Great video! The part with wives and servants really made me laugh "Fun" fact: In Chile, after the right-wing military coup, during the 17 years of dictatorship, military men burned books that included the word "red" because... communism. Also, books of cubism, because Cuba and Cuba is communism! For real.
@@cthulhutheendless1587 I'm not sure if you're replying to my joke with a joke or if you just missed it completely. Anyways, I belive you mean *adultery.
"When books are burned, in the end people are burned." (H. Heine). I got goosebumps the other day reading on Twitter that a certain author's books should be burned. Just... Don't buy them, don't read them, or do read them and have a better stance at telling people why they are harmful. But don't burn books.
idk burning books in this day and age is mostly symbolic. Most books are digitalized so is not like they will be lost completely, and is very fast and easy to mass reprint. Is fine if you dont like it but individual book burning is not censoring of a work imo, as is not legally prohibiting a book and is not stopping anyone from getting the book again.
Thing is how do they know that a book is full of sin or pornography etc... Why because they've read them but now don't want others to. Obviously they can handle the moral assault but not others. It's never about the book or what's in it. As she said it about control, preventing people expanding their minds, etc. Look at the very fact that parts of America still taught Creation as fact and banned the teaching of evolution until the 60s. To the extent that the people who wanted evolution taught had to get a teacher who was willing to put his neck on the line to take the case to court. Still it was fought all the way to the supreme court. Madness.
@@itarry4 not really though. Most of the ppl calling for the bans of these books haven't even read them, they just 'heard' from someone else that they should be banned.
Hi Craig - as you're a librarian, I heard the USA banned all books on Iraq during the Gulf Wars. Is this true? Can't find any articles on this anywhere.
I see a number of comments complaining about the new/different content or the frequency/infrequency of content. Everyone.....it's PBS. Do you REALLY want them to have to manage EVEN MORE individual channels and make ONLY a very specific kind of content? You don't have to watch every episode they put out, and the fact that they have been putting out less content is probably related to COVID-19 and the U.S. Government cutting funding for PBS for decades. In summation: Don't be so quick to complain that PBS has expanded their educational content beyond your interests.
And if you haven't already, at least try watching it before knocking it. I came here for Monstrum and wasn't all that interested in It's Lit! I just tend to prefer speculative fiction and I am not super into the kind of books and stories that often get held up as "literature." But It's Lit! is fantastic and I love both shows now.
I certainly do. If they can have two separate teams for this one channel, they can have two separate teams for two separate channels. Nothing will have changed except that the content is separated.
@@disappointmentslough I have tried it. It's not what I want. I can't tailir my notifications from this channel based on it being Monstrum or the other people, so the only thing I can do is call for it to be separated.
Meanwhile, I came for It's Lit and got into Monstrum. There's not a lot of overlap if you're not a fantasy/horror author, but by sharing a channel the two programs are cross-promoting.
@@farkasmactavish But any revenue/viewership would become split, and that would lead to one or both shows getting cancelled because the analytics would show them as less successful when seperate. Also, I bet there is a lot of crossover in staff and projects, rather than assuming that they are entirely separate entities.
I remember when Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" was banned. When I was in college, I presented an anti-censorship speech about it in my English Lit class...and the students present didn't seem to care. Sigh.
As for book burning in Mexico, a few survived. Ironically, Codex Borgia which has the most of the old beliefs is owned by the Vatican. I been trying to get a high quality version from the church themselves but no luck (don't recommend me the physical copy since there's obvious errors on it which could be its own discussion. Besides, I own that. Lol). Fun Nahuatl facts: Books (codices) were called amoxtli (pronounced a-mosh-tlee) and library is amoxcalli (a-mosh-ka-lee). To break it down, amox coming from amoxtli and calli meaning house. Book House.
@@MsJeanneMarie This channel as a whole is amazing. I especially upvote the strong and diverse female presentation much needed in today's media (I have two little nieces, I have recently become VERY aware of gendering). They are all great, but something about the way she presents stuff makes it so... like we're all in on some inside lingo. It makes it not only informative and fun, but in some sense salonish, in the Parisienne sense.
"Just a simple tailor." Why yes, I did greatly appreciate the Star Trek Reference! Also, as a librarian, I love this whole video! ...the ban hammer outtakes are also very cute!
Side note: many Chinese philosophies probably didn’t survive the book burnings of Emperor Qin. Confucius was one of the banned philosophers during that short dynasty who survived but who really knows what great ideas were lost in the political turmoil.
Eh, most modern historians doubt the extent of Li Si's censorship, if it happened at all. The only source is Sima Qian over a century after the fact, and he is notorious for painting the Qin dynasty in the worst possible light.
I'm surprised you didn't bring up the "Harry Potter" series or Judy Blume's books. Those are the ones I remember hearing about being censored or banned in my school years as a '90s kid. Also, I love that you brought up Victor Hugo. He got into such hot water for his writings he had to leave France (by self-exile, if I remember right) and he spent several years on the Channel Islands, continuing to spark society with his pen. One of my favorite books of his was written during his exile, "The Man Who Laughs", published in 1869. It's the story of a boy scarred with a Glasgow smile as a punishment to his father, a nobleman who had the audacity to speak for the people. The boy grows up unaware of his heritage, instead becoming a clown, but the nobles of course try to draw him back in to their world when it's politically convent for them. Or so they think. They expect to gain a puppet and instead they get an angry young man who gives them hell. It's a great book. I highly recommend it, and I've even written a play adaptation.
While at a thrift shop buying some books today, the cashier briefly flip through 2 smaller of my choice, and stated "you cant judge a book by it's cover, they should get rid of those Harry Potter books and some of those romance novels". I laughed and responded how I was a Harry Potter fan. The conversation went into a very brief direction of right and wrong. I had never encounters this subject outside of a school setting before, it threw me off guard a little. The word control and conformity was the first thing I thought of. Anyway, thank you for your information.👍
and the even more real part of it is that it all goes back to the money ppl wanna make off of religion and politics. Morality is just used to influence both of those. Money money money...
So now they are putting religion in it didn't they take religion out of the court and most schools and other institutions? You can't erase your dirty history America pay reparations. I can't believe no one is doing anything. It's just like the Protestants tried to burn the Bible but who believes in the Bible that was basically copied from other cultures and countries. America is a liar and they promote plagiarism when it comes to religion and history. America wants to pretend like slavery never happened like they didn't ban other countries trade causing starvation in some of these countries yeah they didn't want to tell that story 😊 America is a big sore that won't heal until you scrape away the crust and pull off the scab
@@frozenweevil4022 - Try this one, instead: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180920102135.htm "...While the tests showed that girls, in general, scored significantly higher than boys in both reading and writing in the fourth grade, that gap widened further in eighth and 12th grades, and the difference was far more substantial for writing than it was for reading. "It appears that the gender gap for writing tasks has been greatly underestimated, and that despite our best efforts with changes in teaching methods does not appear to be reducing over time," said Reilly. The authors offered several theories to explain the findings. For instance, boys are statistically more likely to have a learning disability..."
@@WWZenaDo Actually, that disability thing isn’t true. It’s actually that boys are diagnosed earlier. And, IMO, I think it has something to do with toxic masculinity, ie books are quote unquote girly
But books of Anatomy being deemed "too frisky" by Comstock... Dude, as someone who had to study them, those are soporifics of the very best kind - no side-effects. I'll be here, laughing until 2022.
I love how you capped off this video! Great look at history and how this is still relevant today. Especially today! "Banning books isn't about morals, it's about control." Well spoken, Princess!
One of the interesting things to make note of during the 2020 Pandemic is that a lot International Students have had to deal with Banned Books and Censorship during this Academic Year. Because their Institution might be in another country, many have had to check in to see if the books/articles/media they are required for a course might be banned in their home country. This has lead some students to being given different readings and assignments than their classmates. Arguably, this another example of how book banning affects intellectual discussion and learning.
I had a pretty good discussion with an author once about this and the conclusion we came to is that the only time censorship is permissible is when it comes to young children because there are some horrible things out there that they'd have trouble processing which could seriously mess them up. Which leads to a separate and interesting discussion on how people mature mentally in different ways and at different rates and at what age is it reasonable to assume that everybody has the mental capacity to grapple with difficult or horrific issues, etc. Which also dovetails into a separate but interesting discussion on the potential of internet usage exposure to expose young people to things they're not ready to deal with. Yeah but for adults censorship is bogus.
Only one poem that was made by a Méxica (Aztec) poetess managed to survive the Spanish book burnings after the fall of Tenochtitlán in 1521. Her name was *Macuilxōchi-tzin* (mah-kweel-shoh-chee-tseen). She was born in 1435, and her last surviving poem is about her uncle, *Axayaca-tzin* (ah-shah-yah-kah-tseen).
After reading Charles Wibley's review of "The Picture of Dorian Grey," I now can't help wondering if Garak's profession is a reference to him... especially since he was originally supposed to be a romantic interest for Bashir, and he has some similarities to Lord Henry Wotton from the novel.
The monsters history grabbed my attention during a project that needed historical creepy being references, but "It's Lit" got my subscription. This short and concise history shows how banning books jeopardizes our First Amendment Rights: Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech and our Fourth Amendment: Rights to Privacy, as you are releasing this video! Thank you!
Growing up in the private school system, I find it interesting what was and was not banned from my schools. Having attended three different school systems, the range of rules for what could or could not be read was quite strange. I still remember one time though when I was in high school, I brought a copy of Stephen King’s It into school. Although it was a private high school, the general rule of thumb was that you could read anything you wanted as long as it was during free time and it wasn’t pornography. Obviously, some books might make teacher’s heads turn depending on content, but you’d usually wouldn’t get in any trouble as long as it followed the rules. However, when I brought my copy of IT in, I almost got it confiscated by my Spanish Teacher. I was in class and because my copy was an older hardcover, it was pretty heavy, so I carried it in and placed it underneath my desk. I didn’t read it, just put it down and got ready for class. My teacher comes over to pick up my homework and she sees the book lying underneath my seat. She picks it up and suddenly freezes. And then she asks me in Spanish if it was “the creepy clown book” to which I replied yes. She they spent the next five minutes basically explaining the book to the class (she gave a brief synopsis, but I don’t believe she’s read it. She seemed to think it was an obscure piece of literature despite the fact it’s one of King’s most famous books and it already has a blockbuster film adaptation) and then she lectured me on why I shouldn’t have a book like that in school. She didn’t say anything about the content, she just said it was too scary and that horror doesn’t belong in the school. Luckily I didn’t get reported or anything, but I was just kind of shocked she essentially banned all horror, despite the school not really having any rules about it. I even emailed the vice principal at the time to see if there was a rule and he said there wasn’t and that it was fine to have it. Imagine an entire genre being banned.
There can be two reasons why Darwin was not censored. The Index targeted books that were not obviously anticatholic. So atheists such as Marx or Nietzsche were not banned because there was no doubt that they were not to be trusted. On the other hand Erasmus, Montaigne or Hugo were not openly anticatholics, Erasmus himself opposed Luther during the reformation. Other possible explanation is that the Catholic Church was not entirely opposed to the evolution theory. Rather to some conclusions extrapolated from it, such as Nietzsche's Übermensch
Don't we have age ratings precisely for avoiding censorship? if something is not apt for children we can wait for them to grow up, rater than just eliminate the book outright and negating the possibility of one day the kid becoming an adult and as a grown person realize that the book that they didn't want them to read, not only wasn't all that, it was also trash and a waste of time, but at least now he wasted his time on his own instead of getting his time wasted because someone passed the book to them or made them read it.
It doesn't make sense to talk about the "fiery history of banned books", focusing on books banned in the US, and not mention all the literature that was purged under the guidance of the US government in the McCarthy era. Everyone cites the Nazis as famous book burners and banners, and everyone ignores that the US did the exact same thing a decade later.
I'll admit I was a little disappointed the Mongol's sacking the library of Baghdad wasn't mentioned. Not exactly a burning but it was said that "the rivers ran black with ink" from the number of books they destroyed. But that was a separate kinda thing apart from censorship.
Just a piece of random information. Lady Chatterley's Lover was actually inspired by a true story. It was about the love shared by a noble woman named Lady uterlene Moral.( this name is spelled completely incorrect, because I can't get Google to find her.) Who had a romance with the groundskeeper of her husband's home. She was also known for having many different lovers, because her husband refused to have a sexual relationship with her. A part of the tragedy in her story was that her lover actually died just a couple years after they fell in love, and the author did not ask her permission before writing the book. If you ask me, that should have made it bad. But at that time such considerations weren't made.
Just wanna throw this in: in the netherlands we had this wonderful author called Anna Blaman. She wrote many books, which sadly many got burned by the germans. But for the people who question her name... yes. Her name isn't what you think it is; Ben Liever Als Man, which literally translates to; I'm Sweeter As A Man. We love a hidden sappho. (Which has been confirmed fyi.)
I fear that in 2020 any conversation of censorship must also include a conversation of communication that is at its core malicious, abusive, and/or intentionally deceptive, and does the origin of that communication being an individual, organization, or state actor mater?
Exactly. I can't help but think of how we find it difficult to balance the needs of access to all ideas against what appears to be toxic speech, some made in bad faith, that has in its goal the destruction of those freedoms. This is, of course, not a new struggle, but the current shape and reach of the dilemma is seemingly unique in human history.
Censorship is bad. Those in charge of censorship may eventually find what you call toxic to be correct, and what you call morally right to be abhorrent. Do not give anyone that kind of power, because they won't always be on your side.
@@JosephDavies The solution is to teach everybody critical thinking and to encourage them to question everything they hear or read. That, and how to argue respectfully, so that the people with the bad ideas feel included and heard; often, it's isolation and the feeling of being separate that drives people to extreme ideologies.
Great episode, but may I ask for a bit more? If this is a history of banned books, could you please speak on the banning of books away from the "Western World"? What books have been banned in eastern Asia? Which books are deemed problemaitc in the Middle East? And, which ideas are considered "dangerous" in central Africa?
I too now have an unhealthy infatuation for this channel. It was the content! (Well, primarily the Garak reference.) Live long, read much, and prosper!
Christ, this video is about three years older than the RobWords video, a video he uploaded when this topic is more relevant now than ever, and yet it’s still better than that spineless “both-sides” garbage he uploaded. Thank you for having the convictions and principles to upload this video against book banning unapologetically.
Survey time? Stories (both It’s Lit and Monstrum) are some of my favorite Content on TH-cam, is there an option to tell them to just put Lindsay, Princess and Dr. Z in charge of everything?
Sometimes you don't even need to ban a book to get rid of it. Hitlers "Mein Kampf" for example was never really banned in Germany. It was just that the copyright was held by the Free State of Bavaria and the Bavarian government refused to let uncommented versions into print. The copyright however expired a a couple years ago. If for whatever reasons you want to read Adolfs mad ramblings.
@@dandiestdryer Louie Louie isn't full of gibberish, the lyrics are very straightforward. It's a sea shanty about being on a boat and wanting to get home to a woman. They are just garbled in the vocal performance.
My memory core does not work so well these days, but...forgive me if I have erred...was it not the case that "The Catcher In The Rye" was banninated from certain areas in the US back in the day? Ah...I just checked it out, and yes, it does seem to be so. Banned from libraries and highschools between 1961 and 1982. Princess Weekes, thank you for this wonderful work.
You should look into the burning of Takshilla and Nalanda. The Islamic conquests of India led to the banning of the majority of existing literature at that time.
Many people from the catholic church at the time believed that the Origin of Species actually proved the existence of god, since they saw it as proof that there was an intelligent design behind the creation of life
So grateful we live in a world where information can be diseminated internationally beyond the touch of tyrants. I wonder what was contained in those Aztec texts. 😩
It's ironic that the ideas banned in the recent past currently dominate the entire political and cultural spheres. It's fascinating to observe how those who have suffered discriminations or even persecutions become persecutors ! It's less about morality or control than about power and dominance. It's not so much a question of breaking stereotypes but breaking the habitual patterns of thinking human relations.
Fun fact about the actual burning of books: In 1520, during the Reformation in Germany, Martin Luther's writings were to be taken out of the library of the University of Cologne and publicly burned. The ruler of Cologne was a - Catholic - Archbishop. Nobody dared to complain, and the city's "police force" entered the library to execute the order. Only problem: They couldn't read. So they ordered students to get all of Luther's books. But the students took the books of Luther's enemies, even swapping covers and title pages.
This is great! I think Florida 2023 has all of them beat since 213 B.C.E. 😂I created a my channel just to fight against this very topic. We can't let them get away with banning books on topics regarding marginalized students. It's so important that these students have representation too.
I love that during the formation of the church of England it was considered a radical view that the wine and wafer might be a metaphor for the body and blood of Christ when ingested. The accepted view was they became the LITERAL blood and body of Christ once ingested.
Garak reference! Considering that Garak was originally supposed to be overtly gay before the network pressured DS9's writers to leave that information in the realm of subtext, I'd say that's a perfect reference to make in this video.
Yes, the Nazis also burnt Hemingway and Sinclair. But it was mainly literature in the German langue they wanted to wipe out: Brecht, Kafka, Tucholsky, Kästner, Remarque, Heine, Mann (Thomas, Klaus and Heinrich), Seghers, Roth, Zweig and MANY more. It would have been nice to include at least some of them...
It would be great if parents and schools talked about what the Nazis believed, in detail. Why? because kids are encountering fascist-sympathizing content with no preparation about what it is let alone why it is wrong. Whether via writing or videos a large portion of kids are unfamiliar and unprepared on what the will encounter online. No reason to ban or censor it, but a reason to go over what most of the free-world believes and why they believe it.
as a trans sex worker/noise musician i'm always trying to get in trouble for breaking obscenity laws just so I can eventually go to court and argue that I have value.
My grandfather told me that he was in high school, one of his teachers would tease the students by holding up one of the books from the index and basically saying "I'm a teacher so I can read this but you guys can't". So yeah that stuff's recent.
I agree that discussing books is better than banning them. However, the matter becomes trickier when the book in question is e.g. Mein Kampf. (It’s easy to scorn at banning books when we either agree with said books or find them harmless. What if the books in question support something that we wholeheartedly believe to be evil? It’s probably still good to be able to read such books - so that one can see for oneself, what is evil about them and how evil can make itself seem appealing. But I believe that some experience of the reader, ability to perceive demagogy and knowledge of context is necessary - something resembling the priest giving the approval that “Yes, this book is dangerous, but you are mature enough to deal with the danger.”)
I have to say though, i still feel mein kampf should not be sold. Books of pure evil such as that evil "thing", is disgusting to put out there. Hatred should not be given that podium.
“It’s not about morality, it’s about control.” Honestly, those are the realest words I’ve heard in a long while.
Hallows4 It always is😉.
The Oscars new rules for getting nominated...
ScionStorm Oh good lord, I know, right? 🙄. Like actors are any different/higher/better/more intelligent than anyone.🤢.
If it's just about control, then what do we need morality to do? Of course it is about morality. Especially for helping children to grow healthily.
@@yj.l7934 ... And NOW all you have to do is define morality ! ...
This episode brings a whole new meaning to "It's Lit".
Stephanie Ho Dad joke award! lol I’m rolling my eyes in the friendliest way possible. lol
As a dad, I approve of this dad joke.
Justanotherconsumer hahahah I am jealous of this official seal of approval!!
@@Justanotherconsumer seconded
Yes…yes it does
Great video! The part with wives and servants really made me laugh
"Fun" fact: In Chile, after the right-wing military coup, during the 17 years of dictatorship, military men burned books that included the word "red" because... communism. Also, books of cubism, because Cuba and Cuba is communism! For real.
Isn’t the word red in like...every book?
But did The Scarlet Letter escape the ban?
pipitameruje -No bc the letter A features in that prominently. And A stands for ADULTERY
@@cthulhutheendless1587 I'm not sure if you're replying to my joke with a joke or if you just missed it completely. Anyways, I belive you mean *adultery.
pipitameruje -Thanks lol I’m an English major I should know this stuff.
And I’m just making a joke. I have no idea if it’s banned or not.
"When books are burned, in the end people are burned." (H. Heine).
I got goosebumps the other day reading on Twitter that a certain author's books should be burned. Just... Don't buy them, don't read them, or do read them and have a better stance at telling people why they are harmful. But don't burn books.
idk burning books in this day and age is mostly symbolic. Most books are digitalized so is not like they will be lost completely, and is very fast and easy to mass reprint. Is fine if you dont like it but individual book burning is not censoring of a work imo, as is not legally prohibiting a book and is not stopping anyone from getting the book again.
Thing is how do they know that a book is full of sin or pornography etc... Why because they've read them but now don't want others to. Obviously they can handle the moral assault but not others. It's never about the book or what's in it. As she said it about control, preventing people expanding their minds, etc. Look at the very fact that parts of America still taught Creation as fact and banned the teaching of evolution until the 60s. To the extent that the people who wanted evolution taught had to get a teacher who was willing to put his neck on the line to take the case to court. Still it was fought all the way to the supreme court. Madness.
Das war ein Vorspiel nur ,
dort wo man Bücher verbrent ,
verbrent man auch am Ende Menschen
Heinrich Heine
Almansor 1821
So true.
@@itarry4 not really though. Most of the ppl calling for the bans of these books haven't even read them, they just 'heard' from someone else that they should be banned.
I'm a librarian, and I support this message!
Thank you for being a librarian! I know what the librarians in our town have meant to my girls (and me, too!) You are a superhero!
Hi Craig - as you're a librarian, I heard the USA banned all books on Iraq during the Gulf Wars. Is this true? Can't find any articles on this anywhere.
I see a number of comments complaining about the new/different content or the frequency/infrequency of content. Everyone.....it's PBS. Do you REALLY want them to have to manage EVEN MORE individual channels and make ONLY a very specific kind of content? You don't have to watch every episode they put out, and the fact that they have been putting out less content is probably related to COVID-19 and the U.S. Government cutting funding for PBS for decades. In summation: Don't be so quick to complain that PBS has expanded their educational content beyond your interests.
And if you haven't already, at least try watching it before knocking it. I came here for Monstrum and wasn't all that interested in It's Lit! I just tend to prefer speculative fiction and I am not super into the kind of books and stories that often get held up as "literature." But It's Lit! is fantastic and I love both shows now.
I certainly do. If they can have two separate teams for this one channel, they can have two separate teams for two separate channels. Nothing will have changed except that the content is separated.
@@disappointmentslough I have tried it. It's not what I want. I can't tailir my notifications from this channel based on it being Monstrum or the other people, so the only thing I can do is call for it to be separated.
Meanwhile, I came for It's Lit and got into Monstrum. There's not a lot of overlap if you're not a fantasy/horror author, but by sharing a channel the two programs are cross-promoting.
@@farkasmactavish But any revenue/viewership would become split, and that would lead to one or both shows getting cancelled because the analytics would show them as less successful when seperate. Also, I bet there is a lot of crossover in staff and projects, rather than assuming that they are entirely separate entities.
I would go see a concert featuring The Outlawed Noblemen and Perverted Telegraph Boys
LOL
They would totally be Steampunk
I would become a groupie
I know right!
Perverted telegraph boys is a very specific label, what the hell were they doing?
@@insulaarachnid Many of them worked as prostitutes in Brothels
Banning a book is often a great way to make it popular. I'm looking at you, Niccolo Machiavelli...
I am convinced that the only reason Catcher in the Rye is regarded as an "American Classic" is because of the multiple attempts to ban it.
I remember when Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" was banned. When I was in college, I presented an anti-censorship speech about it in my English Lit class...and the students present didn't seem to care. Sigh.
As for book burning in Mexico, a few survived. Ironically, Codex Borgia which has the most of the old beliefs is owned by the Vatican. I been trying to get a high quality version from the church themselves but no luck (don't recommend me the physical copy since there's obvious errors on it which could be its own discussion. Besides, I own that. Lol).
Fun Nahuatl facts: Books (codices) were called amoxtli (pronounced a-mosh-tlee) and library is amoxcalli (a-mosh-ka-lee). To break it down, amox coming from amoxtli and calli meaning house. Book House.
It's all of these little quipes and remarks by the princess that makes it so much better.
Definitely one of the best presenters.
Yonatan Huber hahaha yeah Princess is awesome, but it’s too hard for me to pick a favorite. They’re all so incredible!
@@MsJeanneMarie
This channel as a whole is amazing. I especially upvote the strong and diverse female presentation much needed in today's media (I have two little nieces, I have recently become VERY aware of gendering).
They are all great, but something about the way she presents stuff makes it so... like we're all in on some inside lingo. It makes it not only informative and fun, but in some sense salonish, in the Parisienne sense.
"Just a simple tailor." Why yes, I did greatly appreciate the Star Trek Reference!
Also, as a librarian, I love this whole video!
...the ban hammer outtakes are also very cute!
DS9 🖖
Heck yeah. #NerdsOfAFeather
He's not just a simple tailor either. He's Scorpio.
More librarian love here!
Garak & Bashir’s discussion of great human and Cardassian literature 🧑🍳😘
Side note: many Chinese philosophies probably didn’t survive the book burnings of Emperor Qin. Confucius was one of the banned philosophers during that short dynasty who survived but who really knows what great ideas were lost in the political turmoil.
Eh, most modern historians doubt the extent of Li Si's censorship, if it happened at all. The only source is Sima Qian over a century after the fact, and he is notorious for painting the Qin dynasty in the worst possible light.
Say "Comstock got Congress to pass the Comstock law" 10 times fast
I'm using this as an enunciation warmup now; thank you.
I'm surprised you didn't bring up the "Harry Potter" series or Judy Blume's books. Those are the ones I remember hearing about being censored or banned in my school years as a '90s kid.
Also, I love that you brought up Victor Hugo. He got into such hot water for his writings he had to leave France (by self-exile, if I remember right) and he spent several years on the Channel Islands, continuing to spark society with his pen. One of my favorite books of his was written during his exile, "The Man Who Laughs", published in 1869. It's the story of a boy scarred with a Glasgow smile as a punishment to his father, a nobleman who had the audacity to speak for the people. The boy grows up unaware of his heritage, instead becoming a clown, but the nobles of course try to draw him back in to their world when it's politically convent for them. Or so they think. They expect to gain a puppet and instead they get an angry young man who gives them hell. It's a great book. I highly recommend it, and I've even written a play adaptation.
While at a thrift shop buying some books today, the cashier briefly flip through 2 smaller of my choice, and stated "you cant judge a book by it's cover, they should get rid of those Harry Potter books and some of those romance novels". I laughed and responded how I was a Harry Potter fan. The conversation went into a very brief direction of right and wrong. I had never encounters this subject outside of a school setting before, it threw me off guard a little. The word control and conformity was the first thing I thought of. Anyway, thank you for your information.👍
“The reason books were banned was because of religion, morality, and politics.” Ah yes, the unholy trinity of all problems.
A very Nietzschean take, not meant to be shade, I respect the snark in this comment.
morality causes problems? Are you a cannibal or something?
and the even more real part of it is that it all goes back to the money ppl wanna make off of religion and politics. Morality is just used to influence both of those. Money money money...
So now they are putting religion in it didn't they take religion out of the court and most schools and other institutions? You can't erase your dirty history America pay reparations. I can't believe no one is doing anything. It's just like the Protestants tried to burn the Bible but who believes in the Bible that was basically copied from other cultures and countries. America is a liar and they promote plagiarism when it comes to religion and history. America wants to pretend like slavery never happened like they didn't ban other countries trade causing starvation in some of these countries yeah they didn't want to tell that story 😊 America is a big sore that won't heal until you scrape away the crust and pull off the scab
IMHO, Garak is the best 'simple tailor' in the quadrant.
YES
TAKE THE SURVEY Y'ALL
Here here!!!
Except when he is a gardener.
Sometimes I just drop what I'm doing and think about how great Garak was.
"Because girls can read as well as boys"
*shocked gasps* Why, I never!
Studies indicate that girls can read *better* than boys.
www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/09/why-girls-are-better-reading-boys/571429/
@@WWZenaDo That says they read more frequently, which I can observe varies wildly, not better
@@frozenweevil4022 - Try this one, instead:
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180920102135.htm
"...While the tests showed that girls, in general, scored significantly higher than boys in both reading and writing in the fourth grade, that gap widened further in eighth and 12th grades, and the difference was far more substantial for writing than it was for reading.
"It appears that the gender gap for writing tasks has been greatly underestimated, and that despite our best efforts with changes in teaching methods does not appear to be reducing over time," said Reilly.
The authors offered several theories to explain the findings. For instance, boys are statistically more likely to have a learning disability..."
@@WWZenaDo Actually, that disability thing isn’t true. It’s actually that boys are diagnosed earlier. And, IMO, I think it has something to do with toxic masculinity, ie books are quote unquote girly
@@WWZenaDo ah yes, the unreliable source...
But books of Anatomy being deemed "too frisky" by Comstock... Dude, as someone who had to study them, those are soporifics of the very best kind - no side-effects. I'll be here, laughing until 2022.
I have to assume people who are that anti-sex/ nudity are just aggressively, uncurably horny
Just a few more months and you’ll be able to stop laughing
hope you stopped laughing 2 years ago
I love how you capped off this video! Great look at history and how this is still relevant today. Especially today! "Banning books isn't about morals, it's about control." Well spoken, Princess!
One of the interesting things to make note of during the 2020 Pandemic is that a lot International Students have had to deal with Banned Books and Censorship during this Academic Year. Because their Institution might be in another country, many have had to check in to see if the books/articles/media they are required for a course might be banned in their home country. This has lead some students to being given different readings and assignments than their classmates. Arguably, this another example of how book banning affects intellectual discussion and learning.
I swear Ms Weekes parents slight misnamed our mighty heroine, Princess you say? Nay, a Queen!! I love her so much, and it is a true and lasting love.
I had a pretty good discussion with an author once about this and the conclusion we came to is that the only time censorship is permissible is when it comes to young children because there are some horrible things out there that they'd have trouble processing which could seriously mess them up. Which leads to a separate and interesting discussion on how people mature mentally in different ways and at different rates and at what age is it reasonable to assume that everybody has the mental capacity to grapple with difficult or horrific issues, etc. Which also dovetails into a separate but interesting discussion on the potential of internet usage exposure to expose young people to things they're not ready to deal with.
Yeah but for adults censorship is bogus.
As Mitch Hedberg put it, “Any book is a children’s book if the child can read!”
Is Mitch aware of erotica novels?
@@ScionStorm1 he died over 20 years ago, so no. Corpses are very unaware.
He should have contemplated James Joyce's _Finnegain's Wake_ in which one's command of English or fluency in said language matters little...
Excellent episode! Always appreciate this mix of history and humor
I liked your Deep Space Nine joke! :)
Seriously. It has layers.
Garak would probably say something like "nothing like a good book burning to keep the fires of history warm"
Only one poem that was made by a Méxica (Aztec) poetess managed to survive the Spanish book burnings after the fall of Tenochtitlán in 1521.
Her name was *Macuilxōchi-tzin* (mah-kweel-shoh-chee-tseen). She was born in 1435, and her last surviving poem is about her uncle, *Axayaca-tzin* (ah-shah-yah-kah-tseen).
After reading Charles Wibley's review of "The Picture of Dorian Grey," I now can't help wondering if Garak's profession is a reference to him... especially since he was originally supposed to be a romantic interest for Bashir, and he has some similarities to Lord Henry Wotton from the novel.
The monsters history grabbed my attention during a project that needed historical creepy being references, but "It's Lit" got my subscription. This short and concise history shows how banning books jeopardizes our First Amendment Rights: Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech and our Fourth Amendment: Rights to Privacy, as you are releasing this video!
Thank you!
This was such an incredible episode! Thanks!
This video is *chef's kiss*. Thanks for putting it out.
Growing up in the private school system, I find it interesting what was and was not banned from my schools. Having attended three different school systems, the range of rules for what could or could not be read was quite strange. I still remember one time though when I was in high school, I brought a copy of Stephen King’s It into school. Although it was a private high school, the general rule of thumb was that you could read anything you wanted as long as it was during free time and it wasn’t pornography. Obviously, some books might make teacher’s heads turn depending on content, but you’d usually wouldn’t get in any trouble as long as it followed the rules. However, when I brought my copy of IT in, I almost got it confiscated by my Spanish Teacher. I was in class and because my copy was an older hardcover, it was pretty heavy, so I carried it in and placed it underneath my desk. I didn’t read it, just put it down and got ready for class. My teacher comes over to pick up my homework and she sees the book lying underneath my seat. She picks it up and suddenly freezes. And then she asks me in Spanish if it was “the creepy clown book” to which I replied yes. She they spent the next five minutes basically explaining the book to the class (she gave a brief synopsis, but I don’t believe she’s read it. She seemed to think it was an obscure piece of literature despite the fact it’s one of King’s most famous books and it already has a blockbuster film adaptation) and then she lectured me on why I shouldn’t have a book like that in school. She didn’t say anything about the content, she just said it was too scary and that horror doesn’t belong in the school. Luckily I didn’t get reported or anything, but I was just kind of shocked she essentially banned all horror, despite the school not really having any rules about it. I even emailed the vice principal at the time to see if there was a rule and he said there wasn’t and that it was fine to have it. Imagine an entire genre being banned.
There can be two reasons why Darwin was not censored.
The Index targeted books that were not obviously anticatholic. So atheists such as Marx or Nietzsche were not banned because there was no doubt that they were not to be trusted. On the other hand Erasmus, Montaigne or Hugo were not openly anticatholics, Erasmus himself opposed Luther during the reformation.
Other possible explanation is that the Catholic Church was not entirely opposed to the evolution theory. Rather to some conclusions extrapolated from it, such as Nietzsche's Übermensch
I went to a Catholic school and you learn evolution theory there.
I actually screamed out loud at the "simple tailor" joke. 😂😂😂
Don't we have age ratings precisely for avoiding censorship? if something is not apt for children we can wait for them to grow up, rater than just eliminate the book outright and negating the possibility of one day the kid becoming an adult and as a grown person realize that the book that they didn't want them to read, not only wasn't all that, it was also trash and a waste of time, but at least now he wasted his time on his own instead of getting his time wasted because someone passed the book to them or made them read it.
oh how this video has aged.
Seeing People in the USA literally burning books in 2022.
"book banning is not about morality, it's about control" yes, thank you
Ay I loved this one. Princess hosting is always *chef’s kiss* great. Finished the annual survey as well. Thanks for making these 🙌
I love that simple tailor! So nice to have that little bit.
Just recently found this channel and I'm LOVING it. This episode is FIRE! Thank you!
It doesn't make sense to talk about the "fiery history of banned books", focusing on books banned in the US, and not mention all the literature that was purged under the guidance of the US government in the McCarthy era. Everyone cites the Nazis as famous book burners and banners, and everyone ignores that the US did the exact same thing a decade later.
She mentioned politically motivated bans.
I'll admit I was a little disappointed the Mongol's sacking the library of Baghdad wasn't mentioned. Not exactly a burning but it was said that "the rivers ran black with ink" from the number of books they destroyed.
But that was a separate kinda thing apart from censorship.
Love when Princess Weekes is hosting! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Just a piece of random information. Lady Chatterley's Lover was actually inspired by a true story. It was about the love shared by a noble woman named Lady uterlene Moral.( this name is spelled completely incorrect, because I can't get Google to find her.) Who had a romance with the groundskeeper of her husband's home. She was also known for having many different lovers, because her husband refused to have a sexual relationship with her. A part of the tragedy in her story was that her lover actually died just a couple years after they fell in love, and the author did not ask her permission before writing the book. If you ask me, that should have made it bad. But at that time such considerations weren't made.
Just wanna throw this in: in the netherlands we had this wonderful author called Anna Blaman. She wrote many books, which sadly many got burned by the germans. But for the people who question her name... yes. Her name isn't what you think it is; Ben Liever Als Man, which literally translates to; I'm Sweeter As A Man. We love a hidden sappho. (Which has been confirmed fyi.)
I fear that in 2020 any conversation of censorship must also include a conversation of communication that is at its core malicious, abusive, and/or intentionally deceptive, and does the origin of that communication being an individual, organization, or state actor mater?
Exactly. I can't help but think of how we find it difficult to balance the needs of access to all ideas against what appears to be toxic speech, some made in bad faith, that has in its goal the destruction of those freedoms. This is, of course, not a new struggle, but the current shape and reach of the dilemma is seemingly unique in human history.
Censorship is bad. Those in charge of censorship may eventually find what you call toxic to be correct, and what you call morally right to be abhorrent. Do not give anyone that kind of power, because they won't always be on your side.
@@farkasmactavish That's the problem, isn't it?
@@JosephDavies The solution is to teach everybody critical thinking and to encourage them to question everything they hear or read. That, and how to argue respectfully, so that the people with the bad ideas feel included and heard; often, it's isolation and the feeling of being separate that drives people to extreme ideologies.
@@farkasmactavish Absolutely! Well said. I 100% agree.
Garak! Some people LOVED your Star Trek joke
"I gasp! GASP!!" And I lost it. LMFAO
Great episode, but may I ask for a bit more? If this is a history of banned books, could you please speak on the banning of books away from the "Western World"? What books have been banned in eastern Asia? Which books are deemed problemaitc in the Middle East? And, which ideas are considered "dangerous" in central Africa?
There was an Atheist book Malala who was shot by the Taliban.
It's great to see Princess brought on to this series! :D It's one of my favorites on TH-cam. Thank you!
It's amazing to me that someone wanted to ban Ulysses, presumably after reading it. It's wonderful, with all the little secrets and connections.
"a simple tailor". Yes! Very good. Always pleasing to see a DS9 fan.
I too now have an unhealthy infatuation for this channel. It was the content! (Well, primarily the Garak reference.)
Live long, read much, and prosper!
Judith Krug is one of history’s unknown queens. Thanks for introducing me to her!
Christ, this video is about three years older than the RobWords video, a video he uploaded when this topic is more relevant now than ever, and yet it’s still better than that spineless “both-sides” garbage he uploaded. Thank you for having the convictions and principles to upload this video against book banning unapologetically.
Survey time? Stories (both It’s Lit and Monstrum) are some of my favorite Content on TH-cam, is there an option to tell them to just put Lindsay, Princess and Dr. Z in charge of everything?
I saw your Simple Tailor joke and I appreciated it!
"Just a simple tailor." I giggled.
Sometimes you don't even need to ban a book to get rid of it. Hitlers "Mein Kampf" for example was never really banned in Germany. It was just that the copyright was held by the Free State of Bavaria and the Bavarian government refused to let uncommented versions into print. The copyright however expired a a couple years ago. If for whatever reasons you want to read Adolfs mad ramblings.
Ulysses is indecipherable. How did any one understand enough of it to accuse it of being obscene?
To be fair, there was an FBI investigation on Louie Louie, a song full of gibberish
@@dandiestdryer Louie Louie isn't full of gibberish, the lyrics are very straightforward. It's a sea shanty about being on a boat and wanting to get home to a woman. They are just garbled in the vocal performance.
_english majors_
My memory core does not work so well these days, but...forgive me if I have erred...was it not the case that "The Catcher In The Rye" was banninated from certain areas in the US back in the day? Ah...I just checked it out, and yes, it does seem to be so. Banned from libraries and highschools between 1961 and 1982. Princess Weekes, thank you for this wonderful work.
All your background stuff is cool, but the Sailor Moon pixel-type of art stood as to me. Love the piercings/makeup (and, of course, the video)!
I very much liked the Star Trek joke, yes, thank you
Odo : You'd shoot a man in the back?
Garak : Well, it's the safest way, isn't it?
Girl in the video: Mentions Anthony Comstock
Me: *Bioshock flashbacks intensifies!*
I love banned book week. It’s so much easier to find gay content that way
I perked up during the Trek joke! Garak is my favorite Trek character.
You should look into the burning of Takshilla and Nalanda. The Islamic conquests of India led to the banning of the majority of existing literature at that time.
Many people from the catholic church at the time believed that the Origin of Species actually proved the existence of god, since they saw it as proof that there was an intelligent design behind the creation of life
So grateful we live in a world where information can be diseminated internationally beyond the touch of tyrants. I wonder what was contained in those Aztec texts. 😩
It's ironic that the ideas banned in the recent past currently dominate the entire political and cultural spheres.
It's fascinating to observe how those who have suffered discriminations or even persecutions become persecutors !
It's less about morality or control than about power and dominance.
It's not so much a question of breaking stereotypes but breaking the habitual patterns of thinking human relations.
+1 for the Garak reference
Loved the DS9 reference. He is one of my favorites.
Fun fact about the actual burning of books: In 1520, during the Reformation in Germany, Martin Luther's writings were to be taken out of the library of the University of Cologne and publicly burned. The ruler of Cologne was a - Catholic - Archbishop. Nobody dared to complain, and the city's "police force" entered the library to execute the order. Only problem: They couldn't read. So they ordered students to get all of Luther's books. But the students took the books of Luther's enemies, even swapping covers and title pages.
This is great! I think Florida 2023 has all of them beat since 213 B.C.E. 😂I created a my channel just to fight against this very topic. We can't let them get away with banning books on topics regarding marginalized students. It's so important that these students have representation too.
I love that during the formation of the church of England it was considered a radical view that the wine and wafer might be a metaphor for the body and blood of Christ when ingested. The accepted view was they became the LITERAL blood and body of Christ once ingested.
Mad respect for Random House tho
Garak reference! Considering that Garak was originally supposed to be overtly gay before the network pressured DS9's writers to leave that information in the realm of subtext, I'd say that's a perfect reference to make in this video.
I liked the Garak joke. Very much a fan.
Always love a quote from our favorite Cardassian tailor.
"Ah, but I got off several cutting remarks which no doubt did serious damage to their egos."
I hope you mention "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
It's lit takes on a whole new meaning
Yes, the Nazis also burnt Hemingway and Sinclair. But it was mainly literature in the German langue they wanted to wipe out: Brecht, Kafka, Tucholsky, Kästner, Remarque, Heine, Mann (Thomas, Klaus and Heinrich), Seghers, Roth, Zweig and MANY more. It would have been nice to include at least some of them...
"It's Lit" living up to their name
My favorite quote in the world is from Oscar Wilde, "Genius is born, not made... not paid, genius is born not paid that is."
Team Wilde for the win.
Just a simple tailor. I had to pause I was laughing so hard. It’s brilliant.
“Perverted telegraph boys” is the funniest homophobic insult I’ve heard
Very good video - especially at this point in history. Thank you!
All the best from Germany!
It would be great if parents and schools talked about what the Nazis believed, in detail. Why? because kids are encountering fascist-sympathizing content with no preparation about what it is let alone why it is wrong. Whether via writing or videos a large portion of kids are unfamiliar and unprepared on what the will encounter online. No reason to ban or censor it, but a reason to go over what most of the free-world believes and why they believe it.
as a trans sex worker/noise musician i'm always trying to get in trouble for breaking obscenity laws just so I can eventually go to court and argue that I have value.
My grandfather told me that he was in high school, one of his teachers would tease the students by holding up one of the books from the index and basically saying "I'm a teacher so I can read this but you guys can't". So yeah that stuff's recent.
Where one burns books. One eventually burns people.
Thank you for the "simple tailor" reference
I agree that discussing books is better than banning them. However, the matter becomes trickier when the book in question is e.g. Mein Kampf.
(It’s easy to scorn at banning books when we either agree with said books or find them harmless. What if the books in question support something that we wholeheartedly believe to be evil? It’s probably still good to be able to read such books - so that one can see for oneself, what is evil about them and how evil can make itself seem appealing. But I believe that some experience of the reader, ability to perceive demagogy and knowledge of context is necessary - something resembling the priest giving the approval that “Yes, this book is dangerous, but you are mature enough to deal with the danger.”)
A simple tailor, ah yes, only the most competent tradesperson on the whole station nonetheless.
Thank you for that!
Very well written script and very intelligently approached. Great video
"Just a simple tailor."
Yes, but also a very good tailor.
I loved the Garek reference!
It’s always good to remind ourselves of things like this becuz those who’re in a privileged class forget that “knowledge” is corruptible
Privileged just means worked harder than you
Love the Garak reference
I have to say though, i still feel mein kampf should not be sold. Books of pure evil such as that evil "thing", is disgusting to put out there. Hatred should not be given that podium.