In my class today, celebrated science journalist Alister Doyle shared an insight that crystalized for me a line of thinking I’ve been exploring about media attention, celebrity and charity.
Radio host John Hockenberry introduces the first day of the Media Lab’s spring sponsor meeting. He suggests that the lab is an “infectious idea”, a way of working and thinking that spreads well beyond the walls of the building.
I am telling you that I do not speak Mandarin, I do not speak Cantonese, I have only a passing familiarity with Chinese culture and to call what I have a passing familiarity is an insult to Chinese culture—I don’t know fuck-all about Chinese culture.
