Benedict Cumberbatch reads Kurt Vonnegut's ultra-timely letter to people living in 2088
Cumberbatch's delivery and Vonnegut's words are a match made in literary heaven.
Kurt Vonnegut (left), Benedict Cumberbatch right)
Back in 1988, writer Kurt Vonnegut was tasked with writing a letter to the planetary citizens of Earth in 2088 as part of Volkswagen’s TIME magazine ad campaign. And that he did, using his signature blend of dark humor, simple, conversational tone, and a poignant, enduring wisdom that’s almost medicinal—difficult to swallow, but oh so necessary.
In the letter, after quoting Shakespeare, St. John the Divine, and the well known Serenity prayer used in Alcoholic Anonymous groups, Vonnegut then dived into more somber matters—how “violent and heartless nature can be.” He argued that “Nature was no conservationist. It needed no help from us in taking the planet apart and putting it back together some different way, not necessarily improving it from the viewpoint of living things.” Therefore, it is ultimately humanity’s responsibility to ensure our well being remains preserved.
To work with “Nature’s stern but reasonable surrender terms,” Vonnegut advised the following:
1. Reduce and stabilize your population.
2. Stop poisoning the air, the water, and the topsoil.
3. Stop preparing for war and start dealing with your real problems.
4. Teach your kids, and yourselves, too, while you’re at it, how to inhabit a small planet without helping to kill it.
5. Stop thinking science can fix anything if you give it a trillion dollars.
6. Stop thinking your grandchildren will be OK no matter how wasteful or destructive you may be, since they can go to a nice new planet on a spaceship. That is really mean, and stupid.
7. And so on. Or else.
Vonnegut concluded with an eerily accurate depiction not of life 2088, but as we are experiencing it now. “Nobody will have to leave home to go to work or school, or even stop watching television. Everybody will sit around all day punching the keys of computer terminals connected to everything there is.”
If these words feel impactful (not to mention utterly relevant) just reading them now, wait til you hear them delivered by actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who even went the extra mile using an American accent, below:
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
This video was part of the Letters Live series, which often has actors doing live staged reading of interesting, funny, or dramatic letters excavated from libraries, museums and other archives. Cumberbatch, one of the co-producers of Letters Live, is also a regular reader. But there’s about the combo between Vonnegut’s timeless words and Cumberbatch’s impeccable delivery that makes this one particularly special.
Down in the comments, viewers expressed similar sentiments.
“KV’s letter should be broadcast on every corporate media available. His truth holds. Thank you Benedict Cumberbatch for your flawless reading!”
“Kurt Vonnegut, always having the right of it. Benedict Cumberbatch, always reiterating the message perfectly.”
“Touche' very appropriate timing for this much needed reflection! My dear Mr. Cumberbatch, you are an eloquent speaker.”
“Well said, and well read.”
“Wow that completely blew my mind and totally relevant today more than ever!!!! CHEERS!”
“Ok, at the end that got frighteningly accurate.”
Vonnegut always had a gift for biting satire and sharp insight into the darker aspects of humanity. And clearly, considering we are living out so many of his predictions much earlier than 2088, his words bear repeating.
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Resurfaced video of French skier's groin incident has people giving the announcer a gold medal
"The boys took a beating on that one."
Downhill skiing is a sport rife with injuries, but not usually this kind.
A good commentator can make all the difference when watching sports, even when an event goes smoothly. But it's when something goes wrong that great announcers rise to the top, and there's no better example of a great announcer in a surprise moment than when French skier Yannick Bertrand took a gate to the groin in a 2007 super-G race.
Competitive skiers fly down runs at incredible speeds, often exceeding 60 mph. Hitting something hard at that speed would definitely hurt, but hitting something hard with a particularly sensitive part of your body would be excruciating. So when Bertrand slammed right into a gate family-jewels-first, his high-pitched scream was unsurprising. What was surprising was the perfect commentary that immediately followed.
This is a clip you really just have to see and hear to fully appreciate:
- YouTube youtu.be
It's unclear who the announcer is, even after multiple Google inquiries, which is unfortunate because that gentleman deserves a medal. The commentary gets better with each repeated viewing, with highlights like:
"The gate the groin for Yannick Bertrand, and you could hear it. And if you're a man, you could feel it."
"Oh, the Frenchman. Oh-ho, monsieurrrrrr."
"The boys took a beating on that one."
"That guy needs a hug."
"Those are the moments that change your life if you're a man, I tell you what."
"When you crash through a gate, when you do it at high rate of speed, it's gonna hurt and it's going to leave a mark in most cases. And in this particular case, not the area where you want to leave a mark."
Imagine watching a man take a hit to the privates at 60 mph and having to make impromptu commentary, straddling the line between professionalism and acknowledging the universally understood reality of what just happened. There are certain things you can't say on network television that you might feel compelled to say. There's a visceral element to this scenario that could easily be taken too far in the commentary, and the inherent humor element could be seen as insenstive and offensive if not handled just right.
The announcer nailed it. 10/10. No notes.
The clip frequently resurfaces during the Winter Olympic Games, though the incident didn't happen during an Olympic event. Yannick Bertrand was competing at the FIS World Cup super-G race in Kvitfjell, Norway in 2007, when the unfortunate accident occurred. Bertrand had competed at the Turin Olympics the year before, however, coming in 24th in the downhill and super-G events.
As painful as the gate to the groin clearly as, Bertrand did not appear to suffer any damage that kept him from the sport. In fact, he continued competing in international downhill and super-G races until 2014.
Alpine skiing is a notoriously dangerous sport, with a reported injury rate of 36.7 per 100 World Cup athletes per season, according to a 2018 study. Of course, it's the knees and not the coin purse that are the most common casualty of ski racing, which we saw clearly in U.S. skiier Lindsey Vonn's harrowing experiences at the 2026 Olympics. Vonn was competing with a torn ACL and ended up being helicoptered off of the mountain after an ugly crash that did additional damage to her legs, requiring multiple surgeries (though what caused the crash was reportedly unrelated to her ACL tear). Still, she says she has no regrets.
As Bertrand's return to the slopes shows, the risk of injury doesn't stop those who live for the thrill of victory, even when the agony of defeat hits them right in the rocks.