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January 30, 2006 5:42 PM Subscribe
Name that Book TV speaker: British author, late 30s/early 40s, spoke about West & rest international politics, looked roughly like a bearded Kevin Kline.
Here's what I remember:
Aired (not necessarily originally) last spring or summer. He was a very well spoken and dressed British author with a beard. I remember him looking like Kevin Kline (actually, at this point, I remember him being Kevin Kline with a English accent... so the entire recollection may be suspect).
I only caught the tail end of his reading/speech and only vaguely remember what I did see, though I'm pretty sure it had a declining West/First World and rising Rest/Third World theme. I don't think it was necessarily presented as an adversarial relationship.
I was very taken with the line of speech, to the point that probably a week later, I spent 10 minuets Googling recollections of it to figure out who he was and what he said (which I did)-- of course I didn't bother to write anything down.
So, I know this is little more then a shot in the dark, but trying to remember this is driving me crazy.
Here's what I remember:
Aired (not necessarily originally) last spring or summer. He was a very well spoken and dressed British author with a beard. I remember him looking like Kevin Kline (actually, at this point, I remember him being Kevin Kline with a English accent... so the entire recollection may be suspect).
I only caught the tail end of his reading/speech and only vaguely remember what I did see, though I'm pretty sure it had a declining West/First World and rising Rest/Third World theme. I don't think it was necessarily presented as an adversarial relationship.
I was very taken with the line of speech, to the point that probably a week later, I spent 10 minuets Googling recollections of it to figure out who he was and what he said (which I did)-- of course I didn't bother to write anything down.
So, I know this is little more then a shot in the dark, but trying to remember this is driving me crazy.
Response by poster: Nope, not Hitchens, though a damn fine guess.
posted by cosmonaught at 6:55 PM on January 30, 2006
posted by cosmonaught at 6:55 PM on January 30, 2006
Do you mean Niall Ferguson? His series American Colossus fits the bill, but he has no beard.
posted by bonaldi at 7:29 PM on January 30, 2006
posted by bonaldi at 7:29 PM on January 30, 2006
Response by poster: Nope, not Niall Ferguson, and definitely had a neatly trimed, but full, beard. Seems to be thematically very similar, though.
posted by cosmonaught at 8:04 PM on January 30, 2006
posted by cosmonaught at 8:04 PM on January 30, 2006
Possibly more Kevin-pollack-with-a-beard-and-brit-accent than kevin-kline-with-a-beard-and-brit-accent, but could it have been Andrew Sullivan?
posted by dersins at 12:30 AM on January 31, 2006
posted by dersins at 12:30 AM on January 31, 2006
Best answer: Could it be Timothy Garton Ash?
He does have a beard, and he did appear on Book Tv on two occasions (checked through their search engine. Can't link to the search results directly, so I'll quote them here in full:
He does have a beard, and he did appear on Book Tv on two occasions (checked through their search engine. Can't link to the search results directly, so I'll quote them here in full:
History of the Present: Essays, Sketches, and Dispatches from Europe in the 1990sposted by funambulist at 1:55 AM on January 31, 2006
from March 4, 2001
Timothy Garton Ash discusses some of the themes of this book, "History of the Present: Essays, Sketches, and Dispatches from Europe in the 1990s." In his book and talk, Mr. Ash reviews some of the major developments on the European continent during the last ten years, placing particular emphasis on the unification of Germany, the collapse of communism, ethnic warfare in the Balkans, and the progress of the European union. After his presentation, Mr. Ash answered questions from members of the audience. The talk was hosted by the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs in New York City.
Free World: America, Europe, and the Surprising Future of the West
from December 24, 2004
Timothy Garton Ash talks about the present and possible future relationship between Europe and the United States. Professor Ash argues that the U.S. and Europe have far more in common than most people on either side of the ocean believe, including many shared values. He says that while this is the case, there is a current struggle in Europe, personified by Tony Blair of Britain and Jacques Chirac of France, between forces that want to increase ties with the U.S. (Blair) and those that want create a powerful counterweight to U.S. power (Chirac). The talk was hosted by the European Forum of the Stanford Institute for International Studies. Includes Q&A.
Response by poster: Timothy Garton Ash it is, thank you funambulist!
I guess I was even more off on the topic then I thought (I saw Free World: America, Europe, and the Surprising Future of the West ), but "Kevin Kline with a beard" wan't that much of a stretch.
Thanks everybody for helping!
posted by cosmonaught at 6:18 AM on January 31, 2006
I guess I was even more off on the topic then I thought (I saw Free World: America, Europe, and the Surprising Future of the West ), but "Kevin Kline with a beard" wan't that much of a stretch.
Thanks everybody for helping!
posted by cosmonaught at 6:18 AM on January 31, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ryanhealy at 6:22 PM on January 30, 2006