How Stories Last | Neil Gaiman

Neil's talk will explore the way stories, myths and tales survive over great lengths of time and why creating for the future means making works that will endure within the oral tradition.
Preternaturally eloquent, Neil Gaiman has told stories in every medium-graphic novels ("The Sandman"), novels ("The Ocean at the End of the Lane"; "American Gods"), short stories ("Trigger Warning"), children’s books ("The Graveyard Book"), television ("Dr Who"), the occasional song ("I Google You": • Neil Gaiman + Amanda P... , with Amanda Palmer), and the occasional speech that goes viral ("Make Good Art": • Neil Gaiman - Inspirat... ).
"How Stories Last" was given on June 09, 02015 as part of Long Now's Seminar series. The series was started in 02003 to build a compelling body of ideas about long-term thinking from some of the world's leading thinkers. The Seminars take place in San Francisco and are curated and hosted by Stewart Brand. To follow the talks, you can:
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[@secretsofouanalao]

Neil Gaiman should be the narrator for life itself.

[@ImNotJoshPotter]

You have to narrate your own story, friend.

[@constancemiller3753]

@@JAllanC12 so you sold me on Audible. Do you get a Neil Gaiman's "I've been told this isn't true...but damn it's a good strory" discount?

[@LyndseyMacPherson]

To be honest, I think he already is.

[@besteastern123]

@@ImNotJoshPotter 11

[@genghisgalahad8465]

He was the storyteller for Death: The High Cost of Living, so...

[@MasterTow1994]

Me writing without any preceeding Neil Gaiman speech/text about writing: meh, this is bullshit Me writing after any preceeding Neil Gaiman speech/text about writing: I am doing magic here

[@jelizabethpetrie6656]

Perspective matters🎯

[@dannewth7149]

If magic exists it is not hocus pocus, disappearing and reappearing or granting wishes. It is enchanting and motivating minds through persuasion.

[@justjulia1720]

Hearing Gaiman, the man who naturally talks like a gentle dad telling his kids a bedtime story, tell about that story about his cousin nearly got me crying

[@dannewth7149]

Very few dad's have this skill.

[@toqa6735]

I didn't want this to end... literally ate my lunch and studied while listening to this with a big smile on my face..thank you for uploading Neil's interview.

[@Sentientmatter8]

Studied WHILE listening to this? However did you split your attention?

[@toqa6735]

@@Sentientmatter8 I think it's because English is not my first language, i can distinguish if what I'm listening to is pleasant or not , as for studying I believe i was preparing for my chemistry exam which was fairly easy compared to physics or bio ( I passed lol now about to graduate college but this is overwhelming don't get me wrong but between listening to my family arguing or blasting music hearing sir Neil talk is comforting when in panic)

[@havinfunfallin9458]

I feel so let down... How did it take me 25 years to find Neil Gaiman

[@havinfunfallin9458]

JAllanC12 yeah but it’s like where to even begin lol

[@henbane2247]

@@havinfunfallin9458 The Sandman comics are how I fell in love with Neil Gaiman and his stories. You could start there.

[@havinfunfallin9458]

Henbane I am reading good omens right now. It’s awesome. But will read sandman after. I just love the way he is subverting tropes.

[@operation1968]

@@havinfunfallin9458 I'm not very familiar with his work but I like his approach to writing, being an aspiring writer myself. So for what it's worth, take my advice. Go with your gut and start with his book that pulls you the most. The kind that creates a nagging feeling within you and go for it and enjoy the read

[@priyankasingh9790]

And to me 27 yrs ...sad ...but glad that now I found ...

[@dpacc88]

Greatest verbal teller of stories who has ever lived, bar none! He's completely hypnotizing to listen to.

[@dannewth7149]

Samuel Clemens?

[@tymckenzie5622]

Hypnotizing. Riveting. Dreamy. I'm transported. Life falls away. Thanks

[@thebigshep]

Damn, those laughs when he started that story about his cousin got real quiet when they realized where it was actually going

[@jc87ish]

Found my new favorite Neil Gaiman video.

[@monikasternecker2884]

Listening to this after the traumatic shootings in the United States, I am, once more, that children who grow up without stories are impoverished, have no treasure trove of stories to nourish them in troubling times.

[@Sentientmatter8]

I want to see Neil Gaimen perform a Christmas Carol live. 😭

[@ghrobertson99]

The gentle, intentional action of Neil Gaiman pouring two glasses of water, and gently setting the bottle down, just after finishing talking about global water's future, is sublime.

[@StuartWoodwardJP]

My young son asked me “Where is that is place that we see in our dreams?”

[@loganarowland]

I've watched a lot-and I mean a lot!-of Neil Gaiman videos. That was the best intro he's received. I could listen to that guy talk a bit if he wanted to.

[@Mikeztarp]

It's funny. For years, I've said that languages were like symbiotes living in humans. Mr. Gaiman says the same thing about stories, and he's right. :)

[@OrasSelection]

Will watch and listen to this KZbin Video more than once. So motivating to write my story. Thanks Neil

[@lawrencexxq]

Just read American Gods, this emphasized why it bound me to Mr Gaiman. Wonderful.

[@mayfair_forest_witch]

This guy makes me laugh out loud, so many times I listen to someone on youtube, podcasts etc. and I laugh 'inside' , but every time I listen to Neil I just cannot contain my laugh 😁

[@turvyjj9232]

Very interesting, thanks a lot. I don't know about Gaiman's education, but his prosody is very much like the prosody of a catholic priest delivering a sermon, the way he places stresses and pauses.

[@cradledgallery]

One of those perfect combinations of both masterful prose and oratory skill that is seldom come by, I didn’t want it to end lol

[@milivizcaino5098]

I'm completely fascinated by his way of think and of course, the way he tells stories

[@enchantedwoodeve2503]

Fabulous!!! I could listen to him for hours and hours!!! Thank you Neil!!

[@kayelle790]

😍😍😍 I love his voice and how he narrates anything.

[@tobyhill-smith2073]

Great listening to Neil and on especially interesting form. Also a great interviewer. Too many seem to ask prescriptive questions with nothing to do with the previous answer, but in this example it was much more naturalised and conversational.

[@jrtime228]

I’ve never sought reading as an escape. But as a middle-school kid, I discovered that I was taking a third person perspective of the stories I was reading. I became a phantom to observe worlds that were not real. And i found that I had left reality in doing so every time I started reading. I STILL do it today.

[@wallstreettjournal]

Thank you for sharing this !

[@aliceswonderfall]

I needed this today - thank you!

[@robertmilstidbooks]

Very inspirational. I will add it to my writer's soup!

[@one_smol_duck]

didn't expect to be spend my Friday morning crying over a speech about stories but here we are

[@JamesVermont]

Neil Gaiman has the kindest voice

[@christopherstorz6184]

I'd actually use Google Assistant/Siri/Alexa if they used Gaiman's voice.

[@Li0nX]

That old mans snickering laugh warms my artificial hearth.

[@g.dalfleblanc63]

Neil's idea about a goldfish that is bitten by a werewolf. We at the Bureau of Paranormal Defences decided we needed to create someone who could combat the Waterwolf, a mystical fish who has been gaining power as climate change ever worsens. They are a gigantic 20 meter long catfish who has historically attacked the dams and windmills of the Netherlands. Cornelius Gold was only meant to be a test subject, but they have escaped the labs...

[@frogmouth]

fanastic interviewer a real listener reflector and producer of questions that run! I have Gaiman's View from the cheap seats on audio. He reads his speeches and talks fluently but I prefer conversations

[@TRAMP-oline]

What a fascinating bot message this is.

[@cjpreach]

A written story is a conversation between Author and Reader, regardless of the time interval between the writing and the reading of the story. Want to speak to your great-great-grandchild? Write it down!

[@cyberjake2020]

to have Neil as your dad, telling you a bedtime story. just imagine.

[@RobertGotschall]

The first “trains” were actually ox drawn affairs running on wooden tracks. Steam engines would come latter, but the width of the tracks was the first criteria. The Emperor and the Assassin, also known as The First Emperor, is a 1998 - 1999 Chinese historical romance film based primarily on Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin I found Gaiman reading Good Omens.

[@bhwst68]

Best spent 1:45 hour in a very long time, recommend to listen not just once

[@thetawaves48]

I had the Sandman series 40 years ago.

[@rubywei328]

what is dropping the book (in intro) a reference to? or what does that mean?

[@Tomangel61]

I can write poetry or even songs, but I struggle with completing stories, I get blocked as if a great boulder were across the doorway to my consciousness.

[@mayfair_forest_witch]

44:13 I love that fragment when he talks about how books are better at being books. Even years before home computers existed, not even portable devices yet, people imagined that in the future there is not going to be a printed word. Now we know better, and I wouldn't be surprised if people are still going to print books 200 years from now. For me having ADHD it is much easier to listen to audiobooks, but I still have a need to own printed edition of my favourite authors, not surprisingly they are Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. There is nothing like this organic experience of reading an actual paper edition of a book. 1:00:49 This fragment is so important regarding all people who complain about gender bending changes in tv show Sandman and other changes. I saw in my youtube recommendations video titled something like "forced diversity" in Sandman. And I didn't feel the need to watch it, because this title suggest me that person who made this video does not understand Neil Gaiman at all, and does not understand writing at all. Redirect them to this fragment 1:00:49, maybe it'll make them think, maybe not, maybe they'll start understanding Neil, maybe not. People who complain about changes adjusted to times we are living in, are not made to live long, this is why humans lifespan isn't often longer than 90 years, not only because our cells are not multiplying and our cells are dying, it's because most people's brains are not wired to truly accept all changes that are happening around us. There aren't many people who could be Hob Gadling.

[@brianmoren3780]

About the second part: Have you considered, beyond Gaiman, that those changes are politically motivated and not genuine? If you find this hard to believe, think about how gender is always bent toward making men women, and race by making white black. Never the other way around (which I don't care either). Is there anything wrong about that in itself? No. Is clearly politically motivated? Obviously. So what's the problem with that? The problem is that it comes not through genuine understanding of each other, but of politics, which exist in order to lead things to a particular goal generally unknown to us. Politics is always about one or the other, this against that, those are the bad guys we are the good ones, before we were the oppressed now they are. Probably that is why, I might say, you patronized 'all people who complain about this' in one category and did not bother to watch the video in your feed about forced diversity.

[@pipikyuceer9998]

i think neil gaiman is the best comic book writer

[@solfolgarait3745]

This man is a treasure

[@HavilandTuf]

if there is any chance for making film based on Sandman i'm damn sure that Neil Gaiman should play role of Lord of Dreams Morpheus and as his older sister Lesley-Ann Brandt

[@lollypuddn]

Well the Netflix show is out now!!!!

[@kristiankorneliussen526]

It`s the end of humanity. But the start for humankind. It is good

[@Sentientmatter8]

"Sorry Maddy" Is his daughter in the audience!? 😆

[@rouj1776]

❤️

[@anthonyalvarez664]

He is Dream... in a human form...

[@mndrix]

Gaiman's remarks begin at 2:19

[@georgianapopescu1333]

Ok, who googled that site about authors and cats right after Neil mentioned it? 😻

[@xannyphantom8864]

🔥

[@BryceZed]

For those looking for the link to what Neil describes around 1:28:36 ->: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJ2ohGt9btGqfcU

[@FalardeMusicaeLegal]

Thank Dream we have him

[@thetawaves48]

I'd love to hear him and George Lucas, James Cameron, and Ridley Scott together.

[@SecondSince]

30:00 if nothing else just watch this little bit...

[@palaceofbrilliance6164]

the tomb has been found. I was in xi an and they said they have found the whole city, but leave it below earth, bc the climate is not the same anymore as it was then and it would lead to a change (colour fading)

[@sevamega]

I am listening to this to escape…

[@mrzigg6594]

A story has a creation yet we are still not sure of what created ? Or why?

[@merlepatterson]

Crafting story narratives has been humanity's way of attempting to make sense out of the senseless for eons. Even when the story's over, the senselessness isn't necessarily resolved and the author unsuccessful in making sense out of senselessness. I sense an author of senselessness and this isn't admonition as much as admiration for the attempt. After all, the bible is still widely read and revered as the premier book of senselessness and young adults still dress up as Harry Potter. Humans need fantasy. Thus, Hollywood, broadcast news and elite clubs.

[@janlappalainen]

Hollywood isn't the least bit interested in stories.

[@chazmena]

@@janlappalainen yes, they are...only it's the same story told again and again and again and again, etc.

[@mrzigg6594]

How can you truly disprove anything when we can still ask questions

[@hanniffydinn6019]

I’m surprised hero’s journey by Joseph Campbell isn’t discussed. There’s really deep shit going on with stories that last. Like really deep stuff. 🐯🐯🐯

[@dirkjehovah4731]

Hanniffy Dinn I’ve read somewhere that Neil Gaiman doesn’t like that book, in a “if that’s true, I don’t want to know” kind of way.

[@henbane2247]

I'm reading that at the moment. Interesting stuff.

[@robbiewilliamson9783]

@Pedro Abreu His point was, as far as I remember, that it was kind of a blue print for writing a story which is maybe a dangerous thing to know as it means you might end up just following that pattern by rote which would make you're prose more predictable and just less original I guess? whereas, if you're a writer and you're doing your job properly you'll end up following those patterns naturally. I'm not a writer but I make music and play a few instruments. I'm sure other people will disagree with this but I truly believe that it is a serious detriment to learn scales before you can listen to songs and play along with them first. By learning the scales first you give yourself a 'safe place' to play within, where you know all the notes work. However in doing this you lose originality, you hamper your ability to experiment and you lose the joy of discovering for yourself. I think it might be a similar thing he was feeling.

[@finncullen]

Campbell's "Hero with a thousand faces" where the idea of the Hero's journey is posited isn't as defining a work as Campbell's adherents believe. He carried out a great deal of cherry picking to make the template fit, focussing on a very specific type of myth and using examples of that type of story to support his thesis, while ignoring vast swathes of other stories that didn't fit. If you want a story of a reluctant hero on a path to overcome troubles and gain authority after an ordeal... then yes it fits all those stories perfectly. But there a lot of equally seminal myth patterns that don't fit it.

[@4-a-e]

When Neil was asked if he read the book his reply was he didnt want to know that much about writing. He enjoys the struggle of finding a story.

[@thetawaves48]

Neil never gets around to mentioning Orwell's "Animal Farm."

[@cathyortiz1280]

I was thinking 1984

[@marcelaawen]

I'm just crying. The thing about women it's so right I can Even begin to Say how much it meant

[@mojo6112]

Every sentence he utteres sounds like he's gonna follow up with "thank you" and walks off the stage

[@mattsuth1]

He likes the sound of his own voice and listening to this, so do others. He takes you the long way around to get to the point but maybe that's good story telling?

[@hobgoblinuk5100]

That IS storytelling. Getting to the point is presenting facts. Making it interesting is storytelling

[@robborino85222]

And to add onto Hobgoblin's remark, storytelling gives context and makes it relatable. If he just gave a list of facts it would not be as easily understood or actionable. A kind of "I told you that to tell you this" type of thing

[@shubhamkumar5888]

59:00

[@mrzigg6594]

Immimortality for the person instead of Mabye the endless potential of imagination and creation and memory ?

[@ninfarose]

Much love and appreciation 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈 from Mottola south of Italy 🤍🖤🐠💓

[@MINDVIKING]

55:00 Pretty wild now that Elon's up in there.

[@jakebee7205]

Did he say Tom Servo

[@kamalpreetsingh1686]

There are some writers who try to produce laughter in the audience and when they get the response they keep doing this , so poor concentration that a laughter can distract them.....

[@JimOverbeckgenius]

The largest illustrated volume[s] since Leonardo's is my THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GOD ALMIGHTY, as if He used me as AN EXQUISITE CORPSE. As a mathematician 60 years ago I considered the coin which says: The statement on the other side of this coin is false & on the obverse it says The statement on the other side of this coin is true. This causes a flip-flop function non-stop as Truth & Falsity coinhere as a denumerably-infinite coincidentia oppositorum, with the requisite isomorphs. This coinherence sets up a twisted ring, which insanely chases itself. The coin's edge I decided to find a number for as a 17 yo thinker, because it overthrows Aristotle's law of bivalence.

[@JimOverbeckgenius]

This 60 years in the making skew-narrative text sees God Incarnate on earth going insane in the highest redoubts of super-genius, trying the Helmets of hell met, sunshine, madness and polymorphous deific sexuality. As Cockster Number 1 in His guise as a Bohemian-Chelsea intellectual, this deranged God seduces countless exquisites.

[@whitehair8824]

I thought he said the long nail foundation 😅

[@sakshid9152]

Hit like if you are here after Twinkle Khanna's video with the Quint where she mentioned about this video.

[@mrzigg6594]

I enjoyed school

[@pensado3000]

he pours water for both, interesting.

[@JeremyHelm]

Folder of time

[@JeremyHelm]

3:31 2,300 years ago - during that emperor's lifetime was standardized the width of carts - foresight

[@JeremyHelm]

4:50 hubris? No, it's the fish

[@JeremyHelm]

7:32 5,064 years? Dwarfs that emperor

[@JeremyHelm]

9:05 The Pacific Northwest

[@JeremyHelm]

10:10 perspectives smuggled in... information isn't enough to ensure a signal carries

[@liquidsonly]

At 56:44 Pours out the two glasses. Generosity, right there.

[@liquidsonly]

And now we have book banning in the USA.

[@HomeAtLast501]

When you can't share insights about your craft, talk about Chinese history.

[@madamedellaporte4214]

What is it with American wolfing like that? So unnecessary and annoying. Grow up.

[@veritas6335]

Nothing this guy says is at all helpful to writers. He seems to just ramble. Some of what he says is amusing but - telling good jokes isn't teaching writing. None of this is particularly instructive to writers.

[@one_smol_duck]

This isn't a lecture, it's a speech. The purpose is to inspire, not to teach. There's precious little you can give a writer more valuable than something to think about.

[@ImNotJoshPotter]

Lol, "books were forbidden by the Nazis". There were *very* specific books that got burned. And Jacob Grimm, a German, is a name that I'm sure all of us know as the reference point for many stories that we continue to tell today.

[@sociallyineptspider-man2366]

No, books that the nazis saw as "not being apart of their values" were burned, which was most German literature, so niel was right my dude

[@ImNotJoshPotter]

@@sociallyineptspider-man2366 Maybe you should look back into it. They burned obscene books such as trans lit, sex change stuff etc. Against their values would be an understatement.

[@Changetheling]

And Germans and Nazis are the same thing because... Rhetorical sentence, don't bother.

[@ImNotJoshPotter]

@@Changetheling I'm saying they obviously didn't burn everything you goober. They burned books that ought to be burned, frankly. That's the point. But most contemporary people just use Nazi book burning as a rhetorical device.

[@dawsonmaloney9910]

>goober

[@jimb1453]

Why... Does he have to leave so many pauses?... It's made the video at least... an hour longer than it would have been... If he'd just spoken as he normally does... I almost fell asleep after the first five minutes... and I couldn't continue watching... Which is a real shame... Because I'm sure he had some amazing things... to say.

[@F5ss]

... watch it at twice the speed

[@jimb1453]

@@F5ss Hahah not a bad idea

[@jimb1453]

@@F5ss Still incredibly long pauses even at 2x haha

[@jimb1453]

@Whatever Account Agree with the first point, he certainly doesn't creep me out though, but I can kinda see what you mean by the networking vibe, though as a writer and creative who probably spends most of his time alone and enjoys his own company he'd probably rather not be doing talks or interviews etc Most people are putting on an act in those situations or literally just there to advertise, network and sell themselves, none of them want to be there, perhaps it's just a bit more obvious with him because he's not so good at masking?

[@ericschmuecker348]

Screw This Guy! Story teller my ass.

[@golith41]

I wish he could get over his problem with men And stop putting them down and referring them as brainless bruts. Or as the oppressor of women. Its said

[@Bogdanko93]

He is surrounded by people that believe in this narrative(or if you wish story). He might not even be aware that there could be another opinion about the topic.

[@Bogdanko93]

If you listen to the interviewer, you might see that interviewer is much more possessed by that idea. Half of his questions are related to questioning traditional narrative implying that there is something wrong with that narrative.

[@sociallyineptspider-man2366]

He's not saying that, why do you reactionary types always have to misinterpret anything that points out negative aspects of masculinity

[@Bogdanko93]

Neil Gainman is of a Poet archetype. Traditionally poets don't understand warriors and vice-versa even though both are vital for a functioning of a social group

[@andrejm77]

@@sociallyineptspider-man2366 There are no negative aspects of masculinity, its just masculinity.

[@miroay2103]

what a boring voice and stories, i dissapointed

[@thestarsaligned]

I HAVE TO ADMIT... I GOT BORED OUT OF MY MIND LISTENING TO HIM TALK lol