Ep. 34 AARON SORKIN (Part One)

"**Scenes that can only be performed, they can't be read**".   Aaron Sorkin was the inspiration behind this podcast. And his stories have influenced my life over the last twenty years. So in this extended edition, I look behind the scenes at the five scenes which Aaron Sorkin says he is most proud of writing. And for good measure, I add in two scenes which have heavily influenced my life.   I look at Moneyball, as the underdog movie which inspires us all the think differently in order to challenge the status quo. And off the back of a recent Extinction Rebellion interview where the co-founder of the movement made sensational (un-true) claims about climate change, I also take a look at the one and only time Aaron Sorkin decided to address the climate crisis. And no, it's not as dull as it sounds I promise!!   LINKS The News Room v Climate Change - Fact checking the script How can a climate debate be good TV (Marti Noxon) Aaron Sorkin's screenwriting tips How to win a presidential debate according to Aaron Sorkin Behind the scenes on Aaron Sorkin's favourite clips Aaron Sorkin BIO    

"The story doesn't really begin until you've introduced the intention".   He wrote some of the greatest shows that have ever been aired on TV, he has the highest grossing American play in history and he got nominated for an Oscar for his first play, which he wrote on the back of cocktail napkins while he was working in a bar.   He's Aaron Sorkin, and this show features some of his best advice, my favourite scenes and a look behind the scenes at his biggest triumphs and his deepest challenges.     LINKS Behind the scenes with Aaron Sorkin Sorkinism's The Newsroom - Full opening scene [8 mins] Every "What's Next?" in The West Wing Biography of Aaron Sorkin Aaron Sorkin (Wikipedia) The Social Network Aaron Sorkin Interview The Social Network links & credits Aaron Sorkin's top screen writing tips Aaron Sorkin Teaches Screen Writing (Masterclass.com) How To Win A Debate by Aaron Sorkin Newsroom - Critics Review  

"Nothing stays the same and it can't remain the same".   He's been in broadcasting for over 65 years and is regarded by his friends as a 93-year old trapped in a teenagers body. He's the only presenter to win a BAFTA for shows in black and white, colour, HD, 3D and 4K. This episode is devoted to the man who taught us all about the natural world and how we need to take more care of this fragile blue marble that we find ourselves on.   In this extended special edition, I look behind the scenes at what makes him a great presenter and what he thinks are the secrets to his success.   Sir David Attenborough Bio President Obama + Sir David Attenborough Natural History Mastercalss with Sandi Toksvig at BAFTA My favourite Attenborough quotes Brian Cox & David Attenborough on Charles Darwin A tribute to Sir David Attenborough's career Sir David's appearance on Desert Island Discs Jeremy.Earth: "Good Humans, Technology & Climate Change"   My Extinction Rebellion Photos

"Enjoy the journey of life and not just the end game".   He's played a dragon, a sorcerer, a detective, a whistleblower, a coding breaker and an inter-galactic evil genius - and in his first ever stage performance in the nativity as Joseph on at primary school, he pushed Mary off stage because she was taking too long.   So what makes Benedict Cumberbatch tick? What inspires him? And what creative skills can we learn from the characters he's played? This episode looks into all this and more.   SHOW NOTES Benedict Cumberbatch [WIKIPEDIA] 20 Facts about Benedict 52 Things you never knew about Benedict Follow @LettersLive on Twitter Sol Lewitt's letter to Eva Hesse Benedict Cumberbatch at LettersLive [YOUTUBE] Background on the Sol LeWitt letter [Brainpickings] Benedict on acting & inspiration [BLOG] Benedict on pissing off Julian Assange [YOUTUBE] Playing Van Gogh in BBC's Painting with Words Benedict's Top 10 Rules for Success [YOUTUBE] "If I had more time I would have written you a shorter letter" [QUOTE INVESTIGATOR] "If I am to speak for ten minutes...' [QUOTE INVESTIGATOR] Joyce Carol Oates [WIKIPEDIA] MASTERCLASS.com: Joyce Carol Oates   My slightly schizophrenic on-the-fly notes written not long after I woke up   Next on your reading list?   Sol Lewitt's letter to Eva Hesse   This episode's recording dashboard from Backpack Studio   Personality Insights Graph of Matthew McConaughey's Oscars speech via IBM Watson (not John Watson!)   Transcript of Matthew McConaughey's Speech  2 March 2014, Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA   Thank you -- all of these performances were impeccable. In my opinion I didn't see a false note anywhere. I want to thank Jean-Marc Vallee our director. I want to thank Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner who I worked with daily. There are three things that I need each day. One, I need something to look up to, another to look forward to, and another is someone to chase. First off, I want to thank God because that's who I look up. He's graced my life with opportunities that I know are not of my hand or of any other hand. He's shown me that it's a scientific fact that gratitude reciprocates. To my family is to what I look forward to. To my father who I know is up there right now with a big pot of gumbo, he has a big lemon meringue pie over there. He's probably in his underwear and has a big can of Miller Lite and he's dancing right now. To you dad, you taught me how to be a man. To my mother who's here tonight, who taught me and my two older brothers -- demanded -- that we respect ourselves. And in turn we learned we were better able to learn how to respect others. Thank you for that mama. To my wife, Camilla, and my kids Levi, Vida and Mr Stone (Livingstone), the courage you give me every time I walk through the door is unparallelled. You are the four people in my life that I want to make the most proud of me. Thank you. And to my hero. That's who I chase. When I was 15 years old I had a very important person in my life come and ask me 'Who's your hero?' I said, 'I thought about it and it's me in ten years. So I turned 25 ten years later and that same person comes to me and goes, 'Are you a hero?' I said, 'Not even close!' She said why and I said, 'My hero is me at 35.' You see, every day, and every week, and every month, and every year of my life, my hero is always ten years away. I'm never going to be my hero. I'm not going to obtain that and that's fine with me because it keeps me with somebody to keep on chasing. So to any of us, whatever those things are and whatever it is we look up to, whatever it is we look forward to and whoever it is we're chasing, to that I say Amen. To that I say alright, alright, alright. And just keep living, huh? Thank you. Source: https://genius.com/Matthew-mcconaughey-bes...

"Take the things that you love and build on them."   What does Academy award-winning DJ and producer Mark Ronson have in common with marketing hustler Gary Vaynerchuk? Both of them believe that the future belongs to the DJ's.    "Life is not about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself". Bob Dylan   In this episode I take a look at inspirational advice from Mark Ronson about how you can write yourself into the story of something (or someone) you love, and contrast it with practical advice from Gary Vaynerchuk about how exactly you and I can do that. Featuring "cameos" from Bob Dylan and David Bowie, this show is for anyone to wants to re-create their own story by curating someone else's.   Mark Ronson's TED Talk Everything is a Re-Mix (Brilliant short documentary by Kirby Ferguson) Gary Vaynerchuk - "It takes 2 cents to grow a wine show" Vaynerchuk Keynote at Web 2.0 Expo NY (2008)  

"You can change the world just by sharing your story".   This episode marks a watershed moment for me as I take a new career path, inspired in part by many of the conversations we've had on this podcast. In this episode, I look back at a few of my favourite quotes, and look at the ten words (and the three words!) which have changed my life.   If you are looking to embark on a new career path which feels "more you", take on a new challenge which feels or shift your focus creatively, then this might be the episode for you. It's one of the few times I talk about myself a little, bit I assure you there's no ego here - just lots of good advice to help you find your voice and tell your own story a little better.  

"There is no 'I' in team (but there is a 'Me')".   Before Sir David Brailsford took over as performance director for Team GB cycling, they had won 1 gold in 76 years. At the Beijing Olympics they won 8 gold medals with a further 17 at the paralympic games and 59 world championships over the next decade.   What exactly did Sir Dave do? And what can we learn from his performance philosophies? It's not everyone, but in this episode we did into the "Kaizen" of marginal gains - the 1% rule - and look at ways which we might be able to improve the performance of ourselves and the team around us. 

"It's really important to remind ourselves that impossible things happen".     He's flown further and faster than almost any other human. Astronaut Chris Hadfield was the commander of the International Space Station, has travelled 62M miles, is the US Navy AND Air Force's all-time top test pilot and has orbited earth 2336 times. What Chris Hadfield has to teach us about communicating your mission, explaining things simply and learning things REALLY fast is well worth listening to. Fasten your seatbelt!   Chris Hadfield's keynote show reel [VIMEO] The Presentation Secrets of Chris Hadfield [LINKEDIN] Chris Hadfield on NotebooksandBourbon [INSTAGRAM] Chris Hadfield's Masterclass What I Learned From Going Blind in Space [TED] 13 Moments That Changed My Life [YOUTUBE] Space Oddity by CH for Bowie

"We can't save the world by playing by the rules".   In August last year, hardly anyone knew who Greta Thunberg was. A few months later, she's inspiring millions of people to campaign governments around climate change and has been nominated for a Nobel prize. What did Greta do to become so influential in such a short period of time? And what can we learn from the way that she did it? Let's take a look...    SHOW NOTES Greta's story [WIKIPEDIA] How to analyse one of your talks with IBM Watson Nominated for a Nobel Prize Greta's TEDxStockholm Talk [11 mins] @TEDxStockholm on twitter with no idea what's about to happen Per Espen Stoknes on 'Apocalypse Fatigue' Follow Greta on Twitter Photos and placards from the #FridaysForFuture march Kairos - "A supreme moment which one must act..."

"You can change the world just by sharing your story".   In 1997 Steve Jobs took back the reigns of Apple when the company he founded was just three months away from bankruptcy. Fourteen years later Apple become the world's largest brand and went on to become the first trillion dollar company. Beyond the hype, the myths and the cliches, what was it that sparked this legendary turnaround? In this episode, I look behind the scenes of the Think Different campaign to look for answers.     SHOW NOTES Think Different Campaign Crazy Ones (Read by Steve Jobs) Crazy Ones (Original Version) Steve Jobs (private marketing strategy session) Think Simple & Insanely Simple by Ken Segall (books) The story behind the 'Think Different' campaign   The Crazy Ones (Unpublished version) Here's to those who have always seen things differently. The ones who follow a vision, not a path. Where others percieve first as valuable,  you value the first thing that actually matters.  While others are distracted by the new,  you focus on the significance of a whole new take. Even before you could see how, you never doubted  we would change things.  And then we did.  Together.  Again and again, and again, and again… Relentless optimism is what moves the world forward.  So, keep seeing things differently. Keep trusting there is always another way, a better way, a bigger way.  One that lifts up humanity. Breaks down our barriers.  And heals the landscape.  You are the difference between the world as it was  and the better place it will become.  And different is the one thing about us,  that will always be the same.