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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
  • Sit Down and Shut Up

    Wrath to Enlightenment

    Sit Down and Shut Up is part autobiography, part Buddhist philosophy treatise, and part punk rock memoir. Author Brad Warner joins us to talk about the unlikely encounter between punk rock and Zen philosophy. Plus, concert pianist Simone Dinnerstein is earning enthusiastic reviews for her recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations. She performs live in studio.

Punk and Zen

"Long before I was a Zen monk, I was a punk rock bass player." So begins Brad Warner's latest book, Sit Down and Shut Up, a collection of essays on sex, death, God, sin, and more. Warner, a former member of the Akron, Ohio, hardcore band Zero Defects, uses a 13th-century work of Zen literature, Shobogenzo, to explore the punk ethos and Zen philosophy in plain language. We talk with the author about his unusual path to enlightenment.

Brad Warner's web site
Sit Down and Shut Up on Amazon.com
More about Zero Defects

Simone Dinnerstein

Brooklyn-based concert pianist Simone Dinnerstein avoided the child prodigy route in her career – taking her time to mature and avoiding the "competition circuit." Now in her mid 30s, she’s just released a recording of Bach's monumental Goldberg Variations. She performs live in the studio today.

Dinnerstein's Goldberg Variations CD on Amazon.com

The Swell Season in The Greene Space

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Joshua Bell in The Greene Space

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