February 09, 2006
Much of the hand-wringing about violence these days has to do with TV, movies, and video games. But Chuck Palahniuk tells Kurt that books can sometimes be the best medium for vicarious head bashing. Palahniuk reads a bit from his new book Haunted. And he breaks the first rule of Fight Club, which is to never talk about Fight Club.
In movies, the sounds of punching and smashing are created by someone sitting in a room with a microphone and a bunch of props -- just like in the days of radio drama. Foley artist Sue Zizza explains how to make a fight sound really good, or sickening. Produced by Jocelyn Gonzales
When Curly gouges Larry in the eye, we laugh -- or at least some of us do. Richard Paul has been writing and performing comedy for 25 years, and he applied himself to one of the great mysteries of the universe: are The Three Stooges funny?
We asked humorist Jack Handey -- the creator of Saturday Night Live's "Deep Thoughts" -- why people are so driven to violence. He thinks it's because we're human.
Dr. Denis Pelli researches how we read, identify shapes, even why we find art compelling. Once a semester he takes a group of students to see a piece of installation art that he believes will teach them how to be better scientific observers. Laura Starecheski tagged along for the class trip.
Special Guest
Chuck Palahniuk is the author of the ultraviolent novel Fight Club, which became a hit 1999 movie, and many other books including Diary, Choke, and Stranger Than Fiction, a book of stories. He is known to throw severed hands -- fake ones -- at people during his readings. His most recent book is Haunted.
This week, throughout the Islamic world, embassies were attacked, flags burned, and journalists threatened over a series of satirical cartoons published by a Danish newspaper. Kurt Andersen and Professor Azar Nafisi discuss why the row is less about the power of an image than freedom of speech.
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