Yuval Noah Harari relates his favorite films/TV shows to his life and ideas - in 'Wintergasten'

At the end of 2021, Yuval Noah Harari met with Janine Abbring to explore some big ideas and personal history from the perspective of his favorite films and tv shows. Their conversation includes ‘Inside Out’, ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Please Like Me’ and other screen hits – in this special episode of Vpro’s ‘Wintergasten’ program. Due to copyright restrictions, the cinematic clips discussed in the broadcast are not shown in this video. Instead, they are described below:

06:42 - Once Upon a Time...Man
* A French animated children's TV series from 1978-1979, depicting human evolution – directed by Albert Barillé.
* Scene discussed: A hunt for mammoths is shown as an example of how early human tribes gradually learned to work together to make life more pleasant. It quickly becomes apparent in this scene that some people have a tendency to boss others around, or to take off with the loot – but the message is that the group will eventually make it through working together.
* Watch the beginning of the above scene (the first minute) here: https://youtu.be/AoizqRqUj_w?t=85

17:27 - Game of Thrones
* A 2011-2019 American fantasy TV drama series created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss for HBO – based on the novel series 'Song of Ice and Fire' by George R. R. Martin.
* Scene discussed: Taken from Season 4 Episode 10, this military battle scene shows the protagonist Jon Snow ('the good guy') talking to the leader of the Wildlings (a more anarchistic posse). They suddenly find themselves surrounded by the massive army of another king, Stannis Baratheon, whose cavalry charge at the Wildling encampment and overrun it – led by Stannis and Davos. Mance surrenders and is taken captive on Jon's suggestion.
* Watch the trailer for the entire episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvoBl1158Gg
24:14 - The Big Short
* A 2015 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Adam McKay – based on a book of the same name by Michael Lewis. The film is noted for the unconventional techniques it uses to explain financial instruments.
* Scene discussed: Singer-songwriter Selena Gomez and economist Richard Thaler break 'the fourth wall' to explain the concept of so-called "synthetic collateralized debt obligations", by using the metaphor of blackjack in a casino.
* Watch the film trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgqG3ITMv1Q

37:14 - Inside Out
* A 2015 American animated film – written and directed by Pete Docter for Pixar. The film shows the inner life of an 11-year old girl named Riley, and we spend most of it inside her head – where different emotions are portrayed as characters. The personified emotions that live inside Riley are: Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness.
* Scene discussed: The beginning of the film, where the different emotions are introduced and the basic mechanisms of Riley’s mind and personality are explained.
* Watch the film trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRUAzGQ3nSY&t=76s

47:06 - Her
* A 2013 American romantic sci-fi film by Spike Jonze. The plot follows Theodore Twombly: a man who develops a relationship with Samantha – an artificially intelligent virtual assistant, personified through a female voice.
* Scene discussed: We see Theodore and Samantha out on a date, where she playfully guides him around a fun-fair while he has his eyes closed. She talks about her fantasies and expresses feeling embarrassed.
* Watch the film trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJTU48_yghs

57:07 - Please Like Me
* A 2013-2016 Australian TV comedy-drama series created by Josh Thomas, who also plays the main character, Josh. It presents an honest and humorous portrayal of friendship, love and sexuality – as well as depression, loss and homophobia.
* Scene discussed: Taken from Season 2 Episode 6, where Josh agrees to take his mum, her friend Hannah and Arnold to the zoo. Arnold is closer to Josh's age, and they go to see the meerkats and butterflies together. When they're in the aquarium, Arnold suddenly kisses Josh, who responds positively.
* Watch the trailer for the entire series here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgslJP0MPww

1:10:44 Once Upon a Time...Man
See note on the first clip above.
* Scene discussed: In this very last episode of the series, we see an extremely bleak future for humankind – a polluted earth, crowded cities, conflict and war. Despite the evolution and long history of the earth, humans have managed to ruin almost everything in one short century – polluting the planet and creating an atomic bomb to kill each other with.

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