Episode 16: Literature for Aliens, and How to Be Perfect
Our hosts have ideas about what sort of books should have been included on the Voyager spacecraft, to support its heartwarming mission of spreading humanity to the stars. Would you have just sent the aliens your favorite book? Because maybe they don’t have the context to understand what a “Da Vinci Code” even is. And speaking of putting a lot of pressure on a book, TV creator Michael Schur’s How to Be Perfect put that pressure on itself. Philosophical ethics never sounded so good.
How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur
Works cited this episode:
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, William Shakespeare
Bridgerton series, Julia Quinn
Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk
Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Shawshank Redemption, Frank Darabont
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Ride of the Valkyries, Richard Wagner
“Queen of the Night,” The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
“Johnny B. Goode,” Chuck Berry
The Three-Body Problem, CIxin Liu
Contact, Carl Sagan
The Art of War, Sun Tzu
Silo, created by Graham Yost
Fox in Socks, Dr. Seuss
The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss
Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss
Galaxy Quest, dir. Dean Parisot
The Tragedy of King Lear, William Shakespeare
The Office, developed by Greg Daniels
Parks and Recreation, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur
The Good Place, created by Michael Schur
The Apology of Socrates, Plato
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, dir. Stephen Herek
The Simpsons and Philosophy, William Irwin, Mark T. Conrad, Aeon J. Skoble, editors
Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts, David Baggett, Shawn E. Klein, William Irwin, editors
The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy, Luke Cuddy, editor
Jimmy Buffett and Philosophy, Erin McKenna, Scott L. Pratt, editors
Radiohead and Philosophy, Brandon W. Forbes, George A. Reisch, editors
Chicken Soup for the Soul, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig