2021, Yuval Noah Harari

[littlemissmartypants]

English Subtitles

At the end of 2021, Yuval Noah Harari met with Janine Abbring to explore some big ideas and personal history from the perspective of his favorite films and tv shows. Their conversation includes ‘Inside Out’, ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Please Like Me’ and other screen hits – in this special episode of Vpro’s ‘Wintergasten’ program. Due to copyright restrictions, the cinematic clips discussed in the broadcast are not shown in this video. Instead, they are described below:

[At the YT account link]

06:42​ - Once Upon a Time...Man
A French animated children's TV series from 1978-1979, depicting human evolution – directed by Albert Barillé.
Scene discussed: A hunt for mammoths is shown as an example of how early human tribes gradually learned to work together to make life more pleasant. It quickly becomes apparent in this scene that some people have a tendency to boss others around, or to take off with the loot – but the message is that the group will eventually make it through working together.
Watch the beginning of the above scene (the first minute) here:     • Video  ​

17:27​ - Game of Thrones
A 2011-2019 American fantasy TV drama series created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss for HBO – based on the novel series 'Song of Ice and Fire' by George R. R. Martin.
Scene discussed: Taken from Season 4 Episode 10, this military battle scene shows the protagonist Jon Snow ('the good guy') talking to the leader of the Wildlings (a more anarchistic posse). They suddenly find themselves surrounded by the massive army of another king, Stannis Baratheon, whose cavalry charge at the Wildling encampment and overrun it – led by Stannis and Davos. Mance surrenders and is taken captive on Jon's suggestion.
Watch the trailer for the entire episode here:     • Game of Thrones Season...  ​


24:14​ - The Big Short
A 2015 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Adam McKay – based on a book of the same name by Michael Lewis. The film is noted for the unconventional techniques it uses to explain financial instruments.
Scene discussed: Singer-songwriter Selena Gomez and economist Richard Thaler break 'the fourth wall' to explain the concept of so-called "synthetic collateralized debt obligations", by using the metaphor of blackjack in a casino.
Watch the film trailer here:     • The Big Short Trailer ...  ​

37:14​ - Inside Out
A 2015 American animated film – written and directed by Pete Docter for Pixar. The film shows the inner life of an 11-year old girl named Riley, and we spend most of it inside her head – where different emotions are portrayed as characters. The personified emotions that live inside Riley are: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness.
Scene discussed: The beginning of the film, where the different emotions are introduced and the basic mechanisms of Riley’s mind and personality are explained.
Watch the film trailer here:     • Inside Out - Official ...  ​

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Yuval Noah Harari[a] (born 1976)[1] is an Israeli medievalist, military historian, public intellectual,[2][3][4] and popular science writer. He is a professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[1] His first bestselling book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2011) is based on his lectures to an undergraduate world history class. His other works include the bestsellers Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2016), 21 Lessons for the 21st Century (2018), and Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI (2024). His published work examines themes of free will, consciousness, intelligence, happiness, suffering and the role of storytelling in human evolution.[5][6][7][8]

In Sapiens, Harari writes about a "cognitive revolution" that supposedly occurred roughly 70,000 years ago when Homo sapiens supplanted the rival Neanderthals and other species of the genus Homo, developed language skills and structured societies, and ascended as apex predators, aided by the First Agricultural Revolution and accelerated by the Scientific Revolution, which have allowed humans to approach near mastery over their environment. Furthermore, he examines the possible consequences of a futuristic biotechnological world in which intelligent biological organisms are surpassed by their own creations; he has said, "Homo sapiens as we know them will disappear in a century or so".[9] Although Harari's books have received considerable commercial success since the publication of Sapiens, his work has been more negatively received in academic circles.[10]

In 2019, Yuval Noah Harari and his husband, Itzik Yahav, founded Sapienship, a social impact company that advocates for global responsibility. Their mission is to tell and retell the shared story of humanity in order to promote trust and cooperation between all people. The company focuses on research, content development, education, and the publication of position papers on global challenges in the fields of technology and the future world order. Sapienship has also launched an official educational Instagram page.[citation needed]
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuval_Noah_Harari

[Behind the Aegis]

1. I have only read his book "Nexus" but I really enjoyed it.

I am thinking I will get some of his other titles.