The Graveyard Book, he combines the everyday and the other-worldly, drawing on sources from English folklore, science fiction, fantasy, horror and fairytales to rock music and the Midrash. An element of enchantment runs through all his work. To mark the publication of The Ocean at the End of the Lane, an unsettling and very personal fable about memory, magic and survival, he is making one public appearance in London. Interviewed by the Guardian's literary editor, Claire Armitstead, he reflects on the boundaries between children's and adult literature; the appeal of working in multiple forms - such as comics, picture books and screenplays; the writers - from Kipling to Edgar Allan Poe - who have most influenced him; and the lure of darkness.

The Guardian  is media partner for this event.

Neil Gaiman in conversation with Claire Armitstead: June 2013

Background, poem text, and context: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/08/09/charles-bukowski-reads-friendly-advice-to-a-lot-of-young-men/

Charles Bukowski reads his "Friendly Advice To A Lot Of Young Men"

Excerpt from https://soundcloud.com/designmatters/interactionofcolor

Background, context, and discussion <a href="http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/08/16/interaction-of-color-josef-albers-50th-anniversary/">here</a>.

Josef Albers on education as discovery

Josef Albers and unlocking the magic of color

Background and context: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/22/chip-kidd-go-book

Excerpted from https://soundcloud.com/designmatters

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Chip Kidd on kissing Neil Gaiman at Comic Con

The legendary graphic designer discusses his new primer for kids, GO: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/10/22/chip-kidd-go-book

Excerpted from https://soundcloud.com/designmatters

Chip Kidd how design shapes everything

Chip Kidd on how the speed bump embodies the problem-solving genius of design

Neil Gaiman tells a heartwarming anecdote about the night before his wedding to Amanda Palmer: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/11/25/neil-gaiman-bachelor-party/

Neil Gaiman on his bachelor party

Background, transcript, highlights, and discussion here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/02/10/the-project-of-literature-susan-sontag-92y/

Recorded live at the https://soundcloud.com/92y

Audio exclusively available courtesy of the 92Y Unterberg Poetry Center and the Susan Sontag estate. 

TRANSCRIPT / DETAILS

The Project of Literature: Susan Sontag at 92Y (April 16, 1992)

Transcript, context, and related artwork: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/02/17/dfw-leadership-debbie-millman/

David Foster Wallace on leadership, read by Debbie Millman

Many of the most beautiful books to have been designed in recent years are the work of designer Irma Boom. Born in Lochem, the Netherlands in 1960, Boom has won international acclaim for the iconoclastic beauty of her books. Boom attended the AKI Art Academy in Enschede, Netherlands, where she studied graphic design. She then worked at the Dutch Government Publishing and Printing Office in The Hague for five years before founding Irma Boom Office in Amsterdam in 1991. She works both nationally and internationally in the cultural and commercial sectors; her clients include the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Wiel Arets, Chanel, Paul Fentener van Vlissingen, Inside Outside, Museum Boijmans, Zumtobel, Ferrari, Vitra, NAi Publishers, and Camper. Since 1992 she has been a critic at Yale University in the USA, and has both lectured and given workshops worldwide. Her work has received many awards, and she is the youngest person to have ever been honored with a Gutenberg Prize.

Design Matters with Debbie Millman: Irma Boom

Recorded at the Books at Noon program at The New York Public Library. Details and transcript: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/05/19/eve-ensler-nypl/

Subscribe to the Books at Noon podcast here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-york-public-library-podcast/id804982781?mt=2

Eve Ensler on how trauma makes us disconnect from ourselves

Seth Godin in conversation with Debbie Millman about courage, anxiety, change, creative integrity,  how to dance with the fear, and more. Background and transcribed highlights: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/05/20/seth-godin-debbie-millman-interview/

Seth Godin in conversation with Debbie Millman

Neil Gaiman discusses three upcoming @HarperAudio_US titles: THE TRUTH IS A CAVE IN THE BLACK MOUNTAINS (on-sale: June 17, 2014), CHU'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL (on-sale: June 24, 2014), and the full cast audio edition of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK (on-sale: September 30, 2014) with Senior Producer Caitlin Garing. This episode also includes audiobook excerpts performed by Neil Gaiman.

About The Books

THE TRUTH IS A CAVE IN THE BLACK MOUNTAINS

You ask me if I can forgive myself? I can forgive myself...

And so begins The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains, a haunting story of family, the otherworld, and a search for hidden treasure. This audiobook is brought to vivid life by the characters and landscape of Gaiman’s award-winning story. In this volume, the talents and vision of two great creative geniuses come together in a glorious explosion of color and shadow, memory and regret, vengeance and, ultimately, love.

...for many things. For where I left him. For what I did.

Buy Link: http://www.harpercollins.com/9780062362247/the-truth-is-a-cave-in-the-black-mountains-cd

CHU'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

It is Chu's first day of school. Chu is nervous.

He hopes the other boys and girls will be nice. Will they like him?

What will happen at school today?

Will Chu do what Chu does best?

Buy Link: http://www.harpercollins.com/9780062355539/chus-first-day-of-school

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK (Full Cast Production)

Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except he lives in a sprawling graveyard and has been raised since infancy by ghosts and a guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead. There are adventures in a graveyard for a boy—an ancient Indigo Man, a gateway to the abandoned city of ghouls, and the strange and terrible Sleer. There are dangers though too, and if Bod leaves the graveyard, he may fall prey to the man Jack, who has already murdered Bod’s entire family. 

Inventive, chilling, and magical, Neil Gaiman’s Newbery winning and bestselling Graveyard Book is an a classic in the making. 

This special audiobook features a stunning full cast rendition of the beloved story. 

Buy Link: http://www.harpercollins.com/9780062364463/the-graveyard-book-cd

A conversation with cognitive scientist Alexandra Horowitz, author of On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes (http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/08/12/on-looking-eleven-walks-with-expert-eyes/). 

Transcript and details here: http://brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/06/27/on-looking-alexandra-horowitz-interview/

Recorded for The Dish Book Club: http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/category/book-club/

Produced by Chas Danner / The Dish

On Looking: Maria Popova in conversation with Alexandra Horowitz

IKEA hacking is the practice of buying things from IKEA and reengineering—or "hacking"—them to become customized, more functional, and often just better designed stuff. The locus of the IKEA hacking movement is a website called IKEAhackers.net. It’s a showcase for people who have tricked out their KALLAXES, their ARKELSTORPS and their FLÄRDFULLS .
Would-be hackers can gather tips from other hackers, and once they're ready, post pictures and how-to guides of their own hacks.
Producer Sean Cole spoke with Jules Yap of IKEAhackers.net, and academics Daniela Rosner and Jonathan Bean (the latter of whom helped him hack an IKEA storage-bed out of KALLAX bookcases and some doors that can be found at any  big-box home improvement store).

99% Invisible-128- Hacking IKEA

Bill Nye reads from his book, Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation. Transcript and richer context here: http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/11/06/bill-nye-undeniable-evolution-creation/

Photograph by Brandon Hill: http://brandonhillphotos.com/billnye

TRANSCRIPT / MORE

Bill Nye on creationism and evolution

Acclaimed author Neil Gaiman performs a memorable dramatic reading from NYPL’s own rare copy of "A Christmas Carol," which includes edits and prompts Charles Dickens wrote in his own hand for his unique public readings 150 years ago. Dressed in full costume and joined by writer and BBC researcher Molly Oldfield, Gaiman performs the classic tale as its great author intended.

Neil Gaiman Reads "A Christmas Carol"

Annotations and transcribed highlights: http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/06/16/neil-gaiman-how-stories-last

Recorded at the Long Now Foundation (http://longnow.org/) on June 9, 2015. 

Follow @https://soundcloud.com/longnow and subscribe to the podcast of their excellent seminars on long-term thinking on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/seminars-about-long-term-thinking/id186908455?mt=2

MORE / TRANSCRIPT

Neil Gaiman on how stories last

To read Neil's blog - "Ray Bradbury" - from 2012.06.06, visit http://bit.ly/ngjRAY1
To read his blog - "Ray Bradbury: In Memoriam and In Green Town Illinois" - posted in the evening of 2012.06.06, visit http://bit.ly/ngjRAY2

This recording was released via the Kickstarter/fan-funded live album "An Evening With Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer" - additional info available at http://kck.st/pF2lMG
Recorded on 2011.11.08 in Portland, OR at the Aladdin Theater.

Written and Read by Neil Gaiman | @NeilHimself

Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered by Jaron Luksa | @JaronSound
Original artwork by Cynthia von Buhler | @CynthVonBuhler
Microphones furnished by Ear Trumpet Labs 

http://www.neilgaiman.com 
http://www.jaronsound.com 
http://www.cynthiavonbuhler.com 
http://www.eartrumpetlabs.com

The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury

Maria Popova is the editor of Brain Pickings (http://www.brainpickings.org), an inventory of cross-disciplinary interestingness and curiosity, bringing you things you didn’t know you were interested in — until you are. She has also written for Wired UK, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Nieman Journalism Lab, among others, and is an MIT Futures of Entertainment Fellow. 

In this audio interview with Debbie Millman, Maria discusses curation, creativity as pattern-recognition, growing up in Bulgaria, and her grandmother following her Google Alerts.

Subscribe to Design Matters on iTunes for more great interviews with celebrated designers and creative minds: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/design-matters-debbie-millman/id328074695

Design Matters with Debbie Millman: Maria Popova

Background and context: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/03/18/tolstoy-reading-rare-1909-recording/

The fascinating story of A Calendar of Wisdom, with selected highlights: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/03/15/a-calendar-of-wisdom-tolstoy/

Leo Tolstoy reads from "A Calendar of Wisdom," 1909

Lita Talarico is the co-founder and co-chair of the MFA Design as Author program at School of Visual Art and the co-author of many books. Steven Heller is an art director, educator and author of over 100 books on design. (02.06.09)

On Design Observer: http://observermedia.designobserver.com/audio/steve-heller--lita-talerico/9537/

On iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/design-matters-debbie-millman/id328074695

Design Matters with Debbie Millman: Steve Heller & Lita Talerico

Dave Eggers writes about art and music for magazines, his design work has been featured in periodicals including Print and Eye, and in 2003, his design work for McSweeney's was featured in the National Design Triennial at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, and in the California Design Biennial. (05.22.09)

On Design Observer: http://observermedia.designobserver.com/audio/dave-eggers/10157/

On iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/design-matters-debbie-millman/id328074695

Design Matters with Debbie Millman: Dave Eggers

Milton Glaser is among the most celebrated graphic designers in the United States. He has the distinction of one-man-shows at the Museum of Modern Art and the Georges Pompidou Center. In 2004 he recieved the lifetime achievement award from the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum. As a Fulbright scholar, Glaser studied with the painter, Giorgio Morandi. In 2010 Glaser was awarded the National Medal of Arts, he is the first graphic designer to receive this award. (10.12.10)

On Design Observer: http://observermedia.designobserver.com/audio/milton-glaser-podcast-interview/8927/

On iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/design-matters-debbie-millman/id328074695

Design Matters with Debbie Millman: Milton Glaser

Excerpt from Orwell's fantastic 1946 essay outlining his 11 "golden" rules of tea perfection: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/05/14/george-orwell-a-nice-cup-of-tea/

George Orwell on how to make the perfect cup of tea

An inspiring commencement address delivered to the graduating class at San Jose State University. Transcript and discussion: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/05/15/debbie-millman-look-both-ways-fail-safe/

Chip Kidd on kissing Neil Gaiman at Comic Con

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