The best free cultural & educational media on the web
The best free cultural & educational media on the web
≡ Category: Books, Literature | ≅ 1 Comment
This week, Paul Auster releases his 16th novel, Sunset Park, which gives literary expression to the economic misfortunes weighing on the country. The foreclosures. The unemployment. The recession and depression. The novel starts to paint the desperate picture quickly. Above, we have Paul Auster reading the beginning pages, and you can follow along with this [...]
≡ Category: Film | ≅ 1 Comment
Back in 1965, Jim Henson, the great puppeteer, wrote, directed and starred in a short experimental film, Time Piece, which premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Running a short nine minutes, the film takes a surreal look at the passing of time. And, despite veering off into rather strange territory, the film [...]
≡ Category: Current Affairs, History, Life | ≅ 7 Comments
Howard Zinn, the People’s historian, taught at Boston University for 24 years, until he died earlier this year. In late October, Bill Moyers delivered the first Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture during which, appropriately enough, he focuses on the challenges facing our democracy, and particularly America’s long drift toward plutocracy, where the rich get richer at [...]
≡ Category: Art, Literature | ≅ Leave a Comment
Over the years, Burt Britton convinced A-list writers and artists to draw self-portraits of themselves. He first enticed Norman Mailer long ago, while working as a bartender at the Village Vanguard in NYC. Then came Miles Davis, Jorge Luis Borges (who was already blind), Margaret Atwood, Frank Gehry, Saul Bellow, David Hockney, Allen Ginsberg, Cormac [...]
≡ Category: Art, Theatre | ≅ Leave a Comment
This week, the Harry Ransom Center at UT-Austin acquired the archives of Spalding Gray (1941-2004), the actor and playwright most well known for his performance piece “Swimming to Cambodia” (clip here). According to The New York Times, the archive spans some 40 years and features performance notebooks (see image above), diaries, and tapes of Gray’s [...]
≡ Category: Film, Life | ≅ Leave a Comment
During the past decade, Howard Hall has directed four IMAX films that take you deep under the sea, right into the homes of amazing marine life. Now, Hall has brought his act to Vimeo where he has posted a montage of his favorite underwater shots from the past year. Filmed with a RED One camera, [...]
≡ Category: Physics, Religion, Science | ≅ 12 Comments
Every day, physicists and astronomers confront the wonders of the universe. But does staring into the sublime abyss incline them toward a belief in God? Not if you ask the physicists at The University of Nottingham School of Physics and Astronomy, who answer big questions on YouTube and Sixty Symbols, including “What happens if you stick [...]
≡ Category: Music | ≅ 7 Comments
Going viral right now: 3 year old Jonathan conducting the 4th movement of Beethoven’s 5th, and doing a pretty good job of channeling the spirit of Herbert von Karajan. What you hear in the background is a recording of Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker. And below we give you this: The real Karajan leading the [...]
≡ Category: Amazon Kindle, Books | ≅ 2 Comments
I gave up biking on the roads this summer for a good reason – too many knuckleheads texting, chatting, even reading, while driving. Reading a novel while driving? A complete aberration? Apparently not. Joining the genius above, we have the Portland, Oregon bus driver giving more thought to the Kindle than the road. And then [...]
≡ Category: History, Politics, Video - Arts & Culture, Video - Politics/Society | ≅ Leave a Comment
A beautiful black-and-white typographic animation of Lincoln’s iconic speech.
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