The Flourishing Culture of Punditry

I’m intrigued with the culture of talking at the moment.

This draws partly from the fact that I am paid much better as a professional talker about art (seminars, symposia, conferences etc.) than a maker of it. I just had this thought while listening to Tony Cascarino speaking on the radio about football; now there’s an interesting career choice, making money by talking and playing poker.

I’ve done a few of these professional talks lately, and it’s given me cause for reflection. Sometimes it’s quite invigorating (something to do with an ego trip I suppose) and other times it’s completely exhausting. I’ve decided to take a hiatus from public talking after the last one. I feel I don’t have that much left to talk about (I felt like a limp dishcloth) and it worries me slightly that by doing these talks I’m presenting myself as a person with answers. Or maybe that I’m a has-been before my time.

I wonder how we arrived at this point, if we will ever get tired of talking, and what it might be a substute for. I wonder has Umberto Eco written a brilliant essay about it?