Multimedia Archive 2008

Stories from the School—
in 02139 and around the globe.

dick tracy

Vintage TV Commercials - from CMS 

The Comparative Media Studies Program presents a group of vintage television commercials.    Watch

Ellen Hume

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

Sherry Turkle

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

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

turbulent ocean

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

Wyn Kelley

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