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Top Ten Videos of 2009: 4. “Sarah Silverman Solves World Hunger”

December 19, 2009 | Permalink

Are there things that cannot be joked about? It’s the question at the center of a debate that has been going on for quite awhile. In fact, I personally hope it never stops being debated. It goes to one of the best things about comedy—its ability to help us understand one another. I say that at least in theory, there is nothing that cannot be joked about. It’s all about context and intent.

Case in point: the video that comes in at number four on my list of the top ten videos of 2009. It was made as in interlude for Real Time with Bill Maher, and features Sarah Silverman with a solution for global hunger. Read the rest of this entry »


YouTube of the Month, at Least

October 21, 2006 | Permalink

Aside from Andrew Sullivan’s considerable gifts as a writer, much of the value of his blog lies in his calling attention to unique, important expressions emailed to him by his readers. Of his scads of pithy and illuminating recent posts, this one affected me the most by bringing to my attention the video clip below. Major kudos to Sullivan.

At its core, Bronowski’s message is in no way political. It’s about hubris. With this in mind, it is at the very least profoundly sobering that our current president demanded — and was granted — full, unimpeachable authority to seize any person, anywhere, to detain that person indefinitely without charge or trial, and to determine what (mis)treatment of that prisoner is or is not torture. Among other things. You’ve gotta be pretty thoroughly immersed in your own moral universe to even reach for that kind of absolute power.