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Kibayasu posted:So basically every network needs their own version of Naked News and suddenly everyone will pay attention. I know you're being tongue-in-cheek but the critical difference is that John Oliver finds a humorous way to rephrase the story, while Naked News slathers boobs over the top of boring AP boilerplate and calls it a day. The critical factor that is needed desperately in modern news is relevance, analysis, and context. Not just recitation of some facts and "Dems say this, Repubs say this" read by a guy with a great voice.
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Apr 7, 2015 23:33
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Speaking more generally, it amazes me that John Oliver gets away with hosting such a preachy show, calling it comedy and getting the audience to respond to it. I personally don't think the show is very funny most of the time, especially since half the "humor" comes from awkward interruptions in his sermon in which he we know he's telling a joke because he's shouting dialogue (seriously, his non-sequitur asides sometimes remind me of Family Guy "remember that time when?" bits), but I still enjoy the show because I'm a political nerd who largely agrees with most of what he's saying and I'm happy to see these issues being discussed on television.
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Apr 7, 2015 23:47
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Sinteres posted:awkward interruptions in his sermon in which he we know he's telling a joke because he's shouting dialogue (seriously, his non-sequitur asides sometimes remind me of Family Guy "remember that time when?" bits) This is my least favorite part of the show, for sure. It's fortunately very minor, though. I can't think of any examples off the top of my head, but a random outburst like "You can't spell selfie without self, prussia! You just can't!" while looking off to the side and maybe doing a  I don't remember him doing that very often in the old Bugles, but he has started doing it in the newer ones.
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Apr 8, 2015 00:22
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ACES CURE PLANES posted:Well, if you're interested, he actually did a TED talk at one point, and it's worth watching. I can understand why no one has seen this as TED talks are stupid. Sinteres posted:Speaking more generally, it amazes me that John Oliver gets away with hosting such a preachy show, calling it comedy and getting the audience to respond to it. I personally don't think the show is very funny most of the time, especially since half the "humor" comes from awkward interruptions in his sermon in which he we know he's telling a joke because he's shouting dialogue (seriously, his non-sequitur asides sometimes remind me of Family Guy "remember that time when?" bits), but I still enjoy the show because I'm a political nerd who largely agrees with most of what he's saying and I'm happy to see these issues being discussed on television. He is getting away with it because it's taking an issue, boiling it down to a 14 minute or so youtube clip that everyone watches and then creates thinkpieces for the rest of the week. It's honestly an interest approach to issue based reporting.
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Apr 8, 2015 00:22
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Naylenas posted:This is my least favorite part of the show, for sure. It's fortunately very minor, though. Those annoy me too, but I guess the writers feel like that's the easiest way to work in jokes about issues which are otherwise pretty serious and kind of hard to actually make topical jokes about without just being pure satire (which is good, but also depends a lot on a previous understanding of the issue that is being satirized to really be funny).
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Apr 8, 2015 00:28
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The Cheshire Cat posted:Those annoy me too, but I guess the writers feel like that's the easiest way to work in jokes about issues which are otherwise pretty serious and kind of hard to actually make topical jokes about without just being pure satire (which is good, but also depends a lot on a previous understanding of the issue that is being satirized to really be funny). My favorite part about the show is that it doesn't have to be as topical and beholden to the 24 hour news cycle as TDS. While I think TDS deserves a lot of credit for paving the way for this show (half-joking reason: Jon Stewart not being funny anymore makes it easier for Oliver not to be funny now), I think its and Colbert's deconstruction of cable news served about as much of a purpose as they can. Stewart was obviously political, but he was mostly limited to responding to or issuing his own hot takes on the item of the day, most of which ends up being poo poo nobody cares about after the OUTRAGE passes. Oliver's freedom from that constraint allows him to focus on bigger issues that are far more timeless, so they'll remain relevant and don't actually feed into the problem TDS was both criticizing and contributing to. Maybe none of that ends up mattering in the long term either, but it at least feels like a more sincere attempt to educate people and do some good, as sickeningly idealistic as that sounds when talking about an ostensible comedy show.
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Apr 8, 2015 01:03
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Also as long as time is devoted to space gecko sex, salmon cannons, Jeff the Diseased Lung, and breakdancing Lincoln; it will stay funny.
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Apr 8, 2015 01:05
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Sinteres posted:Speaking more generally, it amazes me that John Oliver gets away with hosting such a preachy show, calling it comedy and getting the audience to respond to it. I personally don't think the show is very funny most of the time, especially since half the "humor" comes from awkward interruptions in his sermon in which he we know he's telling a joke because he's shouting dialogue (seriously, his non-sequitur asides sometimes remind me of Family Guy "remember that time when?" bits), but I still enjoy the show because I'm a political nerd who largely agrees with most of what he's saying and I'm happy to see these issues being discussed on television. It's a thin line he's striding for sure. John Stewart killed it back in 2004 with his infamous Crossfire interview and both he then, and OIiver now, will insist that they will research such and such topic thoroughly in order to better serve the comedy but disclaimer: they aren't journalists. So be it. I'll give Oliver props this week because he's covering something damned important to me but I'll equally criticize, and accept criticism, if he absolutely botches something while proclaiming to be an authority in the future. You're a comedian with some investigative chops or a journalist that I can respect, full stop.
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Apr 8, 2015 04:47
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Seriousness and respectability are assets when it comes to relaying facts. They're irrelevant or even impediments to telling truth--that's good news for comedians doing journalism. Facts are for encyclopedias; truth is what journalists are supposed to do.
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Apr 8, 2015 05:27
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sbaldrick posted:I can understand why no one has seen this as TED talks are stupid. Just proving John's point. Alternatively, just pretend I quoted this in response. Megaman's Jockstrap posted:Because nobody gives a poo poo unless it's put forward to them in a funny engaging package that apes the entertainment they enjoy spending their leisure time on.
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Apr 8, 2015 06:30
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ACES CURE PLANES posted:Just proving John's point. Alternatively, just pretend I quoted this in response. No, most TED talks really are stupid. It is just watching the speaker mentally masturbate on stage while everyone in the audience pretends it is insightful. He may as well just been on some radio morning talk show with shock jocks.
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Apr 8, 2015 07:05
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Orange Devil posted:He also did a whole bunch of interviews. Seriously how can you never have heard this man speak He was probably one of those people in times square last week tonight interviewed.
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Apr 8, 2015 07:09
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Grinning Goblin posted:No, most TED talks really are stupid. It is just watching the speaker mentally masturbate on stage while everyone in the audience pretends it is insightful. He may as well just been on some radio morning talk show with shock jocks. Because you can easily get 30+ minutes uninterrupted on AM radio. You have to be smart enough to appreciate the talk.
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Apr 8, 2015 07:10
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Mescal posted:Seriousness and respectability are assets when it comes to relaying facts. They're irrelevant or even impediments to telling truth--that's good news for comedians doing journalism. Facts are for encyclopedias; truth is what journalists are supposed to do. This reminds me of a thing Stewart Lee likes to do, which is tell a long story about a public figure while sounding very sincere and telling everyone it is true, then ending it with "Now, that story is not true. But I feel like what it tells us about X is true." Also, as a generally informed person let me just say: most TED talks are in fact stupid.
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Apr 8, 2015 07:15
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Orange Devil posted:Also, as a generally informed person let me just say: most TED talks are in fact stupid. Most people are stupid, but a handful will open your eyes to a view you never considered or show you things you never considered possible. Kill them all!
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Apr 8, 2015 07:28
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Grinning Goblin posted:No, most TED talks really are stupid. It is just watching the speaker mentally masturbate on stage while everyone in the audience pretends it is insightful. He may as well just been on some radio morning talk show with shock jocks. WTF is this? Did Irish Joe change his username?
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Apr 8, 2015 08:19
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xcore posted:WTF is this? Did Irish Joe change his username? No, but I thought it was common knowledge that TED Talks were nothing more than a scam to rip off billionaires by presenting the inane blatherings of vapid douchebags as "inspirational" and "forward looking."
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Apr 8, 2015 11:56
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They mostly are but there are a few diamonds in the rough. And honestly, if it will part a few billionaires from their money for a potential good cause, I don't see a problem with that.
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Apr 8, 2015 12:00
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TED talks are terrible. I'll never say this again but Irish Joe is right.
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Apr 8, 2015 15:01
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I agree with Irish Joe sometimes. Usually when I'm being a dick about something, but in this case he's right.
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Apr 8, 2015 15:03
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Irish Joe posted:No, but I thought it was common knowledge that TED Talks were nothing more than a scam to rip off billionaires by presenting the inane blatherings of vapid douchebags as "inspirational" and "forward looking." Wait, billionaires will give me money to give a power point presentation about how breakfast makes us happy? I thought everyone just got up there and talked for free.
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Apr 8, 2015 15:06
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No Butt Stuff posted:Wait, billionaires will give me money to give a power point presentation about how breakfast makes us happy? I think TED X is the free one? Not sure as they all suck for the most part.
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Apr 8, 2015 15:09
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The REAL Goobusters posted:He was probably one of those people in times square last week tonight interviewed. The thread seems to be filling up with folks who got interviewed.
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Apr 8, 2015 15:23
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I used to like TED Talks until I realized they were basically saying nothing in as many words as possible.
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Apr 8, 2015 15:44
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IRQ posted:I think TED X is the free one? Not sure as they all suck for the most part. Tedx is like the low-rent franchise version that anyone can do anywhere. The parent organization had to crack down on Tedx at some point because it started to get overrun with homeopaths, psychics, crystal healers and the like.
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Apr 8, 2015 16:05
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Veskit posted:TED talks are terrible. I'll never say this again but Irish Joe is right. Pretty much. The idea behind them is neat, but it seems like a lot of them are attempts to be inspiring that don't actually pan out very much. Kind of like those news stories that will "change your life" but you forget about them an hour later.
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Apr 8, 2015 16:44
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TED is an interesting idea in that they where originally meant to be a Salon for the modern age, but they never work like that in real life.
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Apr 8, 2015 17:01
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TED talks are stupid but not because the talks themselves are empty or contentless, but because of the philosophy they implicitly espouse: the "one clever trick" approach to solving the world's problems. That what we really need to solve XYZ is the right billionaire pet project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo5cKRmJaf0 (just found this and watching it now) SurgicalOntologist fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Apr 8, 2015 |
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Apr 8, 2015 17:19
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TED talks were awesome before anyone had heard about them and they were this niche tech-heavy thing. Then it leaked and everyone dogpiled and now they're a huge gob of shyte.
MikeJF fucked around with this message at 17:28 on Apr 8, 2015 |
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Apr 8, 2015 17:22
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lNPBtYDDKg
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Apr 8, 2015 17:27
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SurgicalOntologist posted:TED talks are stupid but not because the talks themselves are empty or contentless, but because of the philosophy they implicitly espouse: the "one clever trick" approach to solving the world's problems. That what we really need to solve XYZ is the right billionaire pet project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixgp9c_sGv4
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Apr 8, 2015 17:31
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SurgicalOntologist posted:TED talks are stupid but not because the talks themselves are empty or contentless, but because of the philosophy they implicitly espouse: the "one clever trick" approach to solving the world's problems. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAFcV7zuUDA Keep in mind that people in the audience paid hundreds of dollars for the privilege of seeing this in person.
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Apr 8, 2015 17:46
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SurgicalOntologist posted:TED talks are stupid but not only because the talks themselves are empty or contentless, but moreso because of the philosophy they implicitly espouse: the "one clever trick" approach to solving the world's problems. That what we really need to solve XYZ is the right billionaire pet project. Fine, fixed.
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Apr 8, 2015 17:57
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smg77 posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAFcV7zuUDA Not sure I see what your point is. This man is saving lives.
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Apr 8, 2015 19:49
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No joke that was the most useful TED talk I've ever seen, I had been living in shoe lace sin my whole life an never knew it.
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Apr 8, 2015 21:00
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Sturgeon's Law definitely applies to TED Talks. Some of them are absolutely gold (most of the ones that NPR air are pretty informative), but they're hidden amongst a sea of useless ones.
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Apr 8, 2015 21:18
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Clearly I haven't watched many TED talks then because every one I have watched I've enjoyed. Obviously it's the gems that are getting recommended to me.
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Apr 8, 2015 23:15
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xcore posted:Clearly I haven't watched many TED talks then because every one I have watched I've enjoyed. Obviously it's the gems that are getting recommended to me. A lot of them are geared towards the audience, many of whom are filthy rich investors. Also the entire TED talk organization is weird as poo poo. On a Joe Rogan podcast a chef who did a TED talk said they gave him a huge list of what he could and could not do, forced him to stay in their motel, gave him 12-15 hour schedules he had to follow to a T every day, and when he wanted to take some personal time (a few hours to go relax offsite) they booted him from TED. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FNenJN4484 It's Eddie Huang, the author of the Fresh Off the Boat source book who likens the TED experience as cult-like.
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Apr 8, 2015 23:26
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xcore posted:Clearly I haven't watched many TED talks then because every one I have watched I've enjoyed. Obviously it's the gems that are getting recommended to me. There's two layers to TED talks. The big ones which are actual TED talks tend to be about things that sound awesome to the layman but don't hold up under close scrutiny. Then there are the TEDX talks which are even more fringe and tend to be complete wackos that you shouldn't give the time of day to.
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Apr 8, 2015 23:41
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Mavric posted:No joke that was the most useful TED talk I've ever seen, I had been living in shoe lace sin my whole life an never knew it. If you found the shoe lace video helpful this one will blow your mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FMBSblpcrc
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Apr 9, 2015 01:17
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