Podcasts about Better Living Through Criticism

A conversation with A.O. Scott, co-chief film critic of the New York Times and author of Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think about Art, Pleasure, Beauty and Truth, Hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Encore podcast originally posted on April 7, 2016. A.O. Scott is one of America's foremost film critics. Since 2002, he's shared the chief movie review slot at the New York Times with Mahnola Dargis. His book, Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think about Art, Pleasure, Beauty and Truth, takes a look at reviewing and criticism, at some of the challenges critics face, and at some of the issues that roll across his mind every time he writes a review. In this interview, he talks about many of those issues, including the rise of algorithms, the relationship between taste and popularity, the relationship between taste and quality, and his own beliefs about aesthetics. Scott also looks at the 2016 controversy involving diversity at the Academy Awards, and how he and Mahnola Dargis divvy up reviews.   The post A.O. Scott, “Better Living Through Criticism,” 2016 appeared first on KPFA.

Details, credits, errata: Episode 7, An Extra or a Principal, is written by Sam Thielman and Alissa Wilkinson, produced by Sam and distributed by Alissa, with our very special guest, A.O. Scott—Tony, to his friends. Tony is the co-chief film critic at the New York Times and does not have to be nearly as nice as he is. Please go read his wonderful book Better Living Through Criticism at once; you can buy it here. Our film for the week is the Coen Brothers’ 2016 Hollywood comedy Hail, Caesar!, a favorite of, it turns out, everybody on the pod this week, so a certain amount of it is Sam quoting the lines and laughing at himself, but Tony and Alissa are good. Tony and his co-chief critic Manohla Dargis interviewed the Coens a couple of years before this film came out; we commend the interview to anybody who likes the Coens, which is basically anyone who likes movies.Our episode art for the week is a still from the very, very end of The Robe, the movie Hail, Caesar! A Tale of the Christ is travestying. It’s directed by Henry Koster, incidentally, who also brought last week’s film, The Story of Ruth, into the world. Some significant figures in our discussion beyond the Coens: The Marxist philosopher Herbert Marcuse figures prominently in the film; feel free to read about him here, at a website run by one of his grandkids. Edgar Mannix, the Josh Brolin character and the hero of the film, was a real guy: Here’s his obituary from the September 9 issue of Boxoffice Magazine. American Cinematography has a good feature on Busby Berkeley’s synchronized swimmers here, including a delightful video. The Channing Tatum character owes a lot to Gene Kelly, as does the musical number “No Dames!”, especially Anchors Aweigh. See for yourself below.Our theme song is Louis Armstrong and His Hot 5’s Muskrat Ramble, made freely available by the Boston Public Library and audio engineering shop George Blood, LP through the Internet Archive. Hail, Caesar! is copyright 2016 Universal Studios. Brief audio clips are used herein for review purposes. All other content is copyright 2020 Sam Thielman and Alissa Wilkinson. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at yammpod.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Episode 26 of Products of the Mind. On this episode, I speak with journalist, Chief Film Critic of the New York Times, and author: A. O. Scott. “The point of real criticism I think is to move beyond just the statement of opinion, which isn’t necessarily very helpful to anyone, and turn your opinion into something useful, into an argument that people can grapple with.” Today we chat with Tony Scott: a film critic for the New York Times and author of Better Living Through Criticism. Tony talks a bit about the role of print vs online journalism as they relate to criticism; what goes on in a writer’s head; and the perceptions a critic might have of a popular hit movie. What is criticism? Have there always been critics? Will there always be critics? What impact might criticism have on the thing being criticized? Tony fills us in on the unique role of criticism, and the interesting dynamics between criticism and film versus television. Is it possible Netflix and Hulu are changing the way we think about on-screen entertainment? Think being a critic is easy? Tony discusses getting blasted on Twitter by Samuel L. Jackson after his review of The Avengers. He also discusses the outcomes and possible benefits of these interactions as they relate to journalism overall. Ever wonder what inspires a critic to do what they do? Learn about the kind of influence satire films and Mad Magazine had on Tony’s career. We’ll also discuss the “golden age of television,” serial shows versus movies, and what might make a film boring. This and more today with A. O. Scott. Tony is @aoscott on Twitter Tony’s New York Times Page Other mentions from this Episode: Mad Magazine The Oddfather Tangerine Thanks for Checking Out Products of the Mind! If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the top and bottom of this page. Also, please consider taking the few seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes. They’re very helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and I read every one. Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live. Here are instructions on how to subscribe, rate, and review the show in iTunes. The Credits Products of the Mind is produced by Mana Monzavi. The theme music for this episode was provided by Le Chateau. The track name is “Bury You.” Go buy it on Soundcloud! This episode and these show notes © 2016 David Lizerbram

Loann and Art discuss A.O. Scott's new book that wrestles with the critic's place in today's cultural landscape.  Featured discussion topics: Better Living Through Criticism by A. O. Scott An extract of Scott's book in The Guardian Daredevil Deadpool Between the World and Me by Ta Nahesi Coates The Bazarre of Bad Dreams by Stephen King Son of Saul      

Critics Katy Waldman, Laura Miller, and Laura Bennett discuss A.O. Scott’s insightful new book, Better Living Through Criticism. Next month, Slate's Audio Book Club will be chatting about When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Read the book and join us for our conversation in April! Slate's Audiobook Club is brought to you by Audible.com, with more than 180,000 audiobooks and spoken-word audio products. Get a free 30-day trial and a free audiobook at AudiblePodcast.com/ABC. And by Texture, the mobile app that gives you full access to more than 150 of the world's most popular magazines, anytime, using your phone or tablet. Read Vogue, People, Esquire, Time—and hundreds more—from back issues to the one currently on the newsstand. Right now, try Texture for free at Texture.com/ABC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Critics Katy Waldman, Laura Miller, and Laura Bennett discuss A.O. Scott’s insightful new book, Better Living Through Criticism. Next month, Slate's Audio Book Club will be chatting about When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Read the book and join us for our conversation in April! Slate's Audiobook Club is brought to you by Audible.com, with more than 180,000 audiobooks and spoken-word audio products. Get a free 30-day trial and a free audiobook at AudiblePodcast.com/ABC. And by Texture, the mobile app that gives you full access to more than 150 of the world's most popular magazines, anytime, using your phone or tablet. Read Vogue, People, Esquire, Time—and hundreds more—from back issues to the one currently on the newsstand. Right now, try Texture for free at Texture.com/ABC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A O Scott's book Better Living through Criticism looks at the very stuff of Saturday Review - who needs critics nowadays? Ben Wheatley's film High-Rise is an adaptation ofthe 1972 novel by JG Ballard - an urban dystopia set in a brutalist tower block. Jane Horrocks' newest production is a genre hybrid; "a theatrical experience with music" . If You Kiss Me, Kiss Me at London's Young Vic is her tribute to the music she loved as a teenager Charlotte Bronte came to London from Yorkshire five times in her life. A small exhibition at The John Soane's Museum commemorates her visits. London's National Portrait Gallery has an unprecedented exhibition of Russian works normally displayed at The State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. It's part of a cultural exchange between the two museums, both founded 160 years ago. Sarah Crompton's guests are Tiffany Jenkins, Francis Spufford and Louise Doughty. The producer is Oliver Jones.

John Heilemann and Will Leitch discuss how the major celebrities in the Obama White House aren't from Hollywood; they're from the music world or, most often, sports. They also interview A.O. Scott, the New York Times film critic and author of the new book "Better Living Through Criticism."

Criticism gets a bad rap a lot of the time, even from its practitioners. But rather than a defense of criticism, A.O. Scott. a chief film critic for The New York Times, has written a kind of long-form thought experiment around the profession that traces the impetuses behind criticism and its myriad functions. Scott's Better Living Through Criticism explores how we determine our own taste, the value and function of criticism in our current media environment, some (low) points in its history, and rhetorical issues, pulling from a wide variety of texts from poetry to performance art to criticism in its many guises. FILM COMMENT Digital Editor Violet Lucca was joined by Scott and another veteran critic, Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com and New York magazine, to discuss ideas raised by the book and how larger changes in media have affected their careers and the profession at large

John Nichols says it’s hard to see how the Republican Party can stop Trump from winning the nomination—for starters, nobody is trying—and it’s not hard see how his appeal to working class white voters could make him president. Julianne Hing reports from Nevada on what it's like to go to a Trump rally and a Cruz rally—on the same day—and what voters who are not white are saying about the campaigns. And, for something completely different, A.O. Scott, film critic for The New York Times, talks about art, pleasure, beauty, and truth—topics in his new book, Better Living Through Criticism.

This week, Maria Russo discusses Jean Stein’s “West of Eden,” A. O. Scott talks about “Better Living Through Criticism” and Parul Sehgal has best-seller news. Pamela Paul is the host.

New York Times film critic, A.O. Scott joins our guest host, Lisa Rosman to talk about his new book, BETTER LIVING THROUGH CRITICISM. About the book: http://bit.ly/1mq7hYK Follow A.O. Scott on twitter: @aoscott

Critics Christina Cauterucci, Mark Harris, and Katy Waldman discuss Lucia Berlin's dazzling short story collection. Slate's Audio Book Club is brought to you by Audible.com, with more than 180,000 audiobooks and spoken-word audio products. Get a free 30-day trial and a free audiobook at AudiblePodcast.com/abc. Next month, Slate's Audio Book Club chats about Better Living Through Criticism by A.O. Scott. Read the book and join us for our conversation in March! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Critics Christina Cauterucci, Mark Harris, and Katy Waldman discuss Lucia Berlin's dazzling short story collection. Slate's Audio Book Club is brought to you by Audible.com, with more than 180,000 audiobooks and spoken-word audio products. Get a free 30-day trial and a free audiobook at AudiblePodcast.com/abc. Next month, Slate's Audio Book Club chats about Better Living Through Criticism by A.O. Scott. Read the book and join us for our conversation in March! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices