The Bat of Minerva

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The Bat of Minerva, a regional cable television show based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, engages people in conversation about their lives and ideas. [1] The late night show is produced and directed by philosopher Peter Shea, [2] who interviews participants from behind the camera. [3] The director describes the show as a place to provoke discussion among adults and obtain pleasure from conceptual conversation. [4] Past guests of the show have included scholars, artists, journalists, and thoughtful people in many different life situations, such as an assistant zookeeper, a historical re-enactor, an attorney, a furniture business owner, and a gardener. The name of the show harkens to Hegel’s observation that “Only when the dusk starts to fall does the owl of Minerva spread its wings and fly.”

Contents

Programming history

Peter Shea founded The Bat of Minerva in 1995. [5] The show has since run a regular Sunday midnight spot on Metro Cable Network Channel 6 in the Twin Cities. Some distinguished past guests include Eugene McCarthy, Morton Subotnick, [6] Juliet Schor, [7] Stacy Alaimo, [8] Leigh Fondakowski, [9] Lawrence Venuti, [10] Leonard Marcus, [11] and Juhani Pallasmaa. [12]

In 2006, The Bat of Minerva began to collaborate with Institute for Advanced Study at University of Minnesota to interview scholars and artists visiting or associated with the Institute. [13] The Institute archives the show on its website for public viewing. [14]

In 2010, The Bat of Minerva videotaped the University of Minnesota course “Oil and Water: The Gulf Oil Spill of 2010” and offered the lectures online through the Institute. [15] In 2011, The Bat of Minerva held a special interview series in response to the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the 2011 Mississippi River floods. [16] In 2012-13, Peter Shea did a series of interviews on Minnesota food producers, interviewing farmers, activists, food shelf operators, restaurant owners and workers, and others concerned with the production of food in southwest Minnesota. [17] Shea has also begun a series of interviews with prominent electronic musicians. [18]

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References

  1. ↑ "Here Comes Peter! The Magnificent Peter Shea". marytreacy.wordpress.com. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  2. ↑ http://ias.umn.edu/2005/01/01/shea-peter/ Archived 2013-12-19 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  3. ↑ "Here Comes Peter! The Magnificent Peter Shea". marytreacy.wordpress.com. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  4. ↑ http://ias.umn.edu/2005/01/01/shea-peter/ Archived 2013-12-19 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  5. ↑ http://ias.umn.edu/2005/01/01/shea-peter/ Archived 2013-12-19 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 12 January 2012.
  6. ↑ "Morton Subotnick, February 2007 | Institute for Advanced Study". ias.umn.edu. Archived from the original on 25 October 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  7. ↑ "Juliet Schor, October 6, 2010 | Institute for Advanced Study". Archived from the original on 2012-12-15. Retrieved 2015-04-09.
  8. ↑ "Stacy Alaimo: English Professor on Her Life, 2009 | Institute for Advanced Study". Archived from the original on 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  9. ↑ Peter Shea has interviewed Fondakowski several times. http://ias.umn.edu/2011/12/01/fondakowski-lambert-wortel/ Archived 2013-01-14 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ "Lawrence Venuti, October 27, 2011 | Institute for Advanced Study". ias.umn.edu. Archived from the original on 28 October 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  11. ↑ Shea has interviewed Marcus twice
  12. ↑ "Juhani Pallasmaa, April 15, 2010 | Institute for Advanced Study". Archived from the original on 2015-09-13. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  13. ↑ 2006-2007 Annual Report, http://ias.umn.edu/wp-content/upLoads/2012/07/AR2006-07.pdf Archived 2015-09-09 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ 2010-2011 Annual Report, . Retrieved on 16 January 2012.
  15. ↑ "Here Comes Peter! The Magnificent Peter Shea". marytreacy.wordpress.com. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  16. ↑ 2010-2011 Annual Report, . Retrieved on 16 January 2012. For the Japan in Crisis series, see http://ias.umn.edu/category/bat-of-minerva/japan-in-crisis-2011/ Archived 2013-05-13 at the Wayback Machine . For the Mississippi River Flooding series, see http://ias.umn.edu/category/bat-of-minerva/2011-mississippi-river-flooding/ Archived 2015-09-08 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ http://ias.umn.edu/category/bat-of-minerva/minnesota-food/ Archived 2012-12-17 at the Wayback Machine The interviews are mapped at http://ias.umn.edu/2012/10/10/cadieux-valentine-shea-peter/ Archived 2014-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ "Home | Institute for Advanced Study".
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