...we still "are" human beings, now. Or can be.

(illustration by BJK)

It's impossible to know what to say about the death of David Foster Wallace, though our friend Bob Proehl has done an incredible job here. So much has already been said and written in rememberance that it's perhaps best to hear from the man himself.

His now-famous Charlie Rose interview is probably the greatest example of how Wallace dealt with the scrutiny of the media, and perhaps people in general. While he was occasionally criticized as combative, the interview with Rose presents an interviewer who is outmatched by his interviewee. Wallace was nothing if not complicated, but the beautiful thing about that complication was that he was sincere in his concern for art, literature and our capacity for empathy, and that he didn't pretend that those things are uncomplicated.

The interview begins at 23:08: