Laurie Anderson's Norton Lectures Now Available to Watch Again

Browse by:
Year
Browse by:
Publish date (field_publish_date)
Submitted by nonesuch on
Article Type
Publish date
Excerpt

All six parts of Laurie Anderson's Norton Lectures, Spending the War Without You: Virtual Backgrounds, are now available to watch again indefinitely. Given virtually over the course of the year on Zoom through the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard, the series examines the challenges faced by artists and citizens alike as culture is reinvented. "I tried to create, over these six talks, something that would be useful to you, a kind of portable philosophy," Anderson says in her introduction. "And you can tell me if that worked at all." You can watch it all here.

Copy

All six parts of Laurie Anderson's Norton Lectures, Spending the War Without You: Virtual Backgrounds, are now available to watch again indefinitely. Given virtually over the course of the year on Zoom through the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard, the series examines the challenges faced by artists and citizens alike as culture is reinvented. "I tried to create, over these six talks, something that would be useful to you, a kind of portable philosophy," Anderson says in her introduction to the complete series. "And you can tell me if that worked at all." You can watch the introduction and all six lectures below via the Center's YouTube channel.

"Anderson plays Zoom like an instrument," writes Harvard Magazine's Lily Scherlis. "Holed up in her studio with a greenscreen and an arsenal of iPads, she composes and performs a complete audiovisual experience."

The Charles Eliot Norton Professorship in Poetry was endowed in 1925. Harvard’s preeminent lecture series in the arts and humanities, the Norton Lectures recognize individuals of extraordinary talent who, in addition to their particular expertise, have the gift of wide dissemination and wise expression. The term "poetry" is interpreted in the broadest sense to encompass all poetic expression in language, music, or the fine arts.

featuredimage
Laurie Anderson: Norton Lectures 2021
  • Wednesday, December 15, 2021
    Laurie Anderson's Norton Lectures Now Available to Watch Again

    All six parts of Laurie Anderson's Norton Lectures, Spending the War Without You: Virtual Backgrounds, are now available to watch again indefinitely. Given virtually over the course of the year on Zoom through the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard, the series examines the challenges faced by artists and citizens alike as culture is reinvented. "I tried to create, over these six talks, something that would be useful to you, a kind of portable philosophy," Anderson says in her introduction to the complete series. "And you can tell me if that worked at all." You can watch the introduction and all six lectures below via the Center's YouTube channel.

    "Anderson plays Zoom like an instrument," writes Harvard Magazine's Lily Scherlis. "Holed up in her studio with a greenscreen and an arsenal of iPads, she composes and performs a complete audiovisual experience."

    The Charles Eliot Norton Professorship in Poetry was endowed in 1925. Harvard’s preeminent lecture series in the arts and humanities, the Norton Lectures recognize individuals of extraordinary talent who, in addition to their particular expertise, have the gift of wide dissemination and wise expression. The term "poetry" is interpreted in the broadest sense to encompass all poetic expression in language, music, or the fine arts.

    Journal Articles:Artist NewsVideo

Enjoy This Post?

Get weekly updates right in your inbox.
Thank you!
x

Welcome to Nonesuch's mailing list!

Customize your notifications for tour dates near your hometown, birthday wishes, or special discounts in our online store!

Related Posts

  • Thursday, April 9, 2026
    Thursday, April 9, 2026

    Trumpeter/composer Ambrose Akinmusire and guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson's album Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings is due June 12 on Nonesuch. It features four new compositions by each musician plus one collaboration; you can hear the track "Soundcheck" now. The duo, long admirers of each other’s musicianship, began playing together periodically back in 2009. They rehearsed the music on Slo-Mo Neon Luminate Hoverings in January 2025, just before performing it at the NYC club The Stone; they recorded the album the next day at Sear Sound. “I think it’s partly a shared aesthetic and an ease of communication. I feel comfortable to try whatever,” Halvorson says. Akinmusire concurs, “I think it’s rare to find an improviser that all goes and nothing has to go at all. It’s rare to feel like you don’t have to do anything and you can do anything. And that’s what I love about playing with Mary.”

    Journal Topics: Album ReleaseArtist News
  • Thursday, April 9, 2026
    Thursday, April 9, 2026

    Robert Plant and Saving Grace—vocalist Suzi Dian, drummer Oli Jefferson, guitarist Tony Kelsey, banjo and string player Matt Worley, and cellist Barney Morse-Brown—were on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to perform "Higher Rock," from their 2025 debut album, Saving Grace, and the Led Zeppelin tune "Ramble On" last night. You can watch both performances here. Plant was on the show on the release of Saving Grace last fall. He and the band, who concluded their US spring tour in NYC this week, head to Latin America in May and back to Europe in June. They release a vinyl EP, Saving Grace: All That Glitters..., on Record Store Day, Saturday, April 18. Plant is this year's Record Store Day Record Store Legend. 

    Journal Topics: Artist NewsTelevisionVideo