i’ve been listening to the answer me this! podcast with helen and olly (but mostly martin the sound man) for a few weeks now while i’m at work – which, conveniently, is where i am right now – and i just wanted to give them a little shoutout while i’m waiting for my machine to load up so i can get some work done.
they’re a british comedy podcast that just, quite literally, answers people’s random questions. i’m only on episode 35 right now and my ipod has just died so i’m out of laughs for this afternoon (until i get in my car and use my fm transmitter, haha!), but it’s quite possibly the funniest thing i’ve ever heard, with perhaps the exception of david sedaris (i’ve got “me talk pretty one day” on an audiobook, so i’m sure my coworkers think i’m insane as i try to hold in my laughter at work). incidentally, i’ve yet to read his new book, “when you are engulfed in flames” – anyone read it? funny as the rest? i don’t know why i’m asking, i’m sure it is.
they’re absolutely hysterical and also british, so it doesn’t really get much better than that. you can subscribe to them on itunes and/or visit their website at this link here. my favorite episode so far is number thirty-four (quite a lot of links in this, aren’t there?), in which helen and martin recount a trip across the pond to the set of the “sex and the city” movie (although by accident), among other exploits. of course, this was in like september or october, so…it’s been a while, but still hilarious.
i really wish it wouldn’t cost me an arm and a leg to make an international call, or i definitely would. i suppose i could email them sometime, but we’ll just have to wait and see. anyway, definitely check it out.
in other news, i’ve just found out that bill mckibben is going to be a guest of honor at my university this fall at the mcbride lecture and leadership seminar (or something similarly named, shame on me). since i don’t really know who he is, let me copy a little taste of the press release.
Best-selling author and environmental activist Bill McKibben will deliver the fourth annual McBride Lecture for Faith & Literature at 7:00 p.m. on Oct. 3 in Oklahoma Christian University’s Gaylord University Center. The evening lecture will be followed by a book-signing reception. Both events are free and open to the public.
McKibben is author of the national bestseller Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future (Holt, 2007) as well as books such as The End of Nature (Random House, 2006, revised) and a host of essays in the nation’s top magazines. McKibben is scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College and lives with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, and their daughter in Ripon, Vt.
The Boston Globe has called Deep Economy a “hopeful manifesto” and “an inspired book.” USA Today has written of Deep Economy: “What makes McKibben’s book stand out is the completeness of his arguments and his real-world approach to solutions.” Bill Moyers has written, “Bill McKibben enjoys the most conspicuous place in my own pantheon of journalistic heroes for his pioneer work in writing about the environment.”
“We invite Oklahomans to hear this powerful thinker discuss issues of great importance – not only how both to design durable human communities and care for the planet, but also specifically how to sustain the great quality of life we enjoy in Oklahoma as well as pass on to our children the best of Oklahoma’s natural resources,” said Scott LaMascus, Professor of English and Director of the McBride Center for Faith & Literature.
The lecture will come at the end of “Green Week” on campus of Oklahoma Christian University, which is sponsored by the university’s Student Government Association. For more details about the activities of Green Week at OC, visit www.oc.edu.
so there’s that – free and all, so if you’d like to come, please do. it’s always a good time. last year we had marilynne robinson, author of “gilead” and “housekeeping,” and the year before we saw robert pinsky, former US poet laureate and author of nineteen books (dream big). he definitely cuts an intimidating figure, but he was a great speaker. so if you’ll be in the area at the time, feel free to stop by.
