wbur.org
support wbur today!
Listen to this show
Doing Nothing
photo

By host Tom Ashbrook:

“Every man is, or wants to be, an idler,” wrote the great Samuel Johnson in 1758. And he surely could have added every woman, too. From Johnson to Jack Kerouac to Ferris Bueller and the great age of Slackers, the appeal of lounging, loafing, goofing off, and vegging out has been huge — always there, snoozing right behind the work ethic.

Now, with the slide into summer upon us, who would not rather go fishin’, hit the beach, catch a wave — loaf. Leave the cubicle and the deadline and the time clock and do nothing, or only what we pleased.

From dharma bums to lazy bums, and unrepentant slackers, hear the great and horizontal history of loafing.

Guests:

Tom Lutz, author of “Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America”

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst, senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly

 
 

Comments are closed.

Recent Shows
The Future of Aging
Thursday, November 5, 2009 image

A surge of new strategies to “manage” aging — from diets to testosterone. We’ll get the story.

Comments [31]
 
Climate, Congress & Copenhagen
Thursday, November 5, 2009 image

The Copenhagen climate conference is one month away. US climate action is going nowhere in Congress. We’ll look at the global implications of America’s domestic climate politics.

Comments [73]
On Point Blog
California, here we come! And we need your questions!

On Point is headed west!
No, no. Not for good. Only for one show. But it’s a very special show!  The NPR station in Thousand Oaks, California – KCLU – is celebrating their 15th anniversary. We’re lucky to have been on their airwaves for nearly seven years, and they invited us out west to host a live [...]

More » | Comments [7]
 
For Love of Science – or Money?

A new study supports the idea that U.S. dominance in engineering and science is threatened — but not for lack of training and education. It has more to do with a lack of social and economic incentives.

More » | Comments [5]
 
Matthew Hoh’s Resignation Letter

Matthew Hoh, a former Marine captain, became the first foreign service official to publicly resign in protest over the war in Afghanistan. The move has generated a lot of reaction. You can read Hoh’s resignation letter, posted by The Washington Post, which reported on it here.
It’s a topic for our news roundtable today. What [...]

More » | Comments [4]