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ted.com

12

Nov

2009

Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós

What Icelandic post-rock has to do with astroscience and the gaping sores of law.

We’re big fans of “remix culture” — the mashing up of existing pieces of content (music, film, text, image) into an entirely original creative product. A couple of months ago, A Glorious Dawn — the Carl Sagan / Stephen Hawking remix — made major viral waves, and on Monday it was even released as a single on White Stripes frontman Jack White’s label.

But this actually isn’t the first remix tribute to the great scientist. This week, we saw the resurfacing of another fantastic mash-up, made in 2008 — a remix of Carl Sagan reading from his iconic book Pale Blue Dot to music by Icelandic post-rock duo Sigur Rós, easily one of the most innovative bands of the past decade.

And while this is clearly a lovely tribute to two great innovators in science and art, the irony is that it’s illegal under current intellectual property legislature — yet another illustration of how dated and ill-equipped copyright law is to support, rather than hinder, modern creative culture.

Psst, we’ve launched a fancy weekly newsletter. It comes out on Sundays, offers the week’s articles, and features five more tasty bites of web-wide interestingness. Here’s an example. Like? Sign up.

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  • Brain Pickings Redux: Best of 2009 A year’s worth of ideas, inspiration and innovation from culture’s collective brain. It’s been a colorful and fascinating year here at Brain Pickings. (And if we’ve managed to put some color and fascination into yours, consider supporting us with a small sum of green.) Here’s a look back at some...
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24 Responses

  1. This is what the Internet’s for! 2/3 of my greatest loves, Sagan and Sigur Rós, mashed up. I’m brought to happy tears: http://bit.ly/2okVcb

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    Iridesce on November 12th, 2009 at 8:47 am
  2. Bestill my heart: Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós http://is.gd/4TrJg This has to be my favorite of the Sagan mashups so far.

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    kirstinbutler on November 12th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
  3. Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós: What Icelandic post-rock has to do with astroscience and the gaping sores of law http://bit.ly/n9EDW

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    invisiblepilot on November 12th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
  4. Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós = GENIUS http://is.gd/4TrJg (RT @kirstinbutler)

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    GTello on November 12th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
  5. It has made my day THX! RT @kirstinbutler: Bestill my heart:Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós http://is.gd/4TrJg favorite of the Sagan mashups so far.

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    Anthropologies on November 12th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
  6. RT @kirstinbutler Bestill my heart: Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós http://is.gd/4TrJg Wonderful.

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    IanDouglas on November 12th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
  7. Very moving RT @kirstinbutler: Bestill my heart: Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós http://is.gd/4TrJg This has to be my favorite of the Sagan mashups.

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    ainaabiodun on November 12th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
  8. Very moving RT @kirstinbutler: Bestill my heart: Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós http://is.gd/4TrJg This has to be my favorite of the Sagan mashups.

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    filmfuturist on November 12th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
  9. RT@IanDouglas RT @kirstinbutler Bestill my heart: Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós http://is.gd/4TrJg Wonderful. < childhood memories of Cosmos, sigh.

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    lawscribe on November 12th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
  10. Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós, another wonderful mashup http://is.gd/4Tsjf

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    brainpicker on November 12th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
  11. RT @brainpicker: Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós, another wonderful mashup http://is.gd/4Tsjf

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    rzr on November 12th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
  12. Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós, another wonderful mashup http://is.gd/4Tsjf (via @brainpicker)

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    futurescape on November 12th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
  13. If this Carl Sagan/Sigur Rós mashup doesn’t make your spine tingle, check your pulse (via @brainpicker) http://is.gd/4Tsjf

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    clevahgrrl on November 12th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
  14. Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós, another wonderful mashup http://is.gd/4Tsjf RT @madgestar

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    AdamRutherford on November 12th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
  15. RT @brainpicker: Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós, another wonderful mashup http://is.gd/4Tsjf

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    ricardodiaz11 on November 12th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
  16. rt: @brainpicker Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós, another wonderful mashup http://is.gd/4Tsjf

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    zyOzyfounder on November 12th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
  17. [...] have a look at Maria Popova’s post as well. [...]

    FutureChat — Blog — Pale Blue Dot - Carl Sagan on November 12th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
  18. RT @ricardodiaz11 RT @brainpicker: Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós, another wonderful mashup http://is.gd/4Tsjf

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    dalwolf on November 12th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
  19. Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós, another wonderful mashup. Yes really. (http://is.gd/4Tsjf) (via @AdamRutherford @madgestar)

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    kaythaney on November 12th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
  20. Love Sagan, love Sigur Rós. RT @brainpicker: Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós, another wonderful mashup http://is.gd/4Tsjf

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    Michael_Keizer on November 12th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
  21. RT @brainpicker Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós, another wonderful mashup http://is.gd/4Tsjf

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    AlexandraKE on November 12th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
  22. RT @tweetmeme Carl Sagan + Sigur Rós | Brain Pickings http://bit.ly/2Hc0ld

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    ramanuj_shastry on November 13th, 2009 at 2:05 am
  23. just showed my kids the Sagan/Sigur Rós “Pale Blue Dot” video. Five kids cried! Yay, or Oops? http://bit.ly/2okVcb

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    Iridesce on November 13th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
  24. RT @brainpicker Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot http://ow.ly/1mFIvc

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

    polishchewtoy on November 13th, 2009 at 5:09 pm

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