Mayer-Schonberger, Viktor- “Remembering to Forget in the Digital Age, Part One”

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What is the importance that forgetting has played throughout human history? What will be the effects on society, relationships and humanity now that so many aspects of our lives are digitally preserved? Viktor Mayer-Schönberger author of “Delete: The Virtue Of Forgetting In The Digital Age,” and our guest in this archive edition of Radio Curious, has some insight into these questions. He argues that the capacity for eternal memory can have unanticipated and often unwanted consequences. The potentially humiliating content on Facebook forever enshrined in cyberspace and Google’s search memory of the content and time of our all online searches may in the future reveal portions of our past we have entirely forgotten and wished everyone else had too.

In this two part archive edition of Radio Curious with Viktor Mayer-Schönberger we explore some of the ways in which our personal information, data, conversations and experiences are forgotten by us as  individuals. We also consider the future potential effects on society of digitally preserved information, as well as the consequences of remembering what is sometimes best forgotten.

Viktor Mayer-Schönberger spoke with us by phone from his then-home in Singapore on January 4th 2010 and began part one of our conversation by describing how the digital age is shifting the brain’s balance between remembering and forgetting.

The book Viktor Mayer-Schönberger recommends is “Collected Fictions,” by Jorge Luis Borges. The film he recommends is “The Lives Of Others,” directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

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Rep. Sam Farr (D) – “A Visit with Congressman Sam Farr, April 2004″

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This edition’s guest was Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA). We spoke about the access that the Democrats as the minority party have to the microphone in Congress. We also discussed the 9/11 Commission and its investigation, the Patriot Act, the then upcoming Democratic and Republican National conventions, and the election of 2004.

Rep. Sam Farr (D) recommends “Two Americas,” by Stanley Greenberg.

Originally Broadcast: April 13, 2004

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Deborah Koons Garcia– “The Future of Food”

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Director of, The Future of Food

“The Future of Food,” a film written and produced by Deborah Koons Garcia, discusses our food’s conflicting relationship with both mass agri-business and local agriculture. Our discussion was conducted in the context of the passage of Mendocino County’s Measure H, banning growth of GMOs in the county.

Deborah Koons Garcia recommends “Women’s Diaries fo the Westward Journey,” edited by Lillian Schlissel.

Originally Broadcast: April 25, 2004

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Dr. Abraham Morgantaler – “Viagra: Is it for You?”

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The Viagra Myth: The Surprising Impact on Love and Relationships

Viagra, a drug with infinite name recognition and touted benefits, is, as we know, pervasively advertised on television and the Internet. But what is the truth and what is the fiction about this drug. These and other questions about increasing expectations of sexual performance and pleasure are answered by Dr. Abraham Morgantaler, an associate clinical professor at Harvard Medical School and the author of “The Viagra Myth: The Surprising Impact on Love and Relationships.”

Dr. Abraham Morgantaler recommends “Why I Can’t Get Through To You,” by Terrance Real.

Originally Broadcast: March 23, 2004

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Brooke Kroeger – When People Can’t Be Who They Are

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Passing: When People Can’t Be Who They Are

“Passing: When People Can’t Be Who They Are,” was written by Brooke Kroeger, an Associate Professor of Journalism at New York University. Her book reveals why many ‘passers’ today are people of good heart and purpose whose decision to pass is an attempt to bypass injustice and to be more truly themselves.

Brooke Kroeger recommends “Middlesex,” Jeffrey Eugendies, “Amerca’s Women,” by Gail Collings & “They Marched Intro Sunlight,” by David Marinis.

Originally Broadcast: February 17, 2004

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Robert Benton- “The Human Stain”

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Director of, The Human Stain

Robert Benton is the director of “The Human Stain,” which is based on the third novel of Philip Roth’s trilogy describing the turmoil of post-WWII America. It exposes the life of Coleman Silk, a Professor of Classics at a small New England College, an eminent Jewish intellectual and a devoted husband. Roth describes Silk as “ensnared by a history he hadn’t quite counted on.”

Originally Broadcast: November 1, 2003

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Rep. Mike Thompson– “A Visit with Congressman Mike Thompson, November 2003″

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Our guest in this program is Congressman Mike Thompson, who represents Mendocino County in the House of Representatives. He expressed his frustration with the way the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives controls the House, in the first fully Republican government in the US since 1953.


Rep. Mike Thompson recommends “Fire,” by Sebastian Junger.

Originally Broadcast: November 18, 2003

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David Corn– “Does President Bush Lie?”

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This episode was first broadcasted on November 25, 2003

The Lies of George W. Bush, Mastering the Politics of Deception
According to David Corn, the author of “The Lies of George W. Bush, Mastering the Politics of Deception,” all American Presidents have lied, but George W. Bush has relentlessly abused the truth. Corn, the Washington editor of The Nation, offers a scathing indictment of Bush, as he reveals and examines the deceptions at the heart of the Bush presidency.

David Corn recommends “Roscoe,” by William Kennedy & “All the King’s Men,” by Robert Penn Warren.

Originally Broadcast: November 25, 2003

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Edward Fiske– “The College Admissions Process”

This episode was first broadcasted on September 16, 2003.

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The Fiske Guide to Colleges

Edward B. Fiske, the education editor at the New York Times, is the author of “The Fiske Guide of Colleges.” His book attempts to demystify the college application process and provide strategies to choose where and how to apply for a course of higher education.

Edward Fiske recommends “The Ladies Number One Detective Agency,” by Andrew McCall Smith & “The Cairo House,” by Samia Sarageldin.

 

Jennifer Finney Boylan – “A Man Becomes a Woman”

This episode was first broadcasted on August 5, 2003.

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She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders

“She’s Not There:A Life in Two Genders,” by Jennifer Finney Boylan, is a book about a man who became a woman.For as long as he could remember, James Boylan felt he was in the wrong body.Spending his childhood playing ‘Girl Planet’ (where the air turned anyone who breathed into a girl) and in adolescent and young adult years dressing up in women’s clothing, James was convinced that the only thing that could save him was the love of the right woman.When he fell in love and got married, he threw out the women’s clothes and pledged his life to manhood.But being a loving husband, a responsible father, a respected professor, and an acclaimed writer couldn’t stop the feeling that he was, despite physical evidence to the contrary, a woman.With the unfailing support of his family, friends and several doctors, James became Jenny.

The book Jennifer Finney Boylan recommends is “Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain.

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