All posts tagged: Monty

Monty Don: Gardeners’ World is like going back to school

Monty Don: Gardeners’ World is like going back to school

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more He’s travelled the world, from the Arctic Circle to the Australian outback, the Amazonian jungle to Japan, visiting all kinds of gardens. Now filming the latest series of Gardeners’ World in his own garden at Longmeadow in Herefordshire, he and the crew work around the weather. “I want people to think that the camera just turns up and follows me pottering around the garden, then we pop off to look at Adam (Frost) or Carol (Klein) doing something else, then after an hour we say bye bye. “The reality is it’s quite a big production team. It takes weeks to prepare – two days to film, six days to edit. It’s full on. In-between filming, which we do two days a week, we then …

“King of the who?”: Monty Python on Rousseauian Legitimacy

“King of the who?”: Monty Python on Rousseauian Legitimacy

In this short clip from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Arthur, King of the Britons, attempts to exercise his dominion over two of his supposed subjects—peasants who claim to live in an anarcho-syndicalist commune and to have no lord. One of them raises two objections to the legitimacy of Arthur’s power that are illustrative when discussing Rousseau’s social contract theory. Selections from Rousseau’s Social Contract are a staple in my introductory “Citizens and their Cities” class. We read most of Bk. I, and short sections of Bks. II and IV, in order to trace where Rousseau’s initial commitments lead him. Near the beginning of our engagement with Rousseau, I ask the students to pick a partner and talk for two minutes about (1) why they follow the law (if they do), and (2) why one should follow the law (if they should). The students come up with some interesting reasons, but most reasons are variations on “If I don’t, I’ll be punished.” (That the Rousseauian answer—the law is mine—is rarely given certainly says something about our political chains condition.) This …

The Monty Python Philosophy Soccer Match: The Ancient Greeks Versus the Germans

The Monty Python Philosophy Soccer Match: The Ancient Greeks Versus the Germans

Today, we’re revis­it­ing a clas­sic Mon­ty Python skit. The scene is the 1972 Munich Olympics. The event is a football/soccer match, pit­ting Ger­man philoso­phers against Greek philoso­phers. On the one side, the Ger­mans — Hegel, Niet­zsche, Kant, Marx and, um, Franz Beck­en­bauer. On the oth­er side, Archimedes, Socrates, Pla­to and the rest of the gang. The ref­er­ee? Con­fu­cius. Of course. Enjoy! If you would like to sign up for Open Culture’s free email newslet­ter, please find it here. It’s a great way to see our new posts, all bun­dled in one email, each day. If you would like to sup­port the mis­sion of Open Cul­ture, con­sid­er mak­ing a dona­tion to our site. It’s hard to rely 100% on ads, and your con­tri­bu­tions will help us con­tin­ue pro­vid­ing the best free cul­tur­al and edu­ca­tion­al mate­ri­als to learn­ers every­where. You can con­tribute through Pay­Pal, Patre­on, and Ven­mo (@openculture). Thanks! Relat­ed Con­tent: Why Jorge Luis Borges Hat­ed Soc­cer: “Soc­cer is Pop­u­lar Because Stu­pid­i­ty is Pop­u­lar” Albert Camus’ Lessons Learned from Play­ing Goalie: “What I Know Most Sure­ly about Moral­i­ty and …

Eric Idle says he hasn’t seen Monty Python co-star John Cleese in 10 years

Eric Idle says he hasn’t seen Monty Python co-star John Cleese in 10 years

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Eric Idle and John Cleese co-starred in one of the most successful comedy troupes of all time, but the laughs have long been over for the pair, who have allegedly not seen each other in a decade. In the past five years, Idle and Cleese have been engaged in a public feud, with the former declaring their friendship “over” in 2024 due to a change in Monty Python’s management, and tensions are so frayed that the pair haven’t encountered one another since 2016. On Tuesday (10 March), Idle was asked for an update on Cleese, with one X/Twitter user writing: “I ask you because you’re better placed than most to find out.” Idle replied: “Actually, I’m not. I haven’t seen him for 10 years.” open image in gallery Eric Idle and John Cleese are embroiled in feud (Getty Images) Idle previously …

The Full Monty celebrates 30th anniversary with new UK stage tour

The Full Monty celebrates 30th anniversary with new UK stage tour

Beloved British comedy The Full Monty is celebrating 30 years since its release with a new stage tour in 2027. Original film writer Simon Beaufoy first turned the story into a hit play in 2013, and is now bringing it back to dozens of UK venues starting in January next year. The 1997 film famously follows the story of six unemployed Sheffield men who decide to form their own Chippendales-style striptease act, except their show is made all the better by going ‘the Full Monty’. In the years since, the film has reached the highest echelons of critical acclaim, being named the 25th best British film of the 20th century in a BFI list, and being turned into a stage play, a separate musical and a TV series. In the announcement for this new tour, Beaufoy said that today’s social climate and cost-of-living crisis made the show as relevant as ever. He said: “A lot has changed in Britain since The Full Monty appeared 30 years ago. What hasn’t changed is our need for laughter, …