ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Jill Sobule - Singer/songwriter
Jill Sobule isn't just another singer-songwriter with catchy tunes and smart lyrics, she's one of the more insightful satirists of our age. Each of her fanciful songs captures an issue or irony, an emotion or epiphany that helps us understand what it's like to live now.

Why you should listen

Jill Sobule first found her place in music history with the controversial 1995 hit "I Kissed a Girl." The song's silly sweetness masked its significance: It broke new ground as the first Top 40 hit to deal with overtly gay themes.

This approach -- packaging hard-hitting social commentary in a wrapper of whimsy -- has defined Sobule's career. Her endearing story-songs veer from fanciful storytelling to forceful satire and back again, covering a wide range of political and social issues from climate change to prostitution; anorexia to anti-semitism. Her winning combination of memorable characters, clever lyrics and catchy tunes has inspired comparisons that range from Burt Bacharach to Gertrude Stein. It also makes her performances and recordings a delight.

Sobule's candy-coated commentary can be found on her Huffington Post blog, as well as in her steady stream of stand-out albums, including Jill Sobule (1995), Happy Town (1997), Pink Pearl (2000) and Underdog Victorious (2004). Lately, Sobule has performed regularly with comedian Julia Sweeney (the two met at TED2006). They put on the "Jill and Julia Show," an utterly endearing evening of stories and songs. She's also recording an album with the string quartet Ethel (another TED2006 match).

More profile about the speaker
Jill Sobule | Speaker | TED.com
Julia Sweeney - Actor, comedian, playwright
Julia Sweeney creates comedic works that tackle deep issues: cancer, family, faith.

Why you should listen

Julia Sweeney is a writer, director, actress, comedian and monologist. She is known for being a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1995, where she created and popularized the androgynous character, Pat. She is also well known for her comedic and dramatic monologues. God Said Ha! is a monologue about serious illness, her brother's lymphoma and her own cancer, and her family's crazy reactions to this crisis as they soldiered their way through struggle, confusion and death. This play was performed all over the U.S. and on Broadway at the Lyceum Theater. It was made into a film produced by Quentin Tarantino, and the comedy album from the show was nominated for a Grammy.

Sweeney's second monologue, In the Family Way, played in theatrical runs in New York and Los Angeles. It was ultimately fashioned into a book, a memoir titled If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother. Sweeney's third monologue, Letting Go of God, chronicled her journey from Catholicism to atheism. It was made into a film that played on Showtime.

More profile about the speaker
Julia Sweeney | Speaker | TED.com
TED2007

Jill Sobule + Julia Sweeney: The Jill and Julia Show

Le show de Jill et Julia

Filmed:
546,581 views

Deux habitués de TED, Jill Sobule et Julia Sweeney, s'unissent pour offrir une charmante performance qui mélange des chansons pleines d'esprit à quelques commentaires sociaux.
- Singer/songwriter
Jill Sobule isn't just another singer-songwriter with catchy tunes and smart lyrics, she's one of the more insightful satirists of our age. Each of her fanciful songs captures an issue or irony, an emotion or epiphany that helps us understand what it's like to live now. Full bio - Actor, comedian, playwright
Julia Sweeney creates comedic works that tackle deep issues: cancer, family, faith. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:32
JillJill SobuleSobule: At a conferenceconférence in MontereyMonterey by the biggros, biggros jellyfishméduse tankréservoir, ♫
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♫ A une conférence à Monterey près du grand, grand, aquarium, ♫
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♫ I first saw you and I got so shytimide. ♫
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♫ je t'ai vue pour la première fois et ça m'a rendu si timide. ♫
00:41
♫ You see, I was a little paranoidParanoid 'causeparce que I mightpourrait have been highhaute. ♫
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♫ Vous voyez, j'étais un peu paranoïaque, car j'étais sûrement stone. ♫
00:45
♫ And I hadn'tn'avait pas doneterminé that in agesâge and I won'thabitude do that again. ♫
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♫ Je ne l'avais pas été depuis longtemps, je ne le referai plus. ♫
00:48
♫ But that's anotherun autre storyrécit. ♫
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♫ Mais c'est une autre histoire. ♫
00:51
LovedAimé you foreverpour toujours and I've been a biggros fanventilateur, ♫
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♫ Je t'ai toujours aimée et j'ai toujours été une grande fan, ♫
00:56
♫ the one-womanOne-Woman showsmontre, I even rentedloué "PatPat." ♫
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♫ j'ai même loué le one-woman show "Pat". ♫
00:59
♫ I got enoughassez nervenerf to come up to you, ♫
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♫ J'ai eu assez de courage pour t'approcher, ♫
01:03
♫ but little did I know one yearan laterplus tard we'dmer be doing this showmontrer. ♫
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♫ mais je ne savais pas qu'un an plus tard on ferait ce show. ♫
01:08
♫ I singchanter. JuliaJulia SweeneySweeney: I tell storieshistoires. TogetherEnsemble: The JillJill and JuliaJulia ShowVoir l’établissement. ♫
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♫ Je chante. Julia Sweeney: Je raconte des histoires. Ensemble: Le show de Jill et Julia. ♫
01:15
SobuleSobule: SometimesParfois it workstravaux. SweeneySweeney: SometimesParfois it doesn't. ♫
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♫ Sobule: Des fois ça fonctionne. Sweeney: Des fois non. ♫
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TogetherEnsemble: The JillJill and JuliaJulia ShowVoir l’établissement. ♫
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♫ Ensemble: Le show de Jill et Julia. ♫
01:22
SweeneySweeney: At a conferenceconférence in MontereyMonterey nextprochain to the biggros, biggros jellyfishméduse tankréservoir, ♫
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♫ Sweeney: A une conférence à Monterey près du grand, grand, aquarium, ♫
01:29
♫ I first saw you and I wasn'tn'était pas so shytimide. ♫
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♫ je t'ai vue, je n'étais pas si timide. ♫
01:33
I madefabriqué a beelineBeeline for you and told you what a hugeénorme fanventilateur I was
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Je suis allée direct te voir pour te dire combien j'étais fan.
01:37
ever sincedepuis I was writingl'écriture that pilotpilote for FoxFox, and WendyWendy
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Depuis le jour où j'écrivais ce pilote pour Fox, et Wendy
01:40
and I wanted you to do the themethème songchant.
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je voulais que tu fasses la chanson principale.
01:41
And then the pilotpilote didn't go and I was so sadtriste,
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Mais le pilote n'est pas allé plus loin et j'étais si triste,
01:43
but I keptconservé remainingrestant a fanventilateur of yoursle tiens.
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mais je suis restée une grande fan.
01:44
And then when I wentest allé throughpar that biggros, horriblehorrible breakuprupture with CarlCarl
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Mais, quand j'ai eu cette énorme, horrible rupture avec Carl
01:48
and I couldn'tne pouvait pas get off the couchcanapé, I listenedécouté to your songchant,
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je ne pouvais plus me lever du canapé, j'ai écouté ta chanson,
01:50
♫ "Now That I Don't Have You," ♫ over and over and over and over again.
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♫ "Maintenant que je ne t'ai plus" ♫ encore, et encore.
01:54
And I can't believe you're here and that I'm meetingréunion you here at TEDTED.
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Je ne peux pas croire que tu es là et que je te rencontre ici à TED.
01:57
And alsoaussi, I can't believe that we're eatingen mangeant sushiSushi
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Je ne peux pas croire non plus que nous mangeons des sushis
02:00
in frontde face of the fishpoisson tankréservoir,
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en face de l'aquarium,
02:01
whichlequel, personallypersonnellement, I think is really inappropriateinapproprié.
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ce que personnellement je trouve vraiment inapproprié.
02:03
(LaughterRires)
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(Rires)
02:05
(ApplauseApplaudissements)
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(Applaudissements)
02:06
And little did I know that one yearan laterplus tard ... ♫ we'dmer be doing this showmontrer. ♫
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Je ne savais pas qu’un an plus tard ... ♫ on serait en train de faire ce show. ♫
02:10
SobuleSobule: I singchanter. SweeneySweeney: I tell storieshistoires. TogetherEnsemble: The JillJill and JuliaJulia ShowVoir l’établissement. ♫
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♫ Sobule: Je chante. Sweeney: Je raconte des histoires. Ensemble: Le show de Jill et Julia. ♫
02:16
SobuleSobule: Hey, they askeda demandé us back! SweeneySweeney: Can you standsupporter it?!
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Sobule: Hey, ils en redemandent ! Sweeney: Vous supportez ça?
02:20
TogetherEnsemble: The JillJill and JuliaJulia, the JillJill and JuliaJulia, the JillJill and JuliaJulia ShowVoir l’établissement. ♫
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♫ Ensemble: Le Jill et Julia, le Jill et Julia, le Jill et Julia Show. ♫
02:26
SobuleSobule: Why are all our heroeshéros so imperfectimparfait? ♫
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♫ Sobule: Pourquoi tous nos héros sont-ils si imparfaits ? ♫
02:34
♫ Why do they always bringapporter me down? ♫
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♫ Pourquoi est-ce qu'ils me dépriment tout le temps? ♫
02:40
♫ Why are all our heroeshéros so imperfectimparfait? ♫
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♫ Pourquoi tous nos héros sont-ils si imparfaits ? ♫
02:45
StatueStatue de in the parkparc has lostperdu his crownCouronne. ♫
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♫ La statue dans le parc a perdu sa couronne. ♫
02:50
WilliamWilliam FaulknerFaulkner, drunkivre and depresseddéprimé. ♫ SweeneySweeney: MmmMmm.
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♫ William Faulkner, soûl et déprimé. ♫
02:53
DorothyDorothy ParkerParker, mean, drunkivre and depresseddéprimé. ♫ SweeneySweeney: I know.
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♫ Dorothy Parker méchante, soûle et déprimée. ♫
02:56
♫ And that guy, "SevenSept YearsAnnées in TibetTibet," turnedtourné out to be a NaziNazi. ♫ SweeneySweeney: Yeah.
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♫ Et ce gars, dans Sept Ans au Tibet, s’est avéré être un nazi. ♫
03:01
FoundingFondation fatherspères all had slavesdes esclaves. ♫ SweeneySweeney: I know.
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♫ Les pères fondateurs avaient tous des esclaves. ♫
03:03
♫ The explorersexplorateurs slaughteredabattus the bravesbraves. ♫ SweeneySweeney: HorriblyHorriblement.
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♫ Les explorateurs massacraient les braves. ♫ Sweeney: Horriblement.
03:06
SobuleSobule: The OldVieux TestamentTestament God can be so pettypetit. ♫
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♫ Sobule: Les dieux de l'Ancien Testament peuvent être si mesquins. ♫
03:10
SweeneySweeney: Don't get me startedcommencé on that. (LaughterRires)
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Sweeney: Ne m'en parle même pas.
03:12
SobuleSobule: PaulPaul McCartneyMcCartney, jealousjaloux of JohnJohn, even more so now that he's gonedisparu. ♫
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♫ Sobule: Paul McCartney jaloux de John, encore plus maintenant qu'il est mort. ♫
03:16
DylanDylan was so mean to DonovanDonovan in that moviefilm. ♫
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♫ Dylan était tellement méchant avec Donovan dans ce film. ♫
03:21
PabloPablo PicassoPicasso, cruelcruel to his wivesépouses. ♫ SweeneySweeney: HorribleHorrible.
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♫ Pablo Picasso, cruel avec ses pépées. ♫ Sweeney: horrible.
03:24
SobuleSobule: My favoritepréféré poetspoètes tooka pris theirleur ownposséder livesvies. ♫
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♫ Sobule: Mes poètes favoris se sont tous suicidés. ♫
03:26
OrsonOrson WellesWelles peakeda atteint un sommet at twenty-fivevingt cinq, belowau dessous de before our eyesles yeux. ♫
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♫ Orson Welles a atteint son sommet à 25 ans, puis a explosé complètement. ♫
03:31
♫ And he soldvendu badmal winedu vin. ♫
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♫ Et il vendait du mauvais vin. ♫
03:33
TogetherEnsemble: Why are all our heroeshéros so imperfectimparfait? Yeah ♫
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♫ Ensemble: Pourquoi tous nos héros sont-ils si imparfaits ? ♫
03:38
♫ Why do they always bringapporter me down? ♫
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♫ Pourquoi est-ce qu'ils me dépriment tout le temps? ♫
03:43
SobuleSobule: HeardEntendu BabeBabe RuthRuth was fullplein of malicemalice. ♫ SweeneySweeney: Oh.
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♫ Sobule: Heard Babe Ruth était pleine de malice. ♫
03:46
LewisLewis CarrollCarroll I'm sure did AliceAlice. ♫ SweeneySweeney: What?!
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♫ Lewis Carroll j'en suis sûr s'est tapé Alice. ♫
03:48
PlatoPlaton in the caveCave with those very youngJeune boysgarçons. ♫ SweeneySweeney: OohOoh...
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♫ Platon dans les caves avec ces très jeunes garçons. ♫ Sweeney: Oooh...
03:53
SobuleSobule: HillaryHillary supportedprise en charge the warguerre. ♫
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♫ Sobule: Hillary a voté la guerre. ♫
03:56
SweeneySweeney: Even ThomasThomas FriedmanFriedman supportedprise en charge the warguerre. ♫ (LaughterRires)
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♫ Sweeney: Même Thomas Friedman a voté la guerre. ♫
03:59
SobuleSobule: ColinColin PowellPowell turnedtourné out to be ... TogetherEnsemble: ... suchtel a pussychatte. ♫ (LaughterRires) (ApplauseApplaudissements)
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♫ Sobule: Coling Powell était finalement -- Ensemble: -- un tel faiblard. ♫
04:04
SobuleSobule: WilliamWilliam FaulknerFaulkner, drunkivre and depresseddéprimé, ♫
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♫ Sobule: William Faulkner, soûl et déprimé, ♫
04:06
TennesseeTennessee WilliamsWilliams, drunkivre and depresseddéprimé. ♫ SweeneySweeney: Yeah.
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♫ Tennessee Williams, soûl et déprimé. ♫
04:08
SobuleSobule: Take it, JuliaJulia. ♫
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Sobule: Prends le relais, Julia.
04:10
SweeneySweeney: Okay. OprahOprah was never necessarilynécessairement a biggros herohéros of minemien.
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Sweeney: OK. Oprah n'a jamais été une grande héroïne pour moi.
04:14
I mean, I watch OprahOprah mostlyla plupart when I'm home in SpokaneSpokane
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Je veux dire, je regarde Oprah principalement quand je suis à la maison à Spokane
04:17
visitingvisiter my mothermère. And to my mothermère,
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en train de rendre visite à ma mère. Et pour ma mère,
04:19
OprahOprah is a greaterplus grand moralmoral authorityautorité than the PopePape,
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Oprah est une plus grande autorité morale que le Pape,
04:21
whichlequel is actuallyréellement sayingen disant something because she's a devoutdévot CatholicCatholique.
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ce qui veut dire beaucoup car c'est une catholique dévouée.
04:24
AnywayEn tout cas, I like OprahOprah -- I like her girlfriendy-nessgirlfriendy-ness,
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De toute façon, j'aime Oprah, j'aime son amicalité.
04:27
I like her weightpoids issuesproblèmes,
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J'aime ses problèmes de poids.
04:29
I like how she's transformedtransformé talk televisiontélévision,
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J'aime comment elle a transformé les programmes de discussions à la télévision.
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I like how she's broughtapporté readingen train de lire back to AmericaL’Amérique --
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J'aime comment elle a ramené la lecture en Amérique.
04:34
but there was something that happenedarrivé the last two weekssemaines
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Mais il y a quelque chose qui est arrivé les deux dernières semaines
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that was ... I call it the Soon-YiSoon-Yi momentmoment:
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c'était -- je l'appelle le moment Soon-Yi.
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it is the momentmoment when I cannotne peux pas continuecontinuer supportingsoutenir les someoneQuelqu'un.
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C'est le moment où je ne peux plus continuer à supporter quelqu'un.
04:44
And that was that she did two entiretout showsmontre
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C'était parce qu'elle a fait deux shows entiers
04:48
promotingpromouvoir that moviefilm "The SecretSecret."
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faisant la promotion de ce film "Le secret".
04:50
Do you guys know about that moviefilm "The SecretSecret"?
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Est-ce que vous les gens avez entendu parlé de ce film "Le secret"?
04:52
It makesfait du "What the BleepBip sonore Do We Know" seemsembler like a doctoralau doctorat dissertationthèse
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Ça fait ressembler "Que sait-on vraiment de la réalité !?" à une dissertation de doctorat
04:57
from HarvardHarvard on quantumquantum mechanicsmécanique -- that's how badmal it is.
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de Harvard sur la mécanique quantique -- voilà à quel point c'est mauvais.
05:00
It makesfait du "The DaVinciDaVinci CodeCode" seemsembler like "WarGuerre and PeacePaix."
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Ça fait ressembler "Le DaVinci Code" à "Guerre et Paix".
05:04
That moviefilm is so horriblehorrible. It promotesfavorise la suchtel awfulterrible pseudosciencepseudoscience.
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Ce film est tellement horrible. Il promeut de si terribles pseudo-sciences.
05:09
And the basicde base ideaidée is
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L'idée de base est
05:10
that there's this lawloi of attractionattraction, and
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qu'il y a cette "Loi de l'attraction," et
05:13
your thoughtspensées have this vibratingvibrant energyénergie
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que vos pensées ont cette énergie qui vibre
05:15
that goesva out into the universeunivers
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et qui va dans l'univers
05:16
and then you attractattirer good things to happense produire to you.
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et qui ensuite attire les bonnes choses qui vous arrivent.
05:18
On a scientificscientifique basisbase, it's more than just "PowerPuissance of PositivePositif ThinkingPensée" --
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Sur une base scientifique, c'est bien plus que le "Pouvoir de la pensée positive" --
05:22
it has a horriblehorrible, horriblehorrible darkfoncé sidecôté. Like if you get illmauvais,
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il a une horrible, horrible face sombre. Par exemple si vous tombez malade,
05:27
it's because you've just been thinkingen pensant negativenégatif thoughtspensées.
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c'est parce que vous avez tout simplement eu des pensées négatives.
05:29
Yeah, stuffdes trucs like that was in the moviefilm and she's promotingpromouvoir it.
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Ouais, des trucs comme ça sont dans le film. Et elle le promeut.
05:32
And all I'm sayingen disant is that I really wishsouhait that MurrayMurray Gell-MannGell-Mann
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Tout ce que je dis c'est que j'aimerais que Murray Gell-Mann
05:35
would go on OprahOprah
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aille chez Oprah
05:36
and just explainExplique to her that the lawloi of attractionattraction is, in factfait, not a lawloi.
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pour lui expliquer simplement que la "Loi de l'attraction" n’est, en réalité, pas une loi.
05:41
So that's what I have to say.
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Donc voilà ce que j'avais à dire.
05:43
(LaughterRires)
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(Rires)
05:45
(ApplauseApplaudissements)
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(Applaudissements)
05:51
SobuleSobule: I singchanter. SweeneySweeney: I tell storieshistoires. TogetherEnsemble: The JillJill and JuliaJulia ShowVoir l’établissement. ♫
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♫ Sobule: Je chante. Sweeney: Je raconte des histoires. Ensemble: Le show de Jill et Julia. ♫
05:57
SobuleSobule: SometimesParfois it workstravaux. SweeneySweeney: SometimesParfois it doesn't. ♫
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♫ Sobule: Des fois ça marche. Sweeney: Des fois non. ♫
06:02
TogetherEnsemble: The JillJill and JuliaJulia, the JillJill and JuliaJulia, the JillJill and JuliaJulia ShowVoir l’établissement. ♫
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♫ Ensemble: Le Jill et Julia, le Jill et Julia, le Jill et Julia Show. ♫
06:10
(ApplauseApplaudissements)
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(Applaudissements)
Translated by Rafael Muñoz Moreno-Davila
Reviewed by eric vautier

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Jill Sobule - Singer/songwriter
Jill Sobule isn't just another singer-songwriter with catchy tunes and smart lyrics, she's one of the more insightful satirists of our age. Each of her fanciful songs captures an issue or irony, an emotion or epiphany that helps us understand what it's like to live now.

Why you should listen

Jill Sobule first found her place in music history with the controversial 1995 hit "I Kissed a Girl." The song's silly sweetness masked its significance: It broke new ground as the first Top 40 hit to deal with overtly gay themes.

This approach -- packaging hard-hitting social commentary in a wrapper of whimsy -- has defined Sobule's career. Her endearing story-songs veer from fanciful storytelling to forceful satire and back again, covering a wide range of political and social issues from climate change to prostitution; anorexia to anti-semitism. Her winning combination of memorable characters, clever lyrics and catchy tunes has inspired comparisons that range from Burt Bacharach to Gertrude Stein. It also makes her performances and recordings a delight.

Sobule's candy-coated commentary can be found on her Huffington Post blog, as well as in her steady stream of stand-out albums, including Jill Sobule (1995), Happy Town (1997), Pink Pearl (2000) and Underdog Victorious (2004). Lately, Sobule has performed regularly with comedian Julia Sweeney (the two met at TED2006). They put on the "Jill and Julia Show," an utterly endearing evening of stories and songs. She's also recording an album with the string quartet Ethel (another TED2006 match).

More profile about the speaker
Jill Sobule | Speaker | TED.com
Julia Sweeney - Actor, comedian, playwright
Julia Sweeney creates comedic works that tackle deep issues: cancer, family, faith.

Why you should listen

Julia Sweeney is a writer, director, actress, comedian and monologist. She is known for being a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1995, where she created and popularized the androgynous character, Pat. She is also well known for her comedic and dramatic monologues. God Said Ha! is a monologue about serious illness, her brother's lymphoma and her own cancer, and her family's crazy reactions to this crisis as they soldiered their way through struggle, confusion and death. This play was performed all over the U.S. and on Broadway at the Lyceum Theater. It was made into a film produced by Quentin Tarantino, and the comedy album from the show was nominated for a Grammy.

Sweeney's second monologue, In the Family Way, played in theatrical runs in New York and Los Angeles. It was ultimately fashioned into a book, a memoir titled If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother. Sweeney's third monologue, Letting Go of God, chronicled her journey from Catholicism to atheism. It was made into a film that played on Showtime.

More profile about the speaker
Julia Sweeney | Speaker | TED.com