College can teach you how to get a job, run a business, educate your kids and even have more clinically healthy relationships. But nothing can prepare you for the soulless void of relentless, rapacious consumer culture. At least, not until now. A popular marketing course offered at the University of North Florida aims to school students in the “business of happiness” by exploring consumer culture and “how everyday choices and consumption patterns affect mental health.” We talk to the instructor who launched the class in 2023 as well as a former student about avoiding the modern-day pitfalls of what the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates called “the unexamined life.”
Guests:
- Courtney Nations Azzari, associate professor of marketing, University of North Florida
- Sydney Lee, junior marketing major, University of North Florida
The ultimate wheelman
St. Augustine cycling enthusiast and tall-bike collector Keith Pariani spent almost two weeks perched atop a 4-and-a-half-foot wheel, pedaling 60 miles a day on a 770-mile journey from Dearborn, Michigan, to Philadelphia. The epic trip commemorated the 50th anniversary of a similar ride, the Bicentennial 1976 Highwheel Tour. In both cases, the effort ignited public interest in "tall bikes," which have been effectively obsolete since the arrival of bike chains and pneumatic tires in the late 1880s ushered in the era of “safety bikes.” Still, the old high-wheelers (purists say the term “penny farthing” is an insult) remain iconic and visually captivating, as evidenced by the jaw-dropping sight of Pariani biking around his hometown. We talk to the inveterate cyclist ahead of his Nov. 12 presentation at the Lightner Museum, part of the exhibit Riding High! Vintage Bicycles from the Keith Pariani Collection.
Guest: Keith Pariani, St. Augustine cyclist and tall-bike collector
Making it, and faking it
It’s not often you’re invited by a highly reputable museum to try to spot forgeries, but a new exhibition at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens does just that. The new show, Tiffany or Ti-phony? A Story of Desire, showcases the original and much sought-after stained glass lamps by Louis Comfort Tiffany alongside many convincing counterfeits. The collection includes detailed analyses of glass color, patterning and design elements that help professionals discern a lamp’s origin and value. We talk to the museum’s chief curator about the persistence of ersatz artwork and what it tells us about the art and science of acquisition.
Guest: Holly Keris, J. Wayne & Delores Barr Weaver chief curator, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens
Topics and guests subject to change.