Imagine The Godfather without Marlin Brando and Al Pacino. Blasphemy! Well, it almost turned out that way. You can watch more here about how Brando almost never made it. Below, we also have a clip that takes you through how Pacino nearly missed out on his career-defining role. It includes original footage from his script reading sessions, and we’ve added it to our YouTube playlist.
America Redeemed
We’ve had some very low moments during recent years. And now the highs. The present buried the past, and the US elected its first African-American president, proving once again that America is truly the land of opportunity. This moment calls to mind the poignant quote that I heard this week. ‘Rosa sat so Martin could walk, so Obama could run, so our children can fly.’ Now watch them go. A beautiful moment.
Below, we present MLK’s full “I Have a Dream” speech from 1963, which reminds of us how far we’ve come over the past 45 years.
Ricky Gervais Does Biblical Creation Stand-Up
Stand-up comedy and Biblical creation don’t usually go together. But somehow they do for Ricky Gervais, the creator of the ever-popular television show, The Office. (Watch episodes here.) The bit runs about 10 minutes, and it’s added to our YouTube playlist.
Farewell to Studs Terkel
Studs Terkel, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of the everyman, has passed away at the ripe old age of 96. (Get the NYTimes obit here.) Below, we have a lengthy conversation with Terkel, recorded when he was 91. As you’ll see, being a nonagenarian did little to slow him down.
From the Civil War to the Vietnam War — The Geography of US Presidential Elections
The Geography of US Presidential Elections keeps rolling along. With his well-crafted lectures, Martin Lewis shows you this week how America’s political map and its political parties changed dramatically following the Civil War. In the space of 90 minutes, he takes you through the Reconstruction period, The Gilded Age, the Depression, World War II and The Cold War, up through the Vietnam War.
You can download Lecture 3 via Tunes U in high resolution or watch the YouTube version below. And, as always, you can join the ongoing conversation with the professor and other students worldwide right here.
There are still two more lectures to come, including one that will offer a postmortem of next week’s election.
Lastly, if you missed the previous lectures, you can grab them on iTunes here and YouTube here.
The 13th Amendment
This week, CNN announced the winners of the iReport Film Festival, the network’s first user-generated short film competition. The festival “challenged filmmakers to document this year’s presidential campaign from their personal vantage point, whether they were volunteering for a campaign or had compelling stories about this election they wanted to document creatively.” And the Grand Jury Award went to a short film called “13th Amendment.” Here, Mike Dennis of Philadelphia, Pa., follows his 90-year-old grandmother, who is African American, on her journey to vote for the first serious black candidate for the American presidency. (And, by the way, in case you were wondering, the 13th Amendment banned slavery in the United States in 1865.) Here it goes:
Support Us
We're hoping to rely on loyal readers, rather than erratic ads. Please click the Donate button and support Open Culture. You can use Paypal, Venmo, Patreon, even Crypto! We thank you!
Receive our Daily Email
About Us
Open Culture scours the web for the best educational media. We find the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & educational videos you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between.
Advertise With Us
