The 2021 MDM was, of course, scaled down due to the ongoing global pandemic. All the readings were streamed on YouTube. Once I realized that the readings were not "live," I pretty much tuned out the entire event. Oh, ye foolish! My favorite part of recent MDMs, the Chats with the Melville Scholars, was done live over Zoom — and I missed it! (Future researchers will study the phenomenon of pandemic-induced stupidity.)
Luckily, the entire MDM, with the "Chat," the Friday night lecture by Steven Olsen-Smith, and a presentation by Michael Dyer, is available on YouTube. (Watch them before they're gone. "Google is not in the preservation business.")
To this MDM veteran, the slick, new opening video is certainly attention-grabbing. We fly up above Johnny Cake Hill, then track the actor through the museum to the Lagoda, where he watches a video of Museum President Amanda McMullen welcoming viewers. I'll be looking this year to see what video magic is used to insert the 2022 logo on his TV.
Note that this year's Scholar Chat will again be live via Zoom. The schedule and link are on the museum's MDM page, along with the video stream of readers. Readings begin Saturday, 1/8/22, at 11:30 AM Eastern time.
