I found the background music improved Noam's talk somewhat. Usually, listening to him can be difficult due to his speaking ability. Don't get me wrong, I love listening to him, but to be honest he's not the best speaker in the world.

let's say he's not the most animated speaker.

s'ok. some of us aren't impressed by animation, as much. nice first pick, kree.

hah, yeah he should have music behind his speeches all the time!
i think his monotone is purposeful (being an expert linguist and all that..).

This talk of Chomsky's speaking style reminds me of something that struck me a few years ago when reading an interview of him. His answers read like his books: everything was well thought out, structured, and thorough (and yet very concise). Each answer was a mini essay in and of itself.

Turns out what I was reading was not an interview done by correspondence, but a transcript of a conversation with the ums and ahs edited out.

So while he does sound somewhat mellow when he speaks and his language doesn't contain many superfluous flourishes, his ability to express his thoughts regarding the (often nebulous) subject matter is downright impressive, imho.

Nice submission, Kreegath.

not a video - downvoted