THR Podcasts (Sacha Baron Cohen, Gal Gadot, Ricky Gervais, Jessica Chastain, …)

 

THR Podcasts (Sacha Baron Cohen, Gal Gadot, Ricky Gervais, Jessica Chastain, …)

Here are a bunch of interesting podcasts from Hollywood Reporter (THR) starting with Sacha Baron Cohen, one of my most favourite and insightful comedians, and the one that started me on this interesting journey. Have a listen of any one or more of these podcasts as I copied and pasted from THR. Enjoy!

* ‘Awards Chatter’ Podcast — Sacha Baron Cohen (‘Who Is America?’)

* Ricky Gervais, Jessica Chastain, Gal Gadot, Stephen Colbert, Aaron Sorkin, Kate Winslet, Emilia Clarke, Lin-Manuel Miranda,

* Helen Mirren, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, Margot Robbie, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone,

* Lady Gaga, JJ Abrams, Julia Roberts, Trevor Noah, Jerry Seinfeld,

* Michael Moore, Jane Fonda, Matthew McConaughey, Natalie Portman,

Anna Maria Tremonti’s final edition of The Current (with a new Quote I LOVE)

20190619 Anna Maria Tremonti’s final edition of The Current

I’ll miss Anna Maria Tremonti very much as I listen to the final edition (full text transcript) of The Current. AMT is one of the best broadcasters in Canada (if not the world). I totally admire her and see her is a National Treasure! Looking forward to her new podcast.

I highly recommend you have an enjoyable listen to AMT‘s final edition of The Current.

AMT, best of luck to you from a confessed listener since The Current started in 2002!

Here is an excerpt from the last interview of AMT by Carol Off, the departing host being interviewed on her show! (emphasis added, transcript mistakes fixed and link added)

AMT: […] To be able to do that story, to be able to say to The Current I want to take half an hour of prime time morning radio and I want to talk about the rape of women in war. And the bosses say: Okay. What do you need? We’ll let you do that. That’s the gift of The Current as well we have been able to tackle those kinds of stories at a time of day when people would go ‘Oh we’re not so sure about that’. And you know what the listeners have said thank you for that. And that’s really been important to me.

CAROL OFF: Because that’s the gift of Anna Maria Tremonti because what you do with that story is that you don’t make it so horrific that no one can bear it. You tackled it as into the humanity of those stories and that has been your hallmark no matter who you talk to, no matter where you’ve gone, you have made it a hallmark of your empathy of being able to draw those people and I think what people remember most about what you have done for these 17 years is that you have made Canada your hometown. You have been from coast to coast, talking to people on the line but also going to town halls everywhere. You have connected with this country. What does that meant for you?

AMT: A lot. You know when I became a foreign correspondent it was Joe Schlesinger who said now that you’re foreign correspondent you better think about what you’re going to be when you’re not. And I thought about coming home because when you’re foreign correspondent you never want to come home. It’s a great life. And the people you answer to are far away and asleep. So it’s perfect.“

And here I’m adding a new quote to my long list of Quotes I LOVE,

“For 17 seasons you have been my partners in listening. In fact the most important thing I have learned in hosting The Current is how to listen, not how to talk, not how to ask questions, but how to listen. How to say nothing even and hear what someone else is really saying because I learn not in the asking but in the hearing. I learn about someone or something in the words that are spoken and then how they’re spoken and the words that are used in the exuberance, in the hesitation, in the emotion. Even the silences tell me something and they tell me something loudly.

At a world where so many people are shouting at each other, where so many refuse to hear anything but their own voice, the ability to hear another side to think differently, to question yourself, to learn something new, that is a gift.” – Anna Maria Tremonti (1957- ) (AMT’s final edition, timecode (~1hr 08min 38sec))

2019 Reith Lectures by Jonathan Sumption

 

I’ve been looking forward to listen to the 2019 Reith Lectures by Jonathan Sumption who recently retired from the UK Supreme Court. Lord Sumption “argues that a decline in the willingness of politics to engage with divisive subjects has been accompanied by an unwelcome rise in the power of the courts.”

While I may not agree with everything Lord Sumption says, the ideas he expressed are almost always thought provoking and worth considering even we may come to agree or disagree with him. Incidentally, the Q&As after each lectures contain some rather interesting questions so make sure you listen to that too.

BBC is putting up the 2019 Reith Lectures by Lord Sumption one lecture a week, here is the list of lecture(s) already posted:

(21 May, 2019) 1/5. Law’s Expanding Empire – Jonathan Sumption argues that the law is taking over the space once occupied by politics (~56 minutes)

(updated: 28 May, 2019) 2/5. In Praise of Politics – Jonathan Sumption explains how democracy can accommodate opposing opinions and interests (~41 minutes)

(updated: 4 June, 2019) 3/5. Human Rights and Wrongs – Jonathan Sumption argues that courts have usurped power via human rights law (~41 minutes)

(updated – 11 June, 2019) 4/5. Rights and the Ideal Constitution – Jonathan Sumption assess the pros and cons of written and unwritten constitutions, comparing the US and UK. (~42 minutes)

(updated – June, 2019) 5/5. Shifting the Foundations – Jonathan Sumption argues against Britain adopting a written constitution (~42 minutes)

Above links for all five insightful episodes have now been updated. What an enjoyable series!

Goodbye Beverley McLachlin

CBC News, Dec 18, 2017, “Beverley McLachlin reflects on Supreme Court career, dispute with PM Harper” (~13 minutes extensive interview)

CPAC, Dec 7, 2017, (~17 minutes video) “Beverley McLachlin Bids Farewell to Supreme Court”

December 14, 2017, CBC Radio, ‘We can do a lot better’: Retiring Beverley McLachlin on what’s wrong with our justice system

CBC Radio Ottawa, Dec 15, 2017 “Goodbye Beverley McLachlin – A retirement party fit for a Supreme Court Chief Justice.” (~10 minutes)

2017 Dec, “(video clips) CTV News Channel: McLachlin takes questions, pt. 1 (~12 minutes) pt. 2 (~9 mins)” – Beverley McLachlin’s farewell: Five quotes you need to know

Gala Dinner in Honour of Beverley McLachlin (full ~93 minutes video via CPAC)

~14:02 TRH former GG David Johnston (great speech, who is a legal scholar in his own right)
~21:02 TRH GG Julie Payette
~25:48 TRH Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
~36:01 TRH Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
~41:20 TRH Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (great speech)
~54:50 TRH former GG Adrienne Clarkson (great speech)
~1:14:50 Retired Chief Justice Beverley_McLachlin (LOVE this final address)

“Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin is honoured at an Ottawa dinner on the eve of her retirement. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Brian Mulroney, as well as former governors general David Johnston and Adrienne Clarkson pay tribute to Canada’s longest-serving chief justice. The event is organized by the National Judicial Institute. (December 14, 2017)”

Note: I’m looking forward CBC National’s Sunday December 17, 2017 in-depth interview by Rosie of the Chief. Will add a link when I see it. [update: Video interview has now been added!]

Ronald Coase, 101, Nobel Laureate: ‘I’ve Been Wrong So Often, I Don’t Find It Extraordinary At All’

Have a listen to this precious 3:41 radio interview, “Nobel Laureate: ‘I’ve Been Wrong So Often, I Don’t Find It Extraordinary At All’“. One has to deeply admire the humility in professor’s Coase‘s answers.

Note: I had a great video interview with Ning Wang (co-author with Coase) to talk about their new book How China Became Capitalist. (Sample Chapter: You can download a free sample book chapter from Palgrave.)

RETRACTION re Apple Factory story – This American Life

RETRACTION re Apple Factory story (This American Life, streaming + free mp3) – Worth a listen by Apple fans/foes, journalists, and aspiring journalists.

*** Before I listen to the show ***

As a journalist, I aspire to be the best I can be. No more, no less. I just hope to have the moral fiber to admit to my own past/present/future mistakes & apologize fully when the times come. At this moment, I feel the pain of Ira Glass and his colleagues.

*** After I listen to the show ***

First of all, I appreciate Ira‘s honesty and accept his apology. Secondly, after listening to Mike Daisey‘s second interview/chat with Ira re his fabricated Apple Factory story, I can no longer trust his words. Mike famously said,

“I think you can trust my word[s] in the context of the theatre.”

Huh, “in the context of the theatre”? What about things he said on TV with news media like CNBC, etc. What the heck? Was Mike serious or was he really thinking we couldn’t tell the difference between lies and truths? Under the Wikipedia journalistic scandal entry, I recognize and have followed the stories of Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass. I am wondering under what category should Mike Daisey‘s name be placed? May be under a lesson about ethics and integrity for journalists and aspiring journalists.

Update: WaPo, “Performer Mike Daisey scrubs his monologue about Apple and sticks to the facts after criticism” (emphasis added)

“Daisey portrayed his work as fact during a media blitz to promote his critically acclaimed show, and he misled dozens of news and entertainment outlets, including the popular public radio show “This American Life,” The Associated Press, The New York Times, MSNBC and HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Tales of a Chinese Purchaser – worth a listen

In 2008, with the help of Simon, who has 30 years of purchasing experience, we created a series of 15 parts “Tales of a Chinese Purchaser” (about 10 minutes long per episode). Few days ago, my friend Echo kindly told me that she is learning a lot about purchasing from the series and is helping her work. So I actually started listening to it again and find that I am also learning a lot (again). And it is fun to listen.

So I am sharing my Cantonese series of 15 parts “Tales of a Chinese Purchaser” here.