He has won several awards for his work, among them the International Prize and the shore and the esteemed journalism award. The publication he writes for and within new york review of books, new yorker, New York Times and the guardian, which the guardian recently published a highly learned and highly entertaining review of the British Museum exhibition and leisure in japanese art. Japan 1863 to 1964. In the year zero, most of which he wrote while he was a fellow 2012e center in 2011 and to the serious envy of the fellows that he was so productive. He has produced a billion brilliant portrayal of the world emerging from the devastation and unspeakable horrors, thetacle skeptical about idea that we can learn much from history, he nonetheless wanted to know the end including his own father went through. For it helped him make a sense of himself and indeed all of our lives in the long dark shadow of what came before. Zero magnificent in its modesty and the Financial Times describes it as e
[laughter] guest i think we have so little perspective on this moment that it is quite impossible to say. I think the perception that many people in the United States and, of course, also around the world have that this is an extraordinary uni shall time is something that we are in a time out of time will be a curiosity in the future. People will look back and wonder about that very sense i think it is kind of an interesting phenomenon. I think that will be studied. Host when you think about today, do you compare it to any other period in history . Guest no, you know, as a historian, im interested in analogies. I think we have a cognitive tendency to enjoy analogies to find one thing to be like another, all the time, just in the same way, you know, im the kind of person that sees likenesses in family members. I look at a new baby and say oh that looks just like great grandma so and so. But at the same time, even as i say that, i recognize that a lot of that is my need for familiarity.
Welcome to the 2020 National Book festival. And our conversation with two distinguished guests who join us in honor of the centennial celebrations of american author and space age visionary rate bradberry a master storyteller whose legacy exemplifies the festivals theme of american ingenuity. I am john, director of the center for bradberry studies at Indiana University school of liberal arts. Red berries encouragement led to the creation of the center will re preserve his entire home office, a lifetime of words and mementos of the papers correspondence and working library that remained in his home at the time of his passing in 2012 part his remarkable career spans seven decades. He grew up in the great depression. His family, his father had to take the family all the way from illinois to los angeles to find work in rate bradberry was never able to go to college. He developed a great style, his own unique lyric, metaphor rich style. In his own kind of subjects writing fantasy, weird tal
In the Manuscript Division of the library of congress. Cheryl this exhibition jacob riis revealing how the other half lives is a copresentation with the museum of the city of new york. It is the first time that the collections of the library of congress and the jacob riis papers have been married with the photographs that are in the stellar collection at the museum of the city of new york. We picked the word copresentation very carefully because the exhibition here actually follows an exhibit that was at the museum of the city of new york and that exhibit was called jacob riis revealing new yorks other half was slightly different. It looks at riis in a slightly different way, and sort of concentrating more on his biography, more on his photography. Here we are looking at riis as the journalist, because that is the strength of our collection. The papers here, which number 3000 in the Manuscript Division, are really featured well in this exhibition and sort of come to the forefront. Barb
So little perspective on this moment, its quite impossible to say. I think the perception that many people in the United States and of course also around the world have that this is an extraordinary unusual time something we are the time out of time, will be curiosity in the future people will look back and wonder about that very wonderment i think its an interesting phenomenon. When you think about today do you compare it to any period in history . Jill lepore as a historian im interested in analogies we have a cognitive tendency to enjoy analogies to find d one thing to be like another all the time. Just in the same way and the kind of person that sees likenesses and family members, and look at a new baby and say, that looks just like great grandma someone so. Have the same time, even as they say i recognize a lot of that is minded perception, my need for familiarity. I think there has been for most of my career as a historian the question to ask historians is what time is this like.