Kurt Vonnegut Live in Second Life on NPR's "The Infinite Mind."

[alexevans917]

So the whole "Second Life" thing, is sort of weird, but when I have this in another tab and am just listening, this is a really solid interview. Nice job.

[robotsluvme]

is reality real

[ljpelicano]

Kurt Vonnegut is a Literary Giant and as a 13 year old in this time of stupidity coming from bill o'reiley, Sarah Palin and so many other wastes of space. We need to all start to have the same outlook as vonnegut. In refering to America, So It goes

[renrengrin]

I had to laugh like hell.

[XmyAssYTmofo]

I own rights to his peephole now.

[dhannyboy86]

@31:29 so funny!

[MrFuznubz]

man kurt was such a genius, i wish i could have met him, he was a super cool guy and i need to read more of his books. may he push up his daisies in peace

[drewskione]

I'm writing a college paper on a document of his this moment. My University has all of his manuscripts and other documents. Life is sweet.

[DanielZKlein]

So it goes.

[a1ina]

you're talking to KURT VONNEGUT, who cares about second life geeezzz

[zabuzarx07]

I've been going through "Welcome to the Monkeyhouse" recently, and I have to say, it's surprising how different his writing was back then. Still fantastic though.

[Googlemonkey8]

Kurt Vonnegut changed my life.

[TheMulder1981]

KURT!! KURT!! KURT!! KURT!! KURT!!!

[Donut117]

lol i cannot get over this

[redeyedwhitewhale]

I have this favorite author who taught me that the purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved. Three years ago he fell and broke his brain and died. So it goes.

[davidvwilliamson]

you got the scansion of the end of the poem wrong: it should be

nice, nice, very nice

so many different people in the same device

[youlosez]

why do I find out about these great authors when they die! I'm a fool for not reading these books at a younger age ;(. I wanted to send him a letter...

[beischquee]

@youlosez ~ I feel the same way, as I started to read him just before he passed.

I wonder where and what became of his students? Such a precious classroom. The guy really was edutainment at its classiest. These, his last recorded words.. He may have understood more about our culture than any historian and perhaps, hella funnier!

[MrFuznubz]

@beischquee OH MY GOD i would love to have him teach me at some point in my life, it would be such an amazing experience.. i am deeply sorry to hear of his passing, but greatfull that i have experienced his works. he is inspirational

[Veritas12]

this man is the cat's pajamas

[Icantseepolla]

Kurt Vonnegut was such a great man - people on this Earth can still learn so much from him. He'll always be my favourite writer. Why doesn't anyone ever talk about 'The Sirens of Titan'?? I've read every Vonnegut novel and that one is forever my favourite.

R.I.P

[UFOBoy99]

@Icantseepolla I love that book so much

[CrimsonToast]

That Ray Bradbury story is from "The Martian Chronicles". Good Book.

[anotherfireinside]

Kurt Vonnegut is consistently the only human who makes me cry. It's sad and wonderful to think about that. He makes me want to write letters.

[TheKevinWalker]

I can't help when reading his work that he and I are more the same. I hope I can eventually learn that with laughter there's less to clean up afterward.

I hope that when he died after such a haunted life, he thought at least "Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.". Although considering the conditions he was probably drugged up saying "Poo dee weet." How fitting an end. Even more fittingly, that made me laugh.

[24thingstodo]

@TheKevinWalker I really don't think "Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt" is suppose to be possible. If it is, it means we've lost our humanity and have agreed to remain impartial to the darker matters of life. It's suppose to be satirical. 

[MissCedarbridge1]

this game is awsome people... Im not sure but I think I know that man

[brucekinses]

I'm not kidding when I say this man is my lord and savior.

[Matt482942]

at such a young age, few books have really changed my outlook on life.

Slaughterhouse Five was one of those.

[zephyrico238]

@Matt482942 for me it was man without a country. that's the first vonnegut book i read.

[podfunk]

We need his books now more than ever. These are dark, dark days for our planet and Kurt understood man's fallibilities as well as any other writer.

[migget159]

this is true. but unfortunately a book won't change anything. maybe if kurt made mtv shows instead....

[VicInNocal]

@migget159 "this is true. but unfortunately a book won't change anything. maybe if kurt made mtv shows instead..."

Ain't that the damn sad truth.

[sousateenager]

Kurt Vonnegut should of won at least a pulitzer. Nobel Prize at gamble. Too bad he won neither... But at least his books live on.

[postalsock]

I disagree the only novels that I really worth anything to the world of literature are cats cradle and slaughter house five.

I take that back his last novel was excellent too.

[philyoufool]

breakfast of champions???

ummm what about his short stories????

harrison bergeron??

welcome to the monkey house???

another one i cant remember the name for that involves playing chess with real people as the pieces,

absolute genius

[BlindCharade]

@philyoufool

or the guy with telekinesis

[HunterMann]

RIP The Infinite Mind, a radio program that brought many years of enjoyment and enlightenment to so many people. What a shame that for every NPR show like this there are hundreds of poorly written TV programs and poorly researched news programs. There truly is nothing better than National Public Radio. My huge thanks to the staff of The Infinite Mind, HM

[TheGreatOne544]

Kurt Vonnegut -- the last great American author.

[lukaspukas1]

This man is a god among all human beings. There will never in the history of the world be another Vonnegut.

[zakkmiester]

You could argue that Vonnegut was a new Mark Twain, and if we repeat that, next time we have a new energy (steam/oil to oil/nuclear) were gonna have a new vonnegut.

Rather unfortunantly, Not in our lifetimes.

[postalsock]

He was not the modern Twain. No man can claim that title.

[kruggerkov]

what the heck!?

[EBKemanon]

There just isn't another like Vonnegut to be found.

The man is just as great if not greater than his books. Incredible.

[trustterry11]

good to know a dead kurt is still sparking- u in the us should build a huge f***** statue to the man- irreplacable and cool as mr rosewater god bless

[schiziodman]

"Listen: Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time."

[knate08]

That's how it begins.

[TheGreatOne544]

So it goes.

[lukaspukas1]

My name is Yon Yonson.

[migget159]

I live in Wisconsin. I work in a lumber mill there. The people I meet when I walk down the street, they ask me my name and I say: My name is Yon Yonson, I live in Wisconsin...

[F33bs]

and so on...

[jackindabox171]

I work in lumber mill there....

[betweenthespleen]

"Pee-too-weet?" Taht's how it ends. I like that better

[marseydotes1941]

This is the best interview I've ever seen/heard/read. Shows what a difference it makes when the interviewer is well informed. Thanks!

[eravulgachris]

He really is well informed and it does keep it together very well. Highly enjoyed this interview myself.

Here's to Kurt.

[54spiritedwill54]

Fascinating. RIP Mr Vonnegut

[cathrynw]

kilgore trout.

[smillar98]

Great public schools with 12 or less students per class.

[littlepoetboy]

Of course you mean fewer, which provides support for better public schools.

[trustterry11]

I found this by accident- so it goes- this is wonderful - a second life and bokonon how it fits. poetry love and life- hocatra sounds just like the matrialistic twat that has made the usa a piraha in international terms. made in the uk

[LauraSeabrook]

But is this a karass or a granfalloon?

[4everhollie]

That is a very good question- I think the presentation is quite interesting but missed the susanne vega clip. Could be a karass but maybe it is more liekly to be a very granfalloon . x

[jbitti]

i do believe he is part of the viewers karass or possibly theyre karass depending on theyre intention. But he may be a wrang wrang- whis is according to bokonon a person who steers people away from a line of speculation. Just a thought.

[NurseDischord]

But of course, there is no karass, as Bokonon is full of foma.

lol.

[moondead]

I ask Jabberwock01

[Hasheteer]

very few people found this wisdom,,,,,he was wise and funny!

love u kurt, and love u trout

and of course pilgrim!

[jabberwock01]

This amateur, puerile animation stuff is not only incredibly long and unimaginably irritatingly, it is an extreme insult to Vonnegut's memory and to the stature of the man in American Lit. In their condescending guide to Vonnegut's work, they actually can only think of the subtitle to Slaughterhouse 5. That's it. So add ignorance. I found this video offensive.

[NutNapalm]

I think it was a Perfect final interview. From his birth in an era where electricity was a rare commodity to a virtual world generated by machines in one lifetime.

Sometimes we have horrible dictators and morons, othertimes, things are good.

[moondead]

how can vonneguts own words be an insult to himself?

[TimRiches]

Hear Hear!

[browncoat3000]

Kurt was a brilliant man, and I disagree, I think he was personally happy. Just disappointed in everyone else.

[lonelyheart49]

Boring

[hocotra]

Vonnegut had fame, wealth, good health to the end of his days and 8 (or 9) healthy children, some of whom grew up to be doctors. Yet he was miserable and bitter.  Happiness is a moral obligation. Vonnegut failed to make himself happy, therefore his life was a tragedy.

[trinthakias]

did u know him personally? .....no?!?!then shut up, Dr. Phil

[moondead]

you know about irony?

[bunnerabb]

"Happiness is a moral obligation."

Is it?

What an abstruse idea.

[DirtyBird760]

i have vista and second life works fine, just needed a video driver upgrade..

[dalriada]

Kurt Vonnegut good. Second Life bad.

[MikeyFlorida]

I don't like Vonnegut.  =/

[Thelostcup]

Most of his books are satire, man.

He's a brilliant writer.

R.I.P Kurt.

[TheOriginalEntz]

I mostly liked him for his analysis of society.

[oddturtle]

I want you to start chanting... in TEXT!

[Visda58]

i have vista and second life works on it. ...sometimes it shuts down my computer, but usually i'm fine.

[simargl]

i can't believe second life still doesn't work in Windows Vista

[abcgi]

simargl wrote: "Marked as spam I can't believe second life still doesn't work in Windows Vista."

It's the other way around: Vista doesn't work with 2nd life!

[simargl]

That doesn't make sense since Second Life is an application that runs inside an OS. Surely they can spend a few months programming a Vista compatible version, if their not already. There are millions of potential new members for them when they get their heads into gear

[fencerlover]

What r u talkin about? It works in Vista...

[max10wonderboy]

what u need exactly to make run second life^?

[DevBlazed]

lol uhm, lol

go to the FLorida sim in SL

[rforce1]

GREAT!!!!

But did you know even SL-Transformers do Yoga:

Search: Transformers Yoga

[ptimusk]

He loved cell phones. And so it goes. A reader of Mr Vonnegut in the 1970's Canada.

[dalcon555]

i like to believe slaughterhouse-5 that kurt vonnegut is not dead hes perfectly fine in another moment in time.... i like to believe that the warrior mind for the counter-culture

[egofatigo]

Fascinating. RIP Mr Vonnegut

[pdxhg]

Thanks for this lovely interview. :)

[spottswood]

userdan577, you may refer to this as bullshit but Vonnegut consented to do a Second Life interview. He was aware of the avatars and was involved in making his own.

[virulentvolition]

word

[indipigment]

I suppose to be such genius, to be so humble is inherent.

[streakyology]

rip kurt you were one of the good guys

[adamnetsky]

great interview.....

[bteusch]

and so on....

[Obleku]

RIP Kurt

[tsokay]

My previous comment was, I mean.

[staphinfection]

Oh man... I love you Kurt. You have turned my into a "thinker" and a reader, and a musician, and a dreamer, and on and on and on.... I hope your dad visited you at your time of death, and you walked on into the light stuck in your most happiest moment ever.

[IrrigatedPancake]

For some reason I never imagined that Vonnegut and O'Reilly could have existed at the same time.

[blueknuckle]

So it goes.

[PoliticalAnalysis]

Thank goodness Vonegut attended this meeting. I did attend in SL, and it was well worth it...

[Drbolla345]

Me too, he really is an inspirational and intellectual person. Devastating about his death, he really was a great philospher and change the aspect of my life. Glad i attended that day in Second Life. Really was worth it, exactly as you say.

[tsokay]

The only proof he ever needed of the existence of God was music.

[tomlubanovic]

That's a funny quote, considering Vonnegut was a staunch atheist.

[tsokay]

That was his wished-for epitaph.

[orwellson]

RIP Kurt Vonnegut. Somewhere, Kilgore Trout listens to a player piano in SlaughterHouse-Five. Or maybe the Monkey House

[MAUL0r1]

he will be missed.

[MCBrash]

he was so awsome

[kungfoofighter66]

he is so fucking awesome

[trexcellent]

kurt is in heaven now.

[DjembeDude]

Good to see someone else respecting his wishes. ;)

[fantasticsnake]

God Bless you, Mr. Vonnegut

[herbdade]

I only looked at this clip last night, and now I see that Kurt has died. I will miss his view and commentary on life.

[ZiggyZen]

Listen: I'm sorry to report that Kurt Vonnegut passed away Wednesday at age 84. God bless you, Mr. Vonnegut!

[colonelmatterson]

R.I.P. Kurt

[Belger143]

Thank You! I would have never seen this had it not been for your posting it! Thank you!

[tautracy]

Very interesting. I enjoyed this very much. Our country is in a sad state of affairs, and unfortunately I don't see much hope in our country either. People don't care, but if they did there would be hope. I want to scream, "Get with it people, and open your eyes." Thank you

[smithvazdan]

Great interview! I've posted it to many friends. How can I save this recording?

[lcmedia]

Thanks for your kind words. If you search for it on Google Video you can download it from there. Best - LCMedia

[Justinpaxton]

but hey, it is pretty cool!

[tokyocooney]

This medium had promise Im sure, but for me it would have been fine as a radio broadcast only.... avatars do nothing for me. While this concept is cool, the oint of seeing someones face is that it ADDS meaning to what they are saying.

[lcmedia]

Thanks for your comment. Please remember, this video represents a 2-D representation of a live event with the same limitations as any 2-D film/video when capturing a live event. For those who were at the live (virtual) event, with Vonnegut, they were able to ask questions of Vonnegut, and discuss with others there. The video is a 2-D way of capturing the event, and as such, things like lip movement become far more apparent than for those who were there live...

[lcmedia]

(Consider, when you attend a concert, can you always see the lips of the singer? Sometime, in an arena, you can barely see them on the stage.) That said, the technology will evolve. (remember, the first films had no sound!) Thanks again for your comment, and best. - LCMedia

[LauraSeabrook]

It is very static isn't it? I viewed the Susanne Vega clip and that was very different.

[gopher001]

no its not

[Eminsmilk]

The guy who introduces this loves his own voice. Shut up! Nobody needs an introduction that long.

[seanomo]

I am very glad I got to watch this. Thank you for posting it.

[MFRedeemerp2]

can i get this recording somewhere?