Multimedia Archive 2008
Stories from the School—
in 02139 and around the globe.
Vintage TV Commercials - from CMS
The Comparative Media Studies Program presents a group of vintage television commercials. Watch
The Future of the News
Ellen Hume, Research Director of the Center for Future Civic Media program, predicts a good news conversation with her MIT Museum crowd about the future of news. Participants work hard to find a silver lining in the dire situation facing newspapers and other traditional forms of journalism. Watch
The Inner History of Devices
Contemporary science has done a great disservice to Sigmund Freud, suggests Sherry Turkle, who believes the psychoanalytic tradition can teach us much about the often concealed connections between physical objects and our thoughts and feelings. On the occasion of the publication of her latest book, The Inner History of Devices—the third in a trilogy—Turkle speaks of the importance of technology as a subjective tool, as a window into the soul. Watch
George Soros on The New Paradigm for Financial Markets
George Soros extends his "theory of reflexivity" from abstraction to application in the realm of investing. His book, The New Paradigm for Financial Markets, offers a timely look at the credit crisis that reached crescendo in 2008. His views fall between prescience and vindication. Nevertheless, he concedes fallibility: "With all my great, deep understanding, I don't always get the markets right." Watch
U.S. Health Care Policy
In an energetic talk delivered prior to the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Jonathan Gruber provides a useful breakdown of the two candidates’ remedies for the nation’s troubled health care system. His detailed analysis of the key issues around health care is invaluable as the health care debate continues. Watch
Moby-Dick for the 21st Century
In this short video, Wyn Kelley, Senior Lecturer in Literature, discusses the powerful themes that make Herman Melville's Moby-Dick alive for the 21st century. "Everyone was on that ship!" she says. Watch
Junot Díaz on The Colbert Report
Stephen Colbert interviews Junot Díaz, Professor of Writing, and Pulitzer Prize winning author of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" Watch
Listening to the Past: Voices and Views of 17th Century England
A production for the Class, Learning from the Past: Drama, Science, Performance (21L.016/21M.616) Watch
New Media Literacies
Moby-Dick lives! Go behind the scenes to see how four master teachers and artists are connecting young people with Melville's great novel through exciting stage productions. Insights and tales from Wyn Kelley, Senior Lecturer in Literature, and Henry Jenkins, former director of Comparative Media Studies, along with Ricardo Pitt-Wiley and Rudy Cabrera. Watch
The Way David Macaulay Works
During this tour of David Macaulay's imagination, prepare to soar over Rome's great monuments, raft within the human body's circulatory system, and dismantle and rebuild the Empire State Building. A master illustrator rolls out sketches and storylines from some of his greatest hits. Watch