Fahrenheit 451 Still Burns

Imaginary Worlds

Eric Molinsky

Arts, Science Fiction, Fiction, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 June 2018

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The writer Neil Gaiman first became entranced with Fahrenheit 451 as a kid, but he says the novel is the kind of masterpiece that seems like a different story every time you read it depending on where you are in life, or in history. I also talk with novelist Alice Hoffman and various Ray Bradbury scholars about why a book written in the McCarthy era still has a lot to say in the age of "fake news." And we hear from students at a high school in Texas about how Fahrenheit 451 reflects their own struggles fighting hate speech while honoring freedom of speech. A version of this episode originally aired on PRI's Studio 360 as part of their American Icons series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Imaginary Worlds.
0:02.9	A show about how we create them and why we suspend our disbelief.
0:06.5	I am Eric Mullinski.
0:07.5	Uh, yeah, can I wear levels again?
0:10.1	This is me.
0:11.1	This is me talking.
0:12.1	This is me still talking.
0:13.1	Beep-bep, beep-bep, beep-bep, beep-bep, beep-bep.
0:16.2	That is the voice of Neil Gaiman, master of modern fantasy.
0:21.1	But he did not come to the studio to talk about the stuff he's best known for like American
0:25.0	gods or Coraline.
0:27.1	Although I did tell him that when I was a teenager, like many Gen Xers, I had a bit of a crush
0:33.3	on his version of Death from the Sandman comics.
0:36.7	Who to me looked a little bit like a goth'd out when owner-writer.
0:41.1	But the reason he agreed to come in to talk with me is because he's a huge fan of Ray
0:45.1	Bradbury.
0:46.1	I was asked to write the introduction to the 60th anniversary edition of Farenheit 451.
0:55.6	Ray Bradbury and I had known each other at that point for I think over 20 years.
1:03.1	And he had a vivid memory of discovering Farenheit 451 when he was a kid.
1:08.3	And he says he was particularly fascinated by the main character.
1:12.0	He was a fireman.
1:13.5	He burned down houses of people with books.
	...

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