The best free cultural & educational media on the web
The best free cultural & educational media on the web
≡ Category: History, Music, Technology, Video - Arts & Culture | ≅ 6 Comments
Composer and instrument inventor Harry Partch (1901-1974) is one of the pioneers of 20th-century experimental instrumentation, known for writing and playing music on incredible custom-made instruments like the Boo II and the Quadrangularis Reversum, and laying the foundations for many of today’s most creative experimental musical instruments. In this Universal Newsreel footage from the 1950s, [...]
≡ Category: Physics, Video - Science | ≅ 1 Comment
This Harvard-produced video has gone viral, and then some, having clocked more than 3,000,000 views. We’ve watched the pendulum balls swirl, moving almost impossibly from pattern to pattern, and we’ve remained dazzled all along. But the mechanics behind this choreographed action haven’t really been brought to the fore. So let’s turn to Harvard’s web site [...]
≡ Category: Life | ≅ Leave a Comment
Opinions are famously mixed on Southern California. It has never been Woody Allen’s kind of place. In Annie Hall, he quipped “I mean, who would want to live in a place where the only cultural advantage is that you can turn right on a red light.” But this is coming from a guy who prefers [...]
≡ Category: Business, Economics, Yale | ≅ Leave a Comment
In March 2000, Yale economist Robert Shiller published Irrational Exuberance, a book that warned that the long-running bull market was a bubble. Weeks later, the market cracked and Shiller was the new guru. Fast forward a few years, and Shiller released a second edition of the same book, this time arguing that the housing market was the [...]
≡ Category: Film, Video - Science | ≅ Leave a Comment
The World Wildlife Fund turns 50 this year, and, to mark the occasion, the acclaimed dramatist Stephen Poliakoff and director Charles Sturridge have teamed up to shoot ‘Astonish Me,’ a short, magical tale that reminds us of the many mysteries nature still conceals. Every year, scientists discover somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 new species. (See some of the [...]
≡ Category: Math | ≅ Leave a Comment
Starting back in 1995, Keith Devlin, a Stanford math professor and popular science writer, began making appearance’s on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, where he demystifies math questions, both large and small, that have a bearing on our everyday lives. Years later “The Math Guy,” as he’s otherwise called, has built up a complete sound archive [...]
≡ Category: Film | ≅ 1 Comment
J.J. Abrams Super 8 meets Federico Fellini’s masterpiece 8 ½. The new gets layered over the old, and it all adds up to Super 8 ½. Funny enough, it kind of works.
≡ Category: Literature | ≅ 1 Comment
Back in 1959, Ken Kesey, then a grad student in Stanford’s creative writing program, started participating in government-sponsored medical research that tested a range of hallucinogens — LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and the rest. As part of the research project, Kesey spoke into a taperecorder and recounted the ins-and-outs of his hallucinations. These tapes were eventually [...]
≡ Category: Film | ≅ Leave a Comment
In honor of what would have been John Huston’s 105th birthday, we’re featuring Beat the Devil, the 1953 classic directed by Huston and co-written by Truman Capote. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida and Peter Lorre (quite a cast!), the film is a dramatic comedy that spoofs the noir genre and particularly Huston’s own legendary [...]
≡ Category: Life, Music | ≅ 1 Comment
Last month, the Mariachi band, “Los Trovadores de America,” played at a wedding held at the Mystic Aquarium in Stonington, Connecticut. Before wrapping up, the guys were good enough to serenade one of the beluga whales. And, you know, the sea creature seemed to appreciate it. Enjoy the weekend … H/T @sheerly
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