Take a pause to let your mind work

Why the culture that destroyed attention spans is now turning to podcasts.

content.jwplatform.com
  • Taking a pause after consuming a piece of art or media is essential to our memory, emotions, and intellectual digestion, says writer, director and podcaster John Cameron Mitchell.
  • We live in an age full of influencers and YouTube personalities, but fewer narrative powerhouses. Storytelling takes time, skill, and requires us to make space to gather our thoughts.
  • Podcasts are a storytelling rebellion against so-called ADHD culture. If the internet ruined our attention spans, can the single-sense format of podcasts bring it back?
Keep reading Show less
mind brain literature art culture entertainment internet spoken word storytelling theater creativity
Videos

Behold, the '70s sci-fi book series that popularized the Illuminati conspiracy

Modern notions about the Illuminati are the result of a satirical cult-classic book.

Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson
  • The historical Illuminati was a failed 18th century Bavarian secret society.
  • Current Illuminati conspiracies stem from a satirical '70s counterculture book.
  • Authors Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson's intent was to sow chaotic disinformation just for the satire.
Keep reading Show less
culture fiction history psychology literature books
Culture & Religion

10 novels that brilliantly capture the American experience

The distance between the American dream and reality is expressed best through literature.

American novelist, writer, playwright, poet, essayist and civil rights activist James Baldwin poses at his home in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, southern France, on November 6, 1979. (Photo: Ralph Gatti/AFP/Getty Images)
  • Literature expands our ability to feel empathy and inspires compassion.
  • These 10 novels tackle some facet of the American experience.
  • The list includes a fictional retelling of the first Native American to graduate from Harvard, and hiding out in inner-city Newark.
Keep reading Show less
books literature humanity arts culture entertainment united states history emotion empathy
Culture & Religion

Human encroachment is obliterating chimpanzee culture

We are destroying who they are.

(Brenda Bakker/Shutterstock)
  • A study finds that human impact is decimating the cultures of chimpanzee communities in the wild.
  • Unique localized behaviors are being reduced by 88 percent.
  • Socialized learning in chimps has finally been established, just in time to be destroyed.
Keep reading Show less
animals anthropocene environment primates africa sustainability chimpanzee culture apes
Surprising Science

A new Dr. Seuss book — 'Horse Museum' — is coming out this fall

A new generation is waiting for the whimsy and wit of Dr. Seuss.

Dr. Seuss Wikimedia
  • The new book will be titled Dr. Seuss's Horse Museum.
  • Author of 45 children's books, Dr. Seuss's profundity mixed seamlessly with his simplicity.
  • Revisit and explore these timeless classics by yourself and with your children.
Keep reading Show less
dr. seuss books culture art illustration classics literature
Culture & Religion