Storytelling

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Neil Gaiman reads from the only surviving "prompt copy" – Dickens's own performance script – of "A Christmas Carol." Background, context, and some curious factoids here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/12/23/neil-gaiman-reads-charles-dickens-a-christmas-carol

Neil Gaiman reads Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol"

Background, transcript, and more here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/02/04/duke-ellington-remixer/

Excerpted from https://soundcloud.com/designmatters/design-matters-with-debbie-139

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Terry Teachout on Duke Ellington's creative borrowing and plagiarism

A rare 1929 recording by the Dominion Gramophone Company. Background and story here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/02/13/a-a-milne-reads-winie-the-pooh-1929/

A.A. Milne reads from Winnie-the-Pooh, 1929

Background, context, and poem text: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/02/24/tara-brach-reads-mary-oliver/

Excerpted from Tara Brach's lecture "Universal Faces of Love": http://traffic.libsyn.com/tarabrach/2014-02-05-Part1-Universal-Faces-of-Love-TaraBrach.mp3 

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Tara Brach reads from Mary Oliver's "Dog Songs"

Recorded at TED 2014. Transcript and context: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/03/20/neil-gaiman-ghost-stories/

Neil Gaiman on why scary stories speak to us

Neil Gaiman on why there is no such thing as "children's" books

Recorded at TED 2014 in Vancouver. Background and context: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/03/20/neil-gaiman-ghost-stories/

Neil Gaiman on the haunting ghost of dead ideas

Background and poem text: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/04/11/dorothy-parker-reads/

Dorothy Parker reads "Inscription For The Ceiling Of A Bedroom"

From the Criterion Collection disc 'Wise Blood.' Context and more: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/03/25/flannery-o-connor-grotesque-reading/

Flannery O'Connor reads "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"

Background and poem text: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/03/27/frank-ohara-reads-metaphysical-poem/

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Frank O'Hara reads his "Metaphysical Poem"

Background, transcript and discussion: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/04/21/patti-smith-pratt-commencement/

TRANSCRIPT / DETAILS

Patti Smith Pratt Commencement Address (May, 2010)

David Foster Wallace's iconic 2005 Kenyon College graduation address. Context and transcript here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/09/12/this-is-water-david-foster-wallace/

Part 2 here: http://soundcloud.com/brainpicker/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water-2

David Foster Wallace: "This Is Water" (part 1)

David Foster Wallace's iconic 2005 Kenyon College graduation address. Context and transcript here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/09/12/this-is-water-david-foster-wallace/

Part 1 here: http://soundcloud.com/brainpicker/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water-1

David Foster Wallace: "This Is Water" (part 2)

"The arrows of adverse criticism cannot scratch, let alone pierce, the shield of what disappointed archers call my 'self-assurance.'"

Background and context:  http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/01/18/vladimir-nabokov-james-mossman-interview/

Vladimir Nabokov on literature and life (1969)

Read more: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/01/10/massimo-vignelli-debbie-millman/

Excerpt from Debbie Millman's Design Matters interview: https://soundcloud.com/designmatters/massimo-vignelli

Graphic designer Massimo Vignelli on the three pillars of design education

Read more: www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/01/10/massimo-vignelli-debbie-millman/

Excerpt from Debbie Millman's Design Matters interview: https://soundcloud.com/designmatters/massimo-vignelli

Graphic designer Massimo Vignelli on print vs. digital books

Passage from the 1960 essay "Some Aspects of the Grotesque in Southern Literature." Context, transcript and discussion of the full essay here: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/03/25/flannery-o-connor-grotesque-reading/

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Flannery O'Connor reads from "Some Aspects of the Grotesque in Southern Literature"

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/