February 28, 2011 Instant Composers Pool Orchestra The current line-up for the ICP Orchestra consists of 10 of the most innovative musicians from around the globe. They personify the relentless creative drive that has animated this theatrical laboratory of contemporary music since the late-1960s. Pianist/composer Misha Mengelberg, drummer Han Bennink and saxophonist Willem Breuker founded the Instant Composers Pool in 1967, inspired by Fluxus, the movement that made art from everyday life. In 'instant composing' there is no distinction between improvisation and composition. Over the years, the legendary collective with its absurdist tinge has evolved into an appealing unruly ensemble with worldwide renown. The ten-piece improvising monster ICP is like a New Orleans jazz orchestra crossing a New York street. Much of what is typical for Dutch contemporary music can, in a concentrated form, be found in this orchestra: humor, unpredictability, charm and virtuosity.
February 25, 2011 Matt Taibbi’s Still on Wall Street’s Case Good thing for that, too, as the middle and lower classes are clearly still feeling the fallout from Wall Street bandits’ fraudulent scheming. Here, Taibbi names some names and tells Amy Goodman how the architects of our current economic catastrophe got away with their crime ... so far.
February 22, 2011 Nano Hummingbird Spy Drone Being Developed By Pentagon A prototype robot spy "ornithopter," the Nano-Hummingbird, has successfully completed flight trials in California. Developed by the company AeroVironment Inc., the miniature spybot looks like a hummingbird complete with flapping wings, and is only slightly larger and heavier than most hummingbirds, but smaller than the largest species.
February 17, 2011 Douglas Rushkoff: Social Networking and Alienation Rushkoff, author of Program or Be Programmed, explains that social networking tools can be alienating if you use them for the wrong purposes--or use them to create profits.
February 14, 2011 David Mitchell on Innuendo David sticks his oar into the fruity subject of innuendo - is it still a relevant form of wit now that we're all relatively open about sex?
February 11, 2011 Language as a Window into Human Nature Steven Pinker shows us how the mind turns the finite building blocks of language into infinite meanings.
February 10, 2011 Smut Capitol of America In the late 1960's the New York Times and many other media outlets named San Francisco "The Smut Capital of the United States." This honorary title grew from both the reality and the myth of San Francisco, a city where the sexual revolution could be seen on the streets and soon in the movie theaters. This short uses first person interviews and historical research to tell the story of the development of hardcore pornography hitting the big screen. "It happened in 1969, and it happened in San Francisco."
February 5, 2011 Tariq Ramadan and Slavoj Zizek on the Future of Egyptian Politics The revolutionary chants on the streets of Egypt have resonated around the world, but with a popular uprising without a clear direction and an unpopular leader refusing to concede, Egypt's future hangs in the balance. Riz Khan talks to Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan and Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek about the power of popular dissent, the limits of peaceful protest and the future of Egyptian politic
February 4, 2011 David Mitchell Rants about Personal Debts David considers the many complications caused by casual generosity between friends - and suggests a new social convention for balancing the books.
February 2, 2011 Noam Chomsky on Egypt In recent weeks, popular uprisings in the Arab world have led to the ouster of Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the imminent end of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime, a new Jordanian government, and a pledge by Yemen's longtime dictator to leave office at the end of his term. Democracy Now! speaks to MIT Professor Noam Chomsky about what this means for the future of the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy in the region.
February 1, 2011 Light-up Cereal Boxes Fulton Innovation demonstrates its wireless charging techology that uses induction power to create, among lots of other things, cereal boxes that can illuminate in stages.
