Show for May 8, 2011. Nora Bateson on the Philosopher Gregory Bateson; Actresses Rivera Sun Cook and Robin Aronson on Getting into Character
Part 1: The late philosopher, anthropologist and environmentalist Gregory Bateson wanted to change the way we think, attending less to things in themselves and more to the connections between them. I talked to his daughter Nora Bateson, whose new documentary An Ecology of Mind offers her perspective on her father’s work. The film screens Saturday, May 14 at the Santa Cruz Film Festival. More on Gregory Bateson at edge.org.
Part 2: I’ve long been curious how stories and characters enter the heads of authors and actors. A new trio of plays from Rivera Sun Cook gave me a chance to inquire further. Rivera plays all 30 roles—characters young, old, black, white, Asian and Latino. I spoke to her and Robin Aronson, the plays’ director and an actress herself. More on the performance and showtimes.
Click the “play” arrow above to listen to the interview, or download the MP3 here.
Amy Sedaris On Today’s Show
We had the enchanting Amy Sedaris on today, talkin’ up her latest book, Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People. We also chatted about her career, her family and other fun stuff. We’ll post the audio soon. In the meantime here’s the Dolly Parton video Amy mentioned, with Amy as a carnival barker:
And here’s a clip from the short-lived mid-’90s sketch comedy show Exit 57 featuring Amy, Paul Dinello and Stephen Colbert, just before the three of them went on to create Strangers with Candy. Apparently, Amy’s thing for squirrels goes way back:
