To the Best of Our Knowledge

PROMO       2/4/07  "Boredom: The Tedium is the Message"
* Tom Lutz's 18-year-old son, Cody, spent day after day just lying on
the couch. Lutz was surprised how angry it made him that his son was
doing nothing. So Lutz decided to do something about it. He wrote a book
about the history of doing nothing in America. In this hour of To the
Best of Our Knowledge, we'll talk about doing nothing, as we take an
exciting look at boredom.  Also, we'll wax philosophical about boredom,
or "the root of all evil," as Kierkegaard described it.

PROGRAM RUNDOWN:   "Boredom: The Tedium is the Message" 

0:00 - 25:30        SEGMENT 1: (25:30)
            Lars Svendsen teaches philosophy at the University of
            Bergen in Norway and is the author of "A Philosophy of
            Boredom."  He talks with Anne Strainchamps about
            boredom's long, long history. Or maybe it just seems that
            way. Also Jon Winokur has compiled and edited a book
            called "Ennui To Go: The Art of Boredom."  Doug Gordon
            combines some of the famous quotes about boredom with
            some songs about boredom.  And the results are anything
            but boring. And, Ghita Schwartz wrote about "A Case of
            Boredom" for the February issue of "The Believer"
            magazine.  She reads the opening paragraphs of her essay
            and tells Jim Fleming what inspired her to write it.
            
            Segment One Outcue: "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

25:31 - 26:00       LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

26:01 - 38:29       SEGMENT 2: (12:29)
            Augustin De la Pena is a psycho-physiologist who works at
            a sleep disorders center in South Texas, and a leading
            authority on boredom.  He talks with Steve Paulson and
            says boredom is not a trivial problem and that it could
            doom us all. 
                                                  
            Segment Two Outcue: "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

38:30 - 38:59       LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

39:00 - 53:00       SEGMENT 3: (13:59)
            Tom Lutz wrote "Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers,
            Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America."  He tells Steve
            Paulson it was his way of dealing with his teen-age son,
            who never left the couch.
            
            Segment Three Outcue:  PRI Audio Logo


For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for
program number 2-4-B.