One of our listeners read an interview with Conan O'Brien in the New York Times last week. He sent us this excerpt:
NYT: Is this how you want to go out, with a show that gets smaller and smaller until it’s gone?
Conan: Maybe that’s O.K. I think you have more of a problem with that than I do. [Laughs.] At this point in my career, I could go out with a grand, 21-gun salute, and climb into a rocket and the entire Supreme Court walks out and they jointly press a button, I’m shot up into the air and there’s an explosion and it’s orange and it spells, “Good night and God love.” In this culture? Two years later, it’s going to be, who’s Conan? This is going to sound grim, but eventually, all our graves go unattended.
NYT: You’re right, that does sound grim.
Conan: Sorry. Calvin Coolidge was a pretty popular president. I’ve been to his grave in Vermont. It has the presidential seal on it. Nobody was there. And by the way, I’m the only late-night host that has been to Calvin Coolidge’s grave. I think that’s what separates me from the other hosts.
I had a great conversation with Albert Brooks once. When I met him for the first time, I was kind of stammering. I said, you make movies, they live on forever. I just do these late-night shows, they get lost, they’re never seen again and who cares? And he looked at me and he said, [Albert Brooks voice] “What are you talking about? None of it matters.” None of it matters? “No, that’s the secret. In 1940, people said Clark Gable is the face of the 20th Century. Who [expletive] thinks about Clark Gable? It doesn’t matter. You’ll be forgotten. I’ll be forgotten. We’ll all be forgotten.” It’s so funny because you’d think that would depress me. I was walking on air after that.
Our listener takes this idea of Conan's and asks: "I wonder why he finds it liberating and I find it depressing?"
Bart Campolo has lots to say about this, and in conversation with John Wright this episode attempts to give an answer. Along the way, hear references to an article about chess, which can be found at: https://www.si.com/vault/1992/03/02/126053/the-child-is-the-master-playing-a-young-chess-prodigy-rekindled-the-authors-love-for-the-game AND a poem which can be found at: http://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?tid=2296.
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Humanize Me is hosted by Bart Campolo and is produced by JuxMedia.com.
707: How can I judge someone's character?
706: Bart gets his tarot read by a witch
705: A listener who has less tolerance for social interaction now
704: On open relationships
703: Should I let news about the war stress me out?
702: Reflecting on the state of the evangelical movement
701: Talking to Crazy, with Dr. Mark Goulston
620: Some people are hard to feel empathy for
619: We're creating meaning as we speak!
618: Should we form friendships with people who don't share our values? with Chrissy Stroop
617: Re-evaluating time in Christian urban ministry
616: Using emotional intelligence like a hostage negotiator, with Derek Gaunt
615: Recorded live at the Wild Goose Festival
614: Mental blocks
613: Mental Immunity, with Andy Norman
612: Life after lockdown
611: Israel and Palestine, with Salwa Duaibis and Gerard Horton
610: Do you believe in miracles?
609: Lost Connections, with Johann Hari
608: Transgender listener calls us out...
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