This week has flown by. Yesterday and today I got to hear some amazing speakers, and I want to write a tiny bit about them before I forget.

"Muppet Diplomacy: How Sesame Street is Changing the World"
Gary Knell, President and CEO, Sesame Workshop

Sesame Street is amazing!!! Truly. Sesame Workshop is planning their "39th experimental season" (always keeping it fresh), which is going to focus on the environment! They have shows in 146 countries, and each is an incredible model, I think, of community arts programming, in that they "designed the kitchen, and [the] local partners get to decide what to have for dinner." In my media class, we've learned about the real good that Sesame Street does for kids; they're bringing an incredible educational and pro-social message to these countries in ways that really work and are meaningful because local people are integral to the process and because they always integrate research and educators in their planning (Sesame Workshop is well-known and emulated because of this production model). This year will bring "Sesame Tree" in Northern Ireland, which will deal with the real issues between Protestants and Catholics, and is similar to the version in Kosovo... Watch for Electric Company to make a return, too! (with amazing hip hop dudes... Very fun.)

Alan Weisman, journalist, professor at the Uuversity of Arizona and author, discussing his book The World Without Us, a New York Times bestseller

Imagine that all human life is suddenly and totally wiped out. How long would it take for the Earth to 'heal' itself, and what would the process look like? Or, in other words, how long til things looked like they did before we paved them, flattened them, rearranged them, built on them, etc.? Such an interesting thing to think about! (Weirdly hopeful, for me!) Weisman decides, after a good deal of research and questioning of experts, that even though the human impact on the Earth is irreversible, no matter what mayhem we cause, life on earth will always be able to keep going in some always evolving and persistent way. What human creations would last the longest? PLASTIC (scary!). And bronze, and stone houses...

And, finally, as part of the Cambridge Forum series, which can be heard on NPR (and online!):
"Unriddling the World: Fantasy and Children"
Susan Cooper, author of the Dark Is Rising series, etc.

This felt like church-- the good kind. Cooper started off by saying how writers like herself (and J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling) try to "unriddle the world for children, through fantasy." She said there are five great mysteries that we're all trying to get at: Life, Death, Time, Good and Evil. (Her discussion of time- "The 4-year-old skates around in time."- really got me. It's on my mind a lot these days-- what to do with my limited time here, how to be fully present, etc.) Cooper talked about the importance of stories (and art, I think!) in helping us work these things out, and stories and art as metaphors for the bigger things that we just don't talk about-- because we aren't equipped, don't know how to articulate. If you have time, I completely recommend listening (or watching) by clicking the link above... (Mom and Nat, you would LOVE this. Seriously.)

Shew!