CULTURE
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The Story Behind the Making of the Iconic Surrealist Photograph, Dalí Atomicus (1948)
With his cane, his famous waxed mustache, and his habit of taking unusual animals for walks, Salvador Dalí would appear…
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Richard Feynman Enthusiastically Explains How to Think Like a Physicist in His Series Fun to Imagine (1983)
“It’s interesting that some people find science so easy, and others find it kind of dull and difficult,” says Richard…
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How Keith Jarrett Played on a Broken Piano & Turned a Potentially Disastrous Concert Into the Best-Selling Piano Album of All Time (1975)
Nearly fifty years ago, the celebrated young pianist Keith Jarrett arrived in the West German city of Köln (better known…
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How Medieval Islamic Engineering Brought Water to the Alhambra
Between 711 and 1492, much of the Iberian Peninsula, including modern-day Spain, was under Muslim rule. Not that it was…
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Hear the Evolution of Electronic Music: A Sonic Journey from 1929 to 2019
It’s easy to get the impression that enthusiasts of electronic music listen to nothing else. (Not that it isn’t true…
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What Ancient Greek Music Sounded Like: Listen to a Reconstruction That’s “100% Accurate”
Between 750 BC and 400 BC, the Ancient Greeks composed songs meant to be accompanied by the lyre, reed-pipes, and…
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Scientists Discover that Ancient Egyptians Drank Hallucinogenic Cocktails from 2,300 Year-Old Mug
If ZZ Top have a favorite ancient Egyptian deity, that deity is surely Bes, whom the New York Times’ Alexander…
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Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Creative Process: A Look Inside the Books & Techniques That Allowed His Art to Flow
The story of Jean-Michel Basquiat has its unfortunate aspects: not just his premature death, but also the aggressive marketing of…
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The Illustrated Version of “Alice’s Restaurant”: Watch Arlo Guthrie’s Thanksgiving Counterculture Classic
Alice’s Restaurant. It’s now a Thanksgiving classic, and something of a tradition around here. Recorded in 1967, the 18+ minute counterculture song…
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How Rasputin Inspired the “Fictitious Persons” Disclaimer Commonly Seen in Movies
“This is a work of fiction,” declares the disclaimer we’ve all noticed during the end credits of movies. “Any similarity…
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