In Conversation with Harry Shearer: The Simpsons and Political Satire
Sold out but livestream available - details below.
The Intellectual Forum at Jesus College is pleased to host Harry Shearer, the voice of popular characters from The Simpsons including Mr Burns, Smithers, Principal Skinner and Ned Flanders, to share the secrets of the hit satirical cartoon show and to explore the use of political satire in today's fast changing world.
Some of the comical plots in The Simpsons have turned out uncannily accurate. The series predicted a Donald Trump presidency, back in the year 2000. The extraordinary impact of the series was demonstrated by a BBC poll in 2013 in which Homer Simpson was voted the most famous American, beating great statesmen such as Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln. Timely events such as this give us an opportunity to think about where we are as a society.
Tyler Shores, who formerly taught The Simpsons and Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley and is now based at the University of Cambridge, will host Shearer in this hour-long conversation, taking questions from the audience.
The talk will be live streamed on the College YouTube channel and tweeted via @IntellForum using hashtag #simpsonsQA. Tweet your questions or email them to if-coordinator@jesus.cam.ac.uk
