The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
We’re a tad late this week, but don’t panic, the podcast has finally arrived. This week we discussed The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It’s full of silliness and absurdity, so in other words, it’s right up our alley. Join us as we examine the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, the zany cast of characters, the lack of plot and why that’s okay, and somehow manage not to display our terrible versions of British accents.
No music bump, but the opening clip is from the 2005 big budget movie production and the ending clip is from the 1981 BBC production. One involves the bigness of space and the other the thoughts of a freshly created sperm whale. We’ll let you figure out which is which.
Novel Ideas 
June 15, 2012 at 5:24 am
No lie, I squealed a little when I saw this. Also, I just picked up my giant copy of the collected and started re-reading Life, The Universe, and Everything as my bedtime story this week, so… good timing.
June 21, 2012 at 9:42 am
🙂
July 31, 2012 at 3:11 pm
It’s been a while, but I remember that Zaphod (read JAFF-odd) was actually a pretty clever guy who wanted to steal the Heart of Gold. He figured that to do this he needed to be the president, but he couldn’t become president as his normal, scheming self. So he hacked his own brain to make himself the partying crazy guy we see in the book, with occasional impulses to do certain things (become president, steal the ship, there’s probably a couple others in there). These impulses he planted himself so that the crazy party guy would actually do what old Zaphod wanted. Presumably he left the initials for himself to find so that he could later undo the “damage” he caused. But you’re right; they never have him revert himself. He’s probably more useful to the narrative as the impulsive goofy type.
August 11, 2012 at 3:49 am
Hi all
It occurs to me that there might be some interest here in my book, *Philosophy and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy* (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). Just sayin’.
PS: I’m enjoying the podcast. .
August 11, 2012 at 3:51 am
But what? The podcast says the book has ‘no depths’! What?
August 14, 2012 at 10:38 am
I was about to say that I’m glad you’re enjoying it, but that was before I stepped on your toes two minutes later. I imagine that someone who wrote “Philosophy and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” might have a bone or six to pick with the contention that the book has no depths. I would love to be corrected, gently or otherwise! #Ben
August 20, 2012 at 3:34 am
Dear Ben
Thank you for your reply.
I’ll content myself with a partial list (excerpted from a webpage of mine) of philosophical topics that come up, in one way or another, in Hitchhiker’s. So:-
An objective view of one’s place in reality: the nature and desirability or undesirability thereof.
The meaning of life, and what is worth doing and what is not.
Place, space, time, and dimension.
The existence of God.
Predestination / determinism.
Sanity.
Artificial intelligence and its relation to feeling.
Virtual worlds.
The relations between happiness and intelligence.
Vegetarianism and the ethical weight that should be accorded to consent.
Ethical relativism (or, perhaps, tolerance).
The ethics of entertainment.
The value of art.