Derek Thompson: The Genius of Shakespeare
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My guest today is Derek Thompson, a Senior Editor at The Atlantic who writes about media, culture and economics in America today.\\xa0
I first discovered Derek\\u2019s writing while researching the state of Hollywood for an essay I was working on last year. Derek cultural observation has stuck with me ever since. Derek wrote that Hollywood audiences are ignoring movies that aren\\u2019t a sequel, adaptation, or reboot. This statistic stuck with me:\\xa0In 1996, none of the top 10 movies were sequels. Twenty years later, in 2016, more than half of the top 10 movies were sequels, adaptations or reboots.
In this episode, Derek talks about his background in acting and his love for Hamlet. Together, we nerd out on the magic of theater and the surprisingly large differences between what happens in the theater and what happens at the movies. Then, we explore taste and culture. We talk about Stewart Brand\\u2019s \\u201cPace Layers\\u201d theory of architecture, Japanese Emperors, what fashion can teach us about the world, and the history of impressionism. We investigate how blockbuster success isn\\u2019t a matter of chance, but a fascinating intersection of power, network science, art, and sheer brilliance.\\xa0
Here\'s my conversation with Derek Thompson.
LinksDerek\\u2019s Book \\u2014 Hit Makers
Show Notes3:45 Derek expresses his appreciation of theater\\xa0
5:51 Derek explains why Hamlet is one of the greatest plays in history
7:08 What made Shakespeare so great?
9:30 Derek discuss the features of Shakespeare\\u2019s writing that make it so timeless\\xa0
9:53 What makes a perfect movie?\\xa0
11:00 Derek discusses some of the best movies and plays written over the last several decades\\xa0
12:15 The key differences and difficulties of getting theater to a screenplay
15:00 The cannon of art has a different meaning now. The real question is \\u201cwhat is the best?\\u201d
17:23: \\u201cWe often conflate familiarity with fact.\\u201d Derek speaks about familiarity and its influence on our perceptions of facts and quality.
17:50 How our modern perception of cannon has changed as we have begun to question and challenge its history and validity
19:30 Our sense of \\u201cgood taste\\u201d and how it\\u2019s defined in the contemporary age
20:19 \\u201cCultural Capital\\u201d and \\u201cCultural Omniscience\\u201d
22:47 The shift of culture from valuing scarcity to valuing familiarity
23:45 Modern celebrity and the rise of \\u201cmanufactured intimacy\\u201d
25:50 Formality, and how its quickly losing its reverence and relevance in modern culture. Why is the world becoming more formal?
28:00 Derek takes a closer look at how informality has affected modern culture, specifically in the case of presidential speeches
31:45 The blurring line between work and home
32:20 How taste is trained or influenced
37:59 \\u201cM.A.Y.A- Most advanced, yet acceptable\\u201d\\xa0
38:56 The sweet spot of familiar and surprising
42:02 Derek picks a point in history he would go back to if he had the chance
50:00 The over-looked and under-rated importance of art history
55:39 Derek delves into the concept of nature vs nurture and the influential and guiding elements of personal development
57:47 Derek talks about his favorite authors.
59:35- How should writers explain complicated ideas?
1:12.04 - Non fiction and journalism compared to the ironic honesty and realism of fictitious writing.
1:07.57 Derek\\u2019s take away thoughts on the craft of writing and shares his strategies for learning and information consumption.
Mentions5:53 Hit Makers: How to Succeed in an Age of Distraction
21:30 Jon Bellion, The Making of Luxury
25:18: A Matter of Taste: How Names, Fashions, and Culture Change
37:03: Raymond Lowey
44:06 Louis XIV
47:28: Beowulf
57:50 Philip Roth
58:39 Jonathan Franzen
58:45 Donna Tartt\\xa0
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