COVER STORY
Freud
Kurt Andersen and Jonathan Lear look at how Sigmund Freud and his theories pervade our culture.

Psychonauts
In a new videogame, the player ventures into the minds of dangerously insane patients at an asylum. The goal of Psychonauts is to resolve their conflicts and save the little kids whom they are threatening. Tim Schafer, the game's creator, told producer Jonathan Mitchell that his best ideas came from a college course on dream interpretation. But why is he so fixated on bunnies?
Go to the official Psychonauts Website
Find out more about Tim Schafer's videogames
Buy Psychonauts
Buy Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams

Metro-Goldwyn-Freud
In 1925, the movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn traveled all the way to Vienna to meet Sigmund Freud. Goldwyn wanted the famous doctor to consult on movies for MGM - to tell filmmakers what was happening psychologically in famous relationships like Anthony and Cleopatra's. Freud, however, refused even to see Goldwyn. Playwright David Ives imagines that strange encounter, with Tom Robbins as Goldwyn and Lewis Stadlen as Freud.
Buy David Ives' Scrib

The Ceiling Above the Couch
Sigmund Freud saw most of his patients -- famous case studies like "the Wolf Man" and Anna O -- in the study of his Vienna home. Spencer Finch, a painter, was so inspired by Freud that he spent a day in the Freud House depicting the view from the couch. Produced by Curtis Fox; Paul Hecht read W.H. Auden's poem.
Go to Spencer Finch's website
Read W. H. Auden's "In Memory of Sigmund Freud"
Learn more about the Sigmund Freud House-Museum in Vienna

SPECIAL GUEST
Jonathan Lear
Jonathan Lear teaches philosophy at the University of Chicago, where he is the John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor. He is also a practicing psychoanalyst. His new book, Freud, puts Freud’s major ideas in the tradition of classical philosophy ("know thyself") dating back to Socrates. He is also the author of Open Minded: Working Out the Logic of the Soul; Therapeutic Action: An Earnest Plea for Irony; and Love and Its Place in Nature.
Buy Freud (The Routledge Philosophers)
Buy Open Minded: Working Out the Logic of the Soul
Buy The Freud Reader

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How Art Works
Method Acting
The phrase "be in the moment" has become a self-help cliche, but it actually comes out of Method acting. The Method, developed from ideas of Constantin Stanislavski, is gospel for American actors. Dmae Roberts spoke with actors and directors in Portland, Oregon to find out what it means to be "in the moment."
Learn more about Constantin Stanislavski
Buy Stanislavski's An Actor Prepares

Design for the Real World
Fixed-Gear Bike
With only one speed, no flywheel, and no brakes, the fixed-gear reduces the modern bicycle to its most basic machinery. Graphic designer and amateur racer Naz Hamid tells why he loves to ride on the wild side. Produced by Jonathan Menjivar.
Read articles about fixed-gear bikes
See Naz Hamid's designs for his Chicago fixed-gear racing crew

Commentary
Batman
Kurt muses on the many failures and one success of the summer blockbuster season.
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