Yesterday Martin Scorsese, the legendary director, listed the 15 gangster films that shaped the way he has portrayed crime on film (Goodfellas, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, etc.). Scorsese watched these films as a youngster and young director, during his big moment of influence. The first film (The Public Enemy) came out in 1931, and the last one (Point Blank) in 1967. Above, you can watch scenes from the original Scarface (1932), which appears on his list. The rest of Scorsese’s picks, along with related film clips, can be found here.
PS Don’t miss our collection of Free Movies Online. It now features 575 quality films.
Google Instant rolled out this week, backed by a promotional advertisement (right above). Fans of Bob Dylan will instantly recognize the footage: A young Dylan flipping hand-drawn cards to the tune of “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” an iconic scene from D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 documentary, Don’t Look Back. This isn’t the first time the famous scene (watch it here) has been used in a marketing campaign. Just a few years ago, while promoting his new greatest hits album, Dylan let fans rework their own versions of the scene. The gimmick is still available online. So have some fun with it.
Finally, don’t miss the new book Bob Dylan in America by Sean Wilentz, an eminent American historian at Princeton who is also the historian-in-residence for Dylan’s official Web site, bobdylan.com. The book is now out and reviewed by The New York Times.
It’s getting hard to dismiss the cultural influence of Lady Gaga, especially when you see the Gaga phenomenon inspiring György Ligeti’s satirical “anti-anti-opera” Le Grand Macabre staged at The New York Philharmonic this summer. In this clip, we encounter Gaga-inspired costumes and performance as we watch Gepopo, chief of the secret service, telling Prince Go Go about the panic breaking out in the streets…
Back in 1999, ZDTV launched Big Thinkers, a weekly cable TV program that featured half-hour interviews with thinkers on the bleeding edge of science and technology. The show didn’t have the longest run. But it did manage to shine the spotlight on some important minds – Michio Kaku (theoretical physicist), Sherry Turkle (MIT psychoanalyst), Lawrence Lessig (law professor & free culture advocate), and Esther Dyson (technology investor), to name a few. Big Thinkers was perfect Open Culture material before the days of Open Culture. So we’re paying a little tribute to the show. Above, you will find an episode dedicated to Daniel Dennett, the American philosopher and cognitive scientist who has done extensive research on the philosophy of mind. Part 1 appears above, and Part 2 and Part 3 here. Finally, you can watch other Big Thinkers episodes (including those mentioned above) on this YouTube channel.
A year-and-a-half ago, an old friend found me on Facebook and offered me a writing job and participation in a podcast. I took him up on both.
Mark Linsenmayer and I had been graduate students in philosophy at the University of Texas in Austin, but we both left before getting the PhD to try our hands at something more practical. Mark suggested we make that experience the theme of an ongoing philosophical discussion: we loved philosophy but preferred it as an avocation. There was something about the professionalization of philosophy that seemed to go against the spirit of it. We preferred the “partially examined life” to the examined life.
And so we decided to create a philosophy podcast with discussions that were informed but not overly academic, less like a classroom lecture and more like a conversation over drinks after class, and unified by the question of what makes philosophy worthwhile. We found another likeminded former colleague from the University of Texas, Seth Paskin, and began recording and publishing our discussions as The Partially Examined Life. (Find the podcast on iTunes here.)
May 12 was the one year anniversary of our first episode. During that time we’ve covered topics ranging from Plato’s conception of the examined life to Nietzsche’s immoralism, God and faith, to the philosophy of mind. Frankly I’m always amazed that there are people who want to listen to three guys talk about these things, but we seem to have a chemistry that works. One review—for better or for worse—pegs Mark as “the Jack Black-like musician,” Seth as the “sad one with calm voice who usually guides the rudder of the conversation back into the topic,” and me as “avuncular and wry.” We’ve also received a lot of great reviews on iTunes, and a thrilling compliment from philosopher Arthur C. Danto, who was gracious enough to listen to our discussion of two of his essays in The Philosophical Disenfranchisement of Art. We’ve been gratified to see our listenership rise, but most importantly we’re happy that the podcast has kept us connected to philosophy and allowed us to pursue it—partially—in a way that seems more compatible with the spirit of the discipline.
This post comes to us via Wes Alwan, an occasional contributor to Open Culture.
During his time on the International Space Station, astronaut Don Pettit trained his camera on planet Earth, and had it take a photo once every 15 seconds. The time lapse video above shows you Earth from day to night, complete with a sunset, a moonrise and the northern lights. Overall, Pettit took 85 time-lapsed videos of Earth, and at least eight of them appear on this YouTube playlist.
Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and began a terror bombing campaign of Warsaw, the nation’s capitol. In total, the Nazis dropped some 500 tons of high explosive bombs and 72 tons of incendiary bombs on Warsaw, beginning the planned destruction of the city.
Now fast forward to 2009, and we witness (above) Warsaw under literary assault. Last August, 100,000 poems written by Polish and Chilean poets rained down on the city. The literary strike came at the hands of Casagrande, a Chilean art collective that has staged poetry bombings of other formerly bombed out cities. Dubrovnik, Guernica, Berlin, etc. Needless to say, the project marks a protest against war, a call for peace, and a celebration of poetry. The Guardian has more on last month’s poetry bombing of Berlin here. H/T to MS…
It took Cesar Díaz Meléndez three months, using only a camera, light table and sand, to produce this sand animated film that serves as a video for the song, “No corras tanto,” which loosely translates to “Take it Easy.” And, rather strikingly, Cesar made the film using no added effects or post production. The Making of No corras tanto gives you a good look inside the production process. Other videos by the Madrid-based artist can be viewed here.
A quick PS: The song accompanying the video was written by Cesar’s band, El Combolinga. Visit the band’s MySpace page.
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!
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.
