Read, Listen, Watch

Staff Picks and Suggestions

Egyptian Education

I just read an interesting (and alarming) article in The Chronicle of Higher Education about education in Egypt. I know some people who have studied and taught there-some liked it, and some hated it-but all were pretty vague and general in describing their experiences. Andrew Mills’s article certainly paints a bleak picture. I’d like to visit Egypt and read quite a bit about it when I was younger, but I haven’t been yet. Has anyone visited or studied there? What were your experiences like?

Nicholas Daniloff in the news

Book Cover: Of Spies and SpokesmenNU’s own Nicholas Daniloff, an NU professor of journalism and former library Meet the Author panelist (with Khassan Baiev in ’04) is featured in an article in this week’s U.S. News and World Report. The article is about his new book Of Spies and Spokesmen; and his brief arrest in the Soviet Union, which Gorbachev has since admitted was in retaliation for the U.S. arrest of a Soviet spy. (Interestingly, the article fails to mention that, as usual, the Reagan administration bargained with the Soviets for Daniloff’s release, releasing the Soviet spy in exchange.) Ah, the Cold War. Seems like a playground kickball game compared to the foreign policy problems we have now! Daniloff’s new book is available at Snell Library and excerpts are in the U.Missouri Press Media Kit.

Escape Pod

Any science fiction fans out there? If so, there’s a good chance you already know about Escape Pod. But in case you don’t, here’s all you need to know. Escape Pod is a weekly science fiction literary podcast. Every episode contains one SF short story as well as commentary by editor Steve Eley. Escape Pod stories run the gamut from life on other planets to superheroes to the dangers and wonders of technology. Most episodes are under an hour and are great to listen to on your daily commute, hanging out at home or while doing an otherwise mundane task. I just started listening to Escape Pod a few months ago but they have episodes on their website (escapepod.org) going back to the launch of the podcast in 2005. Here are some of my favorite episodes to date: The Color of a Brontosaurus – Archeologist tries to travel back in time. Immortal Sin – Man attempts to live forever to avoid paying for his sins. Results – The danger of knowing too much. Impossible Dreams – A must-listen for any movie lover. So if you’re not a fan of Escape Pod yet, I highly recommend checking it out. And if you prefer horror or fantasy fiction, try Escape Pod‘s sister podcasts Pseudo Pod and Pod Castle. And in the words of Steve Eley, Have fun.

Gossip Girl, Take 2

So I changed my tune, after my last Gossip Girl post.  I watched another episode with my roommate, and then became a little obsessed with it, catching up on the entire season’s worth of episodes.  I also found that it’s been pretty widely (and constantly) written about, even meriting coverage by the British press. In the beginning of The Portrait of a Lady, Henry James describes Isabel Archer, writing, “She had seen very little of the evil of the world, but she had seen women who lied and who tried to hurt each other.”  In the class I was taking at the time, our professor pointed to that line, and said that Isabel would be encountering far greater evil, evil that would seem incomprehensible to her then, as the novel progressed.  And while I could see his point, I also thought that “women who lied and tried to hurt each other,” was no small sin.  It’s also a type of evil most people encounter, and while the antics on Gossip Girl are more than a little melodramatic, I’ve also come to find them quite compelling.  The show’s depiction of friendship-the ways in which friends can love each other very deeply, without there being a rational reason behind it-is, I think, its strongest virtue. I also started reading (and enjoying) these very loving recaps-the writer draws parallels to Joseph Campbell, among others, and it’s made me feel better about my new fixation.   Tonight’s the finale: 8 pm on the CW, so tune in! 🙂