Clik here to view.
Thomas Mann Explains the Nazis’ Ulterior Motive for Spreading Anti-Semitism...
Here's a rare recording of the German writer Thomas Mann, author of Buddenbrooks and The Magic Mountain, explaining what he sees as the real reason behind the systematic spreading of anti-Semitism in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour Sings Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18
In 2001 or 2002, guitarist and singer David Gilmour of Pink Floyd recorded a musical interpretation of William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 18" at his home studio aboard the historic, 90-foot houseboat the...
View ArticleJimi Hendrix Wreaks Havoc on the Lulu Show, Gets Banned From the BBC (1969)
Can you imagine Jimi Hendrix singing a duet with Lulu? Well, neither could Hendrix. So when the iconoclastic guitar player showed up with his band at the BBC studios in London on January 4, 1969 to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
F. Scott Fitzgerald Creates a List of 22 Essential Books (1936)
In 1936 -- perhaps the darkest year of his life -- F. Scott Fitzgerald was convalescing in a hotel in Asheville, North Carolina, when he offered his nurse a list of 22 books he thought were essential...
View ArticleClik here to view.
John Cleese’s Eulogy for Monty Python’s Graham Chapman: ‘Good Riddance, the...
The British comedian Graham Chapman delighted in offending people. As a writer and actor with the legendary Monty Python troupe, he pushed against the boundaries of propriety and good taste. When his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
John Coltrane’s Handwritten Outline for His Masterpiece A Love Supreme
Today we present a rare document from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History: Coltrane's handwritten outline of his groundbreaking jazz composition A Love Supreme. Recorded in December...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fellini’s Fantastic TV Commercials for Barilla, Campari & More: The Italian...
To help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini, we present a series of lyrical television advertisements made during the final decade of his life....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Albert Einstein’s Grades: A Fascinating Look at His Report Cards
Albert Einstein was a precocious child. At the age of twelve, he followed his own line of reasoning to find a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. At thirteen he read Kant, just for the fun of it. And...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bertrand Russell Remembers His Face-to-Face Encounter with Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
When the Bolsheviks seized control of Russia in the October Revolution of 1917, Bertrand Russell saw it as "one of the great heroic events of the world's history." A renowned philosopher and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Never Be Afraid’: William Faulkner’s Speech to His Daughter’s Graduating...
By the start of the 1950s, the euphoria felt by Americans after winning World War II had given way to a pervasive atmosphere of dread. The Soviets had exploded their first atomic bomb, McCarthyism had...
View ArticleClik here to view.
This Is What an 1869 MIT Entrance Exam Looks Like: Could You Have Passed the...
The late 19th Century was the time of Charles Darwin and James Clerk Maxwell, of Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. It was a golden age of science and technology. So you might wonder how hard it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Édith Piaf’s Moving Performance of ‘La Vie en Rose’ on French Television (1954)
Édith Piaf's life was anything but rosy. Born in a Parisian slum, she was abandoned by her mother and lived for awhile in a brothel run by her grandmother. As a teenager she sang on the streets for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
René Magritte’s Early Art Deco Posters (1924-1927)
The Belgian painter René Magritte created some of the most enigmatic and iconic works in Surrealist art. But before he moved to Paris in 1927 and began forging relationships with André Breton and the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How The Pink Panther Painted The Mona Lisa’s Smile: Watch the 1975 Animation,...
Just a little fun to send you into the summer weekend. Above, we present the 1975 animated short, “Pink Da Vinci,” which IMDB frames as follows: Another battle of the paintbrush between the Pink...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bertrand Russell’s Ten Commandments for Living in a Healthy Democracy
Image by J. F. Horrabin, via Wikimedia Commons Bertrand Russell saw the history of civilization as being shaped by an unfortunate oscillation between two opposing evils: tyranny and anarchy, each of...
View Article
