June 29, 2015 Roger Ebert on Ego "I have innate confidence that I am right. Partially out of conviction and partially as a pose." - Roger Ebert in 1990
June 25, 2015 Why Tomatoes Are Fruits, and Strawberries Aren't Berries Did you know that bananas are berries, but strawberries aren’t? A lot of thought goes into classifying fruits and vegetables, and it all has to do with anatomy.
June 24, 2015 The Sightlines of London There's a strange avenue of trees in Richmond Park, ten miles from St Paul's Cathedral; and an odd, wedge-shaped skyscraper in the city. At the New London Model, Tom Scott explains both of these. London is going vertical: but there are quite a few places where tall buildings aren't allowed, and here's why.
June 19, 2015 Sex Party Pope | Forgotten Assholes of History Throughout human history there have been many famous assholes. Many will be remembered - Hitler, Stalin, My Stepdad Rick. But we're here to remind you of... The Forgotten Assholes of History. This episode we remind you of Pope Benedict IX.
June 17, 2015 Unbelievable Footage of Exploding Plants Violets, touch me nots, and squirting cucumbers all have one thing in common: They disperse their seeds by exploding. Here's some incredible footage of each one in action.
June 16, 2015 Calbuco Volcano Calbuco, located close to the cities of Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt in southern Chile, erupted on April 22, 2015 for the first time in four decades.
June 11, 2015 483 Lines From World War II up until the recent end of analogue broadcasts, decades of living imagery had been constructed using the NTSC standard. This standard represents a moving image frame as 483 lines of modulated light stacked from the top to the bottom of a television screen, within each line there is an analogue continuum, like the groove on a record player. From Nam Jun Paik to the moon landings, pictures were being represented, archived and seen within this format, until the line made way for the pixel and the digital video revolution. The artwork 483 lines magnifies this analogue video picture until it is 16 meters wide, and then folds this image several times so that it fits vertically into the gallery space, therein adding oscillations of depth into the image which can be activated by 'tuning' the projected video to match these waves.
June 10, 2015 Frames of Reference Frames of Reference is a 1960 educational film by Physical Sciences Study Committee. The film was made to be shown in high school physics courses. In the film University of Toronto physics professors Patterson Hume and Donald Ivey explain the distinction between inertial and nonintertial frames of reference, while demonstrating these concepts through humorous camera tricks. For example, the film opens with Dr. Hume, who appears to be upside down, accusing Dr. Ivey of being upside down. Only when the pair flip a coin does it become obvious that Dr. Ivey — and the camera — are indeed inverted.
June 9, 2015 The Solitary Bees Ninety percent of Britain's bees are Solitary Bees. They are crucial pollinators, yet are little known or conserved. This film aims to change that.
June 8, 2015 John Waters Commencement Address On Saturday, May 30 John Waters accepted his first honorary degree and also delivered the Commencement keynote address at Rhode Island School of Design. Waters, recognized as "the People's Pervert", has written and directed 16 movies, several starring the actor Divine. In 2014 the Film Society of Lincoln Center honored him with a 10-day retrospective entitled Fifty Years of John Waters: How Much Can You Take?
June 5, 2015 Jellyfish Lake, Palau A place like Palau's Jellyfish Lake is a reminder of how wondrous the world can be. Swimming with literally millions of jellyfish was absolutely surreal — a reminder that there will always be surprises out there.
June 4, 2015 In the Year of the Pig A 1968 American documentary film about the origins of the Vietnam War ,In the Year of the Pigwas directed by Emile de Antonio and nominated for an Academy award for best documentary. The film was greeted with hostility by many audiences, with bomb threats and vandalism directed at theaters that showed it. De Antonio cites the film as his personal favorite. It features the ironic use of patriotic music, portrays Ho Chi Minh as a patriot to the Vietnamese people, and asserts that Vietnam was always a single country rather than two.
June 3, 2015 Hearts and Minds A 1974 American documentary film about the Vietnam War directed by Peter Davis, Hearts and Minds was chosen as Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 47th Academy Awards.
June 2, 2015 What is Wrong With Our Culture — Alan Watts Thought-provoking 5 minutes on the state of the world from the late, great Alan Watts, a man far ahead of his time.
June 1, 2015 Story of Stuff — Bottled Water One of the problems with trying to use less stuff is that sometimes we feel like we really need it. What if you live in a city like, say, Cleveland and you want a glass of water? Are you going to take your chances and get it from the city tap? Or should you reach for a bottle of water that comes from the pristine rainforests of... Fiji?
