What if The Godfather had been shot without Marlon Brando? (It almost happened.) Or without Al Pacino? (It almost happened too .) Or without Francis Ford Coppola? (Yup, even that almost happened as well.

It’s not often that The New Yorker does the gadget review. But here we have one — Nicholson Baker breaking down the Kindle. The upshot? He’s not a big fan. Why? Let me give you some of the money quotes.

Vintage video…

Is Wally Wallington onto something?

Thanks Jillian for sending this one along…

Ira Glass, host of the beloved radio show This American Life, offers a helpful reminder that excellence doesn’t come automatically. It takes effort, years of it. And he revisits some of his early radio work in order to prove it.  A good reminder for anyone with serious artistic or creative ambitions.

Over the past two years, Yale has released fifteen free “open courses.” Initially, these courses were only available through Yale’s web site and later YouTube. Now, they’re also accessible through iTunesU — which means that you can put these courses on your iPod with relative ease.

Here we have philosopher Daniel Dennett applying Darwinian thought to human thinking, all of which gets him into the intriguing concept of “memes,” infectious ideas that can subvert our survival instincts and threaten whole cultures. It’s another good bit of thinking from TED Talks.

The whole mini-controversy surrounding Amazon’s deletion of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm from Kindle accounts reminded me of something. Over at the Internet Archive, you can find 1984 available as a free audio book. And, nicely, the recording is professionally done. You can download the full zip file here.

For lifelong learners, courses on Ancient Greece and Rome always remain in steady demand. While these courses are poorly represented in undergraduate programs (at least in the States), they’re popular in continuing education programs designed for older students.

In a quick 59 seconds, David Lynch tells you the films and filmmakers that he likes best (see below). In equally succinct videos, though with a bit more salty language (read: language that’s not ideal for work), Lynch also gives you his thoughts on product placement and the whole concept of watching a movie on an iPhone.