EPISODE 18: E UNIBUS PLURAM: TELEVISION AND U.S. FICTION (DAVID FOSTER WALLACE) w/ IAN

IN TODAY'S EPISODE OF BIG NATE'S SHORT STORY CLUB, WE DISCUSS ONE OF DAVID FOSTER WALLACE'S MOST FAMOUS AND INFLUENTIAL ESSAYS, E UNIBUS PLURAM: TELEVISION AND U.S. FICTION. IN THIS ESSAY, DFW DISCUSSES THE IMPACT OF TELEVISION ON FICTION, THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION AND LITERATURE, THE NATURE OF POSTMODERN ART AND FICTION, IRONY, METAFICTION, SOCIAL MEDIA, LONELINESS, AND A WHOLE LOT MORE. JOIN YOUR WORLD-CLASS, WORLD-FAMOUS, AND WORLD-RENOWNED HOSTS AS WE JUMP INTO THE BRILLIANT MIND OF DAVID FOSTER WALLACE. PLEASE PROVE IAN WRONG BY RECOMMENDING YOUR MOST LITERARY AND INSIGHTFUL TELEVISION SHOWS AT [email protected]. CHECK OUT MY OTHER SHIT. ⁠⁠BIG NATE'S BOOK REVIEWS (YOUTUBE)⁠⁠⁠BIG NATE'S DISCORD ⁠⁠⁠BIG NATE'S PATREON⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FOLLOW BIG NATE ON INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FOLLOW BIG NATE ON GOODREADS⁠⁠⁠ SHOW NOTES: E UNIBUS PLURAM, PDF (though this online version seems to be missing the footnotes... we both read from 'a supposedly fun thing i'll never do again')

THE MIRROR TEST (MELISSA FEBOS)SOCIAL COMPARISON, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND SELF-ESTEEM (VOGEL, ROSE, ROBERTS, & ECKLES, 2014)

LIBERTY MUTUAL COMMERCIAL

PEPSI COMMERCIAL

CHARLIE DAY MOUNTAIN DEW COMMERCIAL

FOUNTAIN (MARCEL DUCHAMP)

THE TREACHERY OF IMAGES (MAGRITTE)

LANGUAGE-PROCESSING MODELS TRAINED ON LANGUAGE-PROCESSING MODELS

THE CURSE OF RECURSION: TRAINING ON GENERATED DATA MAKES MODELS FORGET (SHUMAILOV ET AL., 2023)

WHY HAS CRITIQUE RUN OUT OF STEAM? (LATOUR)

music by jake young.