The best free cultural & educational media on the web
The best free cultural & educational media on the web
≡ Category: Film, iPad, iPhone | ≅ Leave a Comment
A quick heads up: Today the National Film Board of Canada released a free iPad app (download it here), providing users free access to thousands of documentaries, animated films and trailers. All films (including some in 3-D) can be streamed over Wi-Fi and 3G wireless networks. And you can even download and watch a film offline [...]
≡ Category: Science | ≅ 1 Comment
While working on the International Space Station, Astronaut Don Pettit created this remarkable video of the aurora borealis (otherwise known as The Northern Lights). How? By stitching together a large sequence of still images that he took from space. It makes for some good viewing…
≡ Category: Art, Life | ≅ 1 Comment
An unsung photography hero of the 20th century, Leon Levinstein inhabited a lonely world behind his lens, yet captured the richness of the world in front of it with remarkable elegance and vigor.
≡ Category: Books, Media, TED Talks | ≅ 1 Comment
Clay Shirky’s book tour collided with the TED conference in Cannes earlier this month, and what you get is a crisp, 13-minute precis of the arguments in Shirky’s new book, Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. The big question after watching Shirky’s piece: How can Open Culture draw on the collective “cognitive surplus” [...]
≡ Category: History | ≅ 1 Comment
Great empires rise and fall, mostly in the Middle East. Watch history play itself out on dynamic maps and timeline. Thanks Bob. (Got a great find for readers? Send it our way.)
≡ Category: Current Affairs, Film | ≅ 4 Comments
Aspiring (or even casual) filmmakers, get ready for One Day on Earth. On October 10th, 2010, thousands of people worldwide will shoot film and produce a crowdsourced documentary showcasing “the diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that can occur in one 24-hour period on Earth.” You’re invited to take part in potentially the largest global media [...]
≡ Category: History | ≅ 1 Comment
In 1900, New York City was heading into a century of unimaginable transformation. And, thanks to The Library of Congress (LOC), you can now revisit 43 videos showing the city laying the foundations for their burgeoning metropolis. The clips, all black & white and silent, appear on iTunesU, YouTube and the LOC web site. And I list iTunesU first [...]
≡ Category: Audio Books, Books, Film | ≅ 1 Comment
A little something to celebrate George Orwell’s birthday today: You can now catch on YouTube the 1954 animated film, Animal Farm, based on Orwell’s classic novella first published in 1945. The film, which runs 71 minutes, has actually had a controversial history. As outlined by The New York Times, the CIA bought the rights to the film [...]
≡ Category: Books | ≅ Leave a Comment
Having recently turned 60, Christopher Hitchens decided it was time to write a memoir. Hence Hitch-22, his new book published earlier this month. For a moment, the publicity machine got rolling. (Above, we have him talking with Anthony Layser in a short video called “Drinking with Hitchens.” Watch Part 2 here.) But, for whatever reason, things [...]
≡ Category: Physics | ≅ 1 Comment
Who couldn’t use this? A basic introduction to Einstein’s thinking – one that assumes no prior knowledge, just an open mind. In one short hour, Ramamurti Shankar (Professor of Physics & Applied Physics at Yale) breaks down Einstein’s theories and formulas for a lay audience. If this whets your appetite, then you’ll want to download [...]
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