The best free cultural & educational media on the web
The best free cultural & educational media on the web
≡ Category: Film | ≅ 1 Comment
What if The Godfather had been shot without Marlon Brando? (It almost happened.) Or without Al Pacino? (It almost happened too .) Or without Francis Ford Coppola? (Yup, even that almost happened as well.) Then, what if Robert De Niro had played the role of Sonny, which eventually went to James Caan? Here’s what it [...]
≡ Category: Amazon Kindle, e-books, iPhone | ≅ 3 Comments
It’s not often that The New Yorker does the gadget review. But here we have one – Nicholson Baker breaking down the Kindle. The upshot? He’s not a big fan. Why? Let me give you some of the money quotes. And also note the iPhone/iPod Touch recommendations at the end (where I added some useful links):
“The [...]
≡ Category: Language Lessons | ≅ 2 Comments
Steve Kaufmann, who runs www.thelinguistblogs.com, says a few words to get us inspired to learn more languages than we currently know (however many that may be). One great place to start is with our collection of free foreign language lessons. These audio lessons will help you learn over 35 languages, including Arabic, Mandarin, French, German, Italian, English, [...]
≡ Category: History, Science | ≅ 4 Comments
Is Wally Wallington onto something?
Thanks Jillian for sending this one along…
≡ Category: Random | ≅ 1 Comment
A little something special for our readers courtesy of The Teaching Company…
If you’re not familiar with them, The Teaching Company provides a very nice service. The company travels across the US, and they record great professors lecturing on great topics. Their academic courses will appeal to almost any lifelong learner (see their rich catalogue of 200+ [...]
≡ Category: Life | ≅ 2 Comments
Ira Glass, host of the beloved radio show This American Life, offers a helpful reminder that excellence doesn’t come automatically. It takes effort, years of it. And he revisits some of his early radio work in order to prove it. A good reminder for anyone with serious artistic or creative ambitions.
≡ Category: Apple, Online Courses, Yale | ≅ 1 Comment
Over the past two years, Yale has released fifteen free “open courses.” Initially, these courses were only available through Yale’s web site and later YouTube. Now, they’re also accessible through iTunesU — which means that you can put these courses on your iPod with relative ease. Just click here and scroll down, and you’ll find well-produced courses [...]
≡ Category: Philosophy | ≅ 4 Comments
Here we have philosopher Daniel Dennett applying Darwinian thought to human thinking, all of which gets him into the intriguing concept of “memes,” infectious ideas that can subvert our survival instincts and threaten whole cultures. It’s another good bit of thinking from TED Talks.
Mark Linsenmayer is a writer and musician who hosts the podcast The Partially Examined [...]
≡ Category: Audio Books, Books | ≅ 1 Comment
The whole mini-controversy surrounding Amazon’s deletion of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm from Kindle accounts reminded me of something. Over at the Internet Archive, you can find 1984 available as a free audio book. And, nicely, the recording is professionally done. You can download the full zip file here. Or alternatively you can get the individual mp3 files, or [...]
≡ Category: History | ≅ 3 Comments
For lifelong learners, courses on Ancient Greece and Rome always remain in steady demand. While these courses are poorly represented in undergraduate programs (at least in the States), they’re popular in continuing education programs designed for older students. Eventually, it seems, many students come to the conclusion that you can’t skip over the foundations and [...]
≡ Category: Film | ≅ 1 Comment
In a quick 59 seconds, David Lynch tells you the films and filmmakers that he likes best (see below). In equally succinct videos, though with a bit more salty language (read: language that’s not ideal for work), Lynch also gives you his thoughts on product placement and the whole concept of watching a movie on an iPhone.
≡ Category: Music | ≅ 1 Comment
A quick fyi: The Free Music Archive now offers up over 10,000 free, high quality (and legal) mp3s. The archive is run by WFMU, the renowned freeform radio station that also runs the excellent “Beware of the Blog.” All of the audio has been hand-picked by music curators, and you can use the audio pretty much [...]
≡ Category: Physics, Science, Video - Science | ≅ 5 Comments
From The New York Times:
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates believes that if he had been able to watch physicist Richard Feynman lecture on physics in 1964 his life might have played out differently…
However, Mr. Gates, who is also well known for his sharp and varied intellectual interests and his philanthropic commitment to education, said this week that he [...]
≡ Category: Apple, iPhone | ≅ 8 Comments
A quick heads up. We’ve now started rolling out our new iPhone app. It will let you listen to audiobooks, university courses, foreign language lessons, and other intelligent content on the iPhone. The app is free. And so is the content. So there’s nothing to lose by checking it out.
We’ve designed it so that all media [...]
≡ Category: Music | ≅ 1 Comment
From The New Yorker’s Goings On Blog:
The Beatles’ “official Web site is featuring short documentaries, hosted by George Martin, on the making of the band’s original albums. The first one, about “Revolver,” is up now, though the site seems to be hobbling along, possibly due to high server load.”
Also, a little something for U2 fans… [...]
≡ Category: Theater | ≅ 7 Comments
Here’s an American classic. The Crucible, the great play by Arthur Miller, premiered in 1953, and it famously used the 1690s Salem Witch Trials to offer a commentary on McCarthyite America. Thanks to LA Theatre Works, you can now listen to the play online. The production stars Stacy Keach, Richard Dreyfuss, Ed Begley, Jr., Joe Spano, [...]
≡ Category: Philosophy | ≅ 1 Comment
Philosophy doesn’t have to be daunting. Thanks to the Continuing Education program at Oxford University, you can ease into philosophical thinking by listening to five lectures collectively called Philosophy for Beginners. (Find them on iTunesU in audio and video). Taught by Marianne Talbot, Lecture 1 starts with a “Romp Through the History of Philosophy” and [...]
≡ Category: Books, Media | ≅ Leave a Comment
Late last week, we featured the free audio and text versions of Chris Anderson’s new book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price. Today, we highlight a conversation that recently took place at The Aspen Institute’s Ideas Festival, and it focuses on a similar question, really the main question preoccupying many business leaders these days : How [...]
≡ Category: Music | ≅ 1 Comment
Brilliantly done. If only we could all respond to corporate shenanigans this artfully…
(PS It turns out that, once this video went viral, United had some second thoughts. More here.)
via Andrew Sullivan
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