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November 16, 1985 — see The Complete Peanuts 1983-1986
May 30, 1985 — see The Complete Peanuts 1983-1986
129. MARC MARON: The social media generation
Marc Maron is a comedian and the host of my favourite podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, which is a comedy podcast where Maron interviews not only comedians, but musicians, actors, chefs and artists. His conversations are always engaging, funny, raw and honest. I recommend it especially to those who are pursuing a creative field, as most of his interview subjects have insightful and unique stories about how they became successful. (As you can tell from its title, WTF contains explicit language and is for mature listeners … you’ve been warned!)
Maron’s own success story is worth mentioning. In his 40s, having lived a life of anger, resentment, addiction, failed relationships and burnt bridges, Maron had just gotten fired from a radio gig when he started the WTF podcast as a last, desperate attempt to stay in the comedy game. The podcast not only became incredibly successful, leading to a resurgence in his stand-up career and a television series, but it’s also proven to be his salvation.
I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to do a Maron quote, as I must have listened to hundreds of hours of his voice while working on Zen Pencils. This quote is taken from his latest memoir, Attempting Normal.
RELATED COMICS: Bill Hicks It’s just a ride, Louis C.K. We don’t think about how we talk, George Carlin On assassination (explicit), Henry Rollins Who’s the crazier man?.
- Since my last comic about social media, I think it’s fair to say I’m still totally dependent and addicted to my phone. Who checks their phone as soon as they wake up and while still in bed? I do. Who takes their phone into the toilet with them? Me. It’s gross, but I bet you do it too … don’t lie. Who can’t be alone in public without looking at their phone every five minutes? Yep, me again. While I love social media (it has obviously helped Zen Pencils enormously and it’s incredible how easy I can interact with readers from all over the world), we should also remember some of its negative side effects, as this article points out.
- What are your favourite podcasts? Some of my other recommendations: Hardcore History, The Bugle, The Smartest Man in the World, The Nerdist, Stuff You Should Know, StarTalk Radio and The BS Report.
119. JOHN GREEN: Make gifts for people
John Green (1977-) is an American author and video-blogger extraordinaire. He has written best-selling young adult novels including Looking For Alaska, Paper Towns and the recent The Fault in our Stars, which was named Time magazine’s best fiction book of 2012.
John and his brother, Hank, are the Vlogbrothers. They helped pioneer video blogging when they communicated only through YouTube videos for a year. They’ve since produced a wide variety of video series and have attracted a devoted army of fans known as the Nerdfighters.
I discovered John Green when a reader sent me the link to the awesome Crash Course World History series, which Green hosts and co-writes. The series tells the entire history of civilisation in over forty, very entertaining 10-minute videos. I was totally addicted to it and I highly recommend it. There have since been a Literature series and Green is currently updating a series on American History. For you science buffs, John’s brother Hank has done a biology, chemistry and ecology series. All the videos can be seen on the Crash Course YouTube channel.
This quote is taken from a 2009 Vlogbrothers video. Thanks to Kaley for submitting it
RELATED COMICS: Advice for Beginners by Ira Glass. Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman.
- Green’s official website.
- DFTBA!
UPDATE: You can pre-order this comic as a poster at DFTBA.COM!
Fleshing out the story, but still being succinct. That’s...
Fleshing out the story, but still being succinct. That’s talent!
September 28, 1970 — see The Complete Peanuts 1967-1970
116. CAITLIN MORAN: We’re all dying
Caitlin Moran (1975-) is a British author, TV presenter, music critic, journalist and outspoken advocate for women’s rights. She currently writes a variety of columns (most of which are hilarious) for The Times UK.
Moran was something of a child prodigy. After being home-schooled (she left school after a few weeks when she was 11) she had her first book published at 15, had columns running in the Observer and Guardian at 17 and got her gig at The Times when she was 18.
This quote is taken from her best-selling memoir How to be a Woman. Her new book, Moranthology, has just been released.
Unlike Moran, I went to Catholic School for 12 years where my head was filled with all kinds of fanciful stories that I blindly accepted. Only when I left high-school and starting reading more books about science and evolution (mainly by Carl Sagan) did I begin to re-evaluate what I had been taught for all those years.
RELATED COMIC: Make the most of this life.
- Caitlin Moran’s official website.
- Thanks to Barclay for submitting this quote.
Tira 1671
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