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BOREDOM: THE TEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE

Program 07-02-04-B

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Tom Lutz's 18-year-old son, Cody, spent day after day just lying on the couch, Lutz was surprised how angry it made him that his son was doing nothing. So Lutz decided to do something about it. He wrote a book about the history of doing nothing in America. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, we'll talk about doing nothing, as we take an exciting look at boredom. Also, we'll wax philosophical about boredom, or "the root of all evil," as Kierkegaard described it.

SEGMENT 1:

Lars Svendsen teaches philosophy at the University of Bergen in Norway and is the author of "A Philosophy of Boredom." He talks with Anne Strainchamps about boredom's long, long history. Or maybe it just seems that way. Also Jon Winokur has compiled and edited a book called "Ennui To Go: The Art of Boredom." Doug Gordon combines some of the famous quotes about boredom with some songs about boredom. And the results are anything but boring. And, Ghita Schwartz wrote about "A Case of Boredom" for the February issue of "The Believer" magazine. She reads the opening paragraphs of her essay and tells Jim Fleming what inspired her to write it.

SEGMENT 2:

Augustin De la Pena is a psycho-physiologist who works at a sleep disorders center in South Texas, and a leading authority on boredom. He talks with Steve Paulson and says boredom is not a trivial problem and that it could doom us all.

SEGMENT 3:

Tom Lutz wrote "Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America." He tells Steve Paulson it was his way of dealing with his teen-age son, who never left the couch.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 07-02-04-B.

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Books:

Tom Lutz, Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, And Bums in America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Lars Svendsen , A Philosophy of Boredom (Reaktion Books)
-- “Ennui to Go: The Art of Boredom” Compiled & Edited by Jon Winokur (Sasquatch Books) http://tinyurl.com/2lrdrm http://www.sasquatchbooks.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/SBBooks (Source of quotes for “Boredom” Montage/Mashup, as well as source of title for this show, “The tedium is the message.” – Brian Eno)
-- “A Case of Boredom” by Ghita Schwarz from the February 2007 issue of “The Believer” Magazine http://www.believermag.com/You can read an excerpt from Schwarz’ essay at http://www.believermag.com/issues/200702/?read=article_schwarz
-- “Knowledge, Automatization, and Boredom: A Seminal Dynamic Modulating Behavior, Cultural Change, and our Enormous, Always-Growing Need for Entertainment, Community, and Spiritual Experience” by Augustin De la Pena (not yet published)

Websites:

• -- “A Philosophy of Boredom” by Lars Svendsen
  http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/153840.ctl
• -- “Augustin De la Pena’s website
  http://www.boredominterest.net/
• -- “Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America” by Tom Lutz
  http://www.fsgbooks.com/searchnn.htm
• Film Clips used in Lutz interview:
  -- from the “Bartleby” DVD (Fox Lorber)
  Directed by Jonathan Parker
  http://www.parkerfilmcompany.com/
  http://www.bartlebythemovie.com/
  -- from the “Office Space: Special Edition with Flair” DVD (20th Century Fox)
  Directed by Mike Judge
  http://www.foxhome.com/officespace/index.php
  -- from the “Slacker – Criterion Collection” DVD (Criterion)
  Directed by Richard Linklater
  http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=247

Music:

• -- Music used in “Boredom” Montage/Mashup:
• -- “In the Air Tonight”/Phil Collins from the CD, “Phil Collins/Hits” (Atlantic/WEA)
• -- “Boredom”/Buzzcocks from the CD, “The Complete Singles Anthology (Original Recording Remastered)” (EMI International)
• “I’m Bored”/Iggy Pop from the CD, “A Million in Prizes: The Anthology” (Virgin Records)
• “Spooky”/Money Mark from the CD, “Mark’s Keyboard Repair” (MoWax Records/A&M)
  http://www.moneymark.com/
“Spooky”/Money Mark from the CD, “Mark’s Keyboard Repair” (MoWax Records/A&M)
http://www.moneymark.com/
• “Spooky”/Money Mark from the CD, “Mark’s Keyboard Repair” (MoWax Records/A&M)
  http://www.moneymark.com/

Distribution dates: week of 03/09/2008 - hour 2 week of 02/04/2007 - hour 1

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