August 31, 2017 The Cultural Factors Driving America's Departure From Reality Kurt Andersen’s cover story in The AtlanticHow America Lost Its Mindargues that “being American means we can believe anything we want.” This is due to a combination of the new-age mentality born out of the 1960s that encouraged Americans to find their own truth and the internet age, which has allowed us to create communities that reinforce our beliefs. According to Andersen, the perfect manifestation of America’s journey away from reality is the election of Donald Trump.
August 29, 2017
Dear Trump Voter Trump promised to "Make America Great Again," but seven months into his presidency he has done exactly the opposite: stoking hate and division, selling out to lobbyists, and profiting at the public's expense. Robert Reich explains that for the good of the country, it is time for all of us to speak out against him.
August 23, 2017 How Geography Gave the US Power The United States and its entire history can be largely explained by its geography. Since its inception, the fundamental factor influencing and guiding the country's development is that is far from everything else. On this video, we will see how this and other geographic feature contributed to the empowerment of the US.
August 18, 2017 Bullshit! | Featuring Harry Frankfurt Harry Frankfurt is an American philosopher and author of the New York Times Best Seller "On Bullshit". Although first conceived as an essay over 30 years ago, his theory on bullshit is more relevant than ever before. BULLSHIT! aims to further our understanding of what bullshit is, why there's so much of it, and how it can be a greater enemy to the truth than lies.
August 17, 2017 Eclipses Throughout Our Universe On the 21st day of August, 2017, the moon will slide between the Earth and the sun, painting a swath of darkness across North America. The Great American Solar Eclipse. An exercise in cosmic geometry. A reminder that we live on one sphere among many, all moving to the laws of Kepler, Newton and Einstein. The moon’s orbit around the Earth is slightly tilted, so the shadow of the new moon usually passes above or below us. About twice a year, the three bodies briefly align, and the moon’s long shadow cuts across our planet. The day dies and is reborn. The sun is replaced by an inky hole, feathered with the pale corona, a million degrees hotter than the sun itself. Staring up into the cone of blackness you can feel the cosmic gears grinding.
August 16, 2017 Helen Keller Speaks Out In 1954, Helen Keller explained that her greatest disappointment in life is that she could not speak normally. "It is not blindness or deafness that bring me my darkest hours. It is the acute disappointment in not being able to speak normally. Longingly I feel how much more good I may have done, if I had only acquired normal speech. But out of this sorrowful experience I understand more clearly all human striving, thwarted ambitions, and infinite capacity of hope."
August 15, 2017 Primitive Technology: Water-Powered Hammer Primitive Technology built a water powered hammer called a “Monjolo,” satrting by making a water spout from half a hollow log to direct water from the creek. This was set up in the creek and water flowed through it. The hammer was made from a fallen tree. It was cut to size by burning it at the cutting points. A trough was carved in one end to catch falling water. This was done first with a stone chisel that was then hafted to an L–shaped handle and used as an adze. This adze only took about an hour to make with a chisel head and cordage made of bark fibre to bind it with.
August 14, 2017 What Counts as a Mountain? Tom Scott is at the top of Mount Evans, more than 14,000 feet - 4.3km - above sea level. This is definitely a mountain: but why doesn't the smaller summit next to it also count? It's about prominence.
August 11, 2017 How to Make Cocaine Cocaine production is one of the most violent and environmentally destructive industries on earth. Many recreational users consider drug use to be a personal choice - as long as you're not hurting anyone then where's the harm? Every gram of cocaine you buy, every line you snort makes the most violent and destructive criminals on earth just a little bit richer.
August 10, 2017 Larry Graham's Right Hand Technique Larry Graham, of Sly and the Family Stone, and Graham Central Station, tells the story of his invention of the slapping technique, which radically expanded the tonal palette of the bass guitar with a technique he calls "thumpin' and pluckin'".
August 4, 2017 Jesus the Rice Farmer: Japan's Best Conspiracy Theory? Did you know that Jesus wasn't crucified? It was his brother Isukiri, who 'casually' snuck onto the cross in his place. As it turns out, Jesus slipped away through Siberia and spent the rest of his life in Shingo, Japan. He stopped spreading the gospel and set up shop as a rice farmer. At least, that's what a man named Wado would have you believe.
August 3, 2017 The Hill of Buddha The aim of this project was to build a prayer hall that would enhance the attractiveness of a stone Buddha sculpted 15 years ago. The site is a gently sloping hill on 180 hectares of lush land belonging to a cemetery. The statue is 13.5 metres tall and weighs 1500 tons. It is made of fine, highly selected solid stone.
August 2, 2017 10 Hours Of Relaxing Planet Earth II Island Sounds Sit back, relax and enjoy the third in the series of Planet Earth II visual soundscapes. All footage used was filmed by the Planet Earth II camera teams whilst out on location.
August 1, 2017 Ron Perlman Talks President Donald Trump Speech Patterns Joy Reid is joined by actor and author Ron Perlman, and Columbia University professor of linguistics John McWhorter, on the statements and run-on sentences from Donald Trump.
