University of California Television (UCTV)
5 HN recommenders · recommended in 7 months, 2014–2025
1:27:37 · 1.3M views · May 22, 2008
Douglas Adams gives a talk at UCSB, recorded shortly before his death, about the odd lives of animals and what they suggest about humanity's future. It draws on his Last Chance to See work and is funny and wide-ranging.
Adams fans repeatedly call it one of his best talks, a funny and moving look at extinction and the environment.
9 comments from Hacker News
Douglas Adams is one of my favorite writers, and intellectuals, ever. If you are like me, you absolutely have to watch this hour-long presentation he gave at UC Santa Barbara in 2001 [0], titled "Parrots, the Universe, and Everything". Mind blowing. His last book, "Last chance to see" [1], which is about endangered species, is heavily related to that talk. I recently learned that Douglas Adams had a chance to play on stage at Pink Floyd's 28 October 1994 concert at Earls Court in London [2], playing guitar on the songs "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse". He's even responsible for the 1994 album name "Division Bell" by Pink Floyd. David Gilmour and Douglas Adams were good friends. Well, what can I say... It sucks that he went away too soon. I'd love to read more of his stuff, and I'd love to know his take on today's world. [0]: this video [1]: [LINK] [2]: [LINK]
I don't know what you categorize it as (I usually call it an "educational standup"), but his last talk before his death "Parrots, The Universe, and Everything" is one of the greatest things I've ever seen. It's very funny, with a lot of interesting anecdotes about his life, with a lot of interesting facts about animals, and he manages to tie the entire thing together with a pretty clever theme about the environment. I genuinely think it's one of the greatest public speeches ever done, at least in the English language. If you haven't seen it, it's an hour and a half long, and it's totally worth it: this video
If you love Douglas Adams, like I do, watch "Douglas Adams: Parrots, the Universe and Everything" [0], if you haven't done so. Heck, even if you did years ago. [0]: this video
Obligatory mention for every fan of Douglas Adams: "Parrots, the Universe, and everything". [0] Watch the whole thing. You will thank me later. [0]: this video
Obligatory mention of one of his most wonderful talks [0]: "Parrots, the Universe, and everything" [0]: this video