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Penguin Turns 75 & Two Bestsellers to Give Away

in Books | July 30th, 2010

Today marks the 75th anniversary of Penguin Books. And to celebrate this milestone, they’re driving a Mini Cooper adorned with the Penguin logo across the US this summer, donating books to local libraries and literacy groups. Then, in September, the festivities will culminate with a fundraising party at the New York Public Library. The folks at Penguin were kind enough to include us in their celebration. So today, we have two free books to give away. One is a copy of Elizabeth Gibert’s bestseller Eat, Pray, Love; the other is a copy of The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. They’re just two among Penguin’s 4,000 books in print.

So how does this work?: The two copies will go to the first readers who send us a compelling piece of open/intelligent media that we choose to post on the site. (If you’re looking for more guidance on what we have in mind, please read the tips on this page.) You can submit your media picks here. And when you do, please indicate which book you want. We will select two winners (one per book) and announce the names when we post the media picks on Open Culture next week. Thanks for your suggestions, and have a great weekend.

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Elvis Costello Sings “Penny Lane” for Sir Paul McCartney at The White House

in Music | July 29th, 2010

Last month, President Obama awarded Paul McCartney the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. And then the concert (aired last night on PBS) began. Among the highlights was Elvis Costello singing “Penny Lane” with a member of the President’s United States Marine band playing the piccolo trumpet. It’s a downright wonderful version. You can watch the entire program online here.

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Related Content:

Malcolm Gladwell on Why Genius Takes Time: A Look at the Making of Elvis Costello’s “Deportee” & Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”

Hear a Playlist of 300 Songs That Influenced Elvis Costello, Drawn From His New Memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink

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Venezia

in Life | July 29th, 2010

Venice, the “Queen of the Adriatic,” in HD and saturated color. A little thing of beauty. You can watch a bigger version of “Around Venezia,” filmed by “Icam,” on Vimeo here. It’s well worth it.

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The New Science of Morality (in Video)

in Psychology, Science | July 29th, 2010

Earlier this year, Sam Harris argued at TED that we’re on the verge of a scientific revolution. We’ll see the day when science (particularly neuroscience) can rigorously address moral questions, providing definitive/universal answers to questions of right and wrong. The pursuit of a “moral science” is nothing new. Enlightenment thinkers began this project long ago. But Harris has dusted it off, modernized it a bit, and created some controversy along the way. Just last week, he took part in a conference presented by Edge.org: The New Science of Morality. Over the next month, Edge will be making available 10 hours of video from the two-day conference, rolling it out in a serialized fashion. It all kicks off with a talk by Jonathan Haidt, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, known for his book The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. You can start watching here…

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The Math of Rock Climbing

in Math | July 29th, 2010

Heights, I hate them. But Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University, doesn’t mind them much, and here he describes how math figures into his passion for rock climbing – how it makes the difference between a safe climb and a potentially dangerous one. Includes a quick trip to El Capitan, a 3000 foot vertical climb in Yosemite National Park…

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“The Best Magazine Articles Ever”

in Literature, Media | July 28th, 2010

“The Best Magazine Articles Ever” – Sure the list is subjective. It’s all in English, and heavily slanted toward male writers. But you can’t quibble with this. This curated collection features pieces by some of the finest American writers of the past generation. We’ve highlighted 10 notables ones from a much longer list available here.

1 ) John Updike, “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu.” The New Yorker, October 22, 1960.

2) Norman Mailer, “Superman Comes to the Supermarket.” Esquire, November 1960.

3) Tom Wolfe, “The Last American Hero is Junior Johnson. Yes!” Esquire, March 1965.

4) Hunter Thompson, “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved.” Scanlan’s Monthly, June 1970.

5) Stewart Brand, “Space War: Fanatic Life and Symbolic Dearth Among Computer Bums. Rolling Stone, December 7, 1972.

6) David Foster Wallace, “The String Theory.” Esquire, July 1996.

7) Jon Krakauer, “Into Thin Air.” Outside Magazine, September 1996.

8) Susan Orlean, “Orchid Fever.” The New Yorker, January 23, 1995.

9) Malcolm Gladwell, “The Pitchman.” The New Yorker, October 30, 2000. (Yup, he’s Canadian, I know.)

10) Katie Hafner, “The Epic Saga of The Well.” Wired, May 1997.

via @caitlinroper

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Nelson Mandela’s First-Ever TV Interview (1961)

in History, Politics, Television, Video - Politics/Society | July 28th, 2010

Note: This post was originally featured on our site in 2010. In light of the news that Nelson Mandela has passed away at age 95, we’re bringing this vintage clip back to the fore. Here you can see a young Mandela making history, and without perhaps realizing it, building the remarkable legacy that remains with us today.

In 1962, Nelson Mandela was arrested on allegations of sabotage and other charges and sentenced to life in prison, where he spent 27 years before becoming South Africa’s first president elected in a fully democratic election. His story, among modern history’s most profoundly inspirational, is beautifully and poetically captured in Clint Eastwood’s 2009 gem, Invictus. But what Eastwood’s account leaves out are the events that preceded and led to Mandela’s arrest.

In May of 1961, a 42-year-old Mandela gave his first-ever interview to ITN reporter Brian Widlake as part of a longer ITN Roving Report program about Apartheid. At that point, the police are already hunting for Mandela, but Widlake pulls some strings and arranges to meet him in his hideout. When the reporter asks Mandela what Africans want, he promptly responds:

“The Africans require, want the franchise, the basis of One Man One Vote – they want political independence.”

But perhaps more interesting is the dialogue towards the end of the interview, where Mandela explores the complex relationship between peace and violence as protest and negotiation tactics. We’re left wondering whether his seemingly sudden shift from a completely peaceful campaign strategy up to that point towards considering violence as a possibility may be the product of South African police going after him with full force that week. Violence, it seems, does breed violence even in the best and noblest of us.

Related Content:

Nelson Mandela Archive Goes Online (With Help From Google)

The Nelson Mandela Digital Archive Goes Online

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Maria Popova is the founder and editor in chief of Brain Pickings, a curated inventory of eclectic interestingness and indiscriminate curiosity. She writes for Wired UK, GOOD Magazine, BigThink and Huffington Post, and spends a disturbing amount of time curating interestingness on Twitter.

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Powers of Ten: 1977 Short Film by Designers Ray & Charles Eames Gives Brilliant Tour of Universe

in Math, Science | July 27th, 2010

In 1977, Ray and Charles Eames, the famous LA designers, produced the short film Powers of Ten. The movie starts with a fixed point in Chicago, then zooms out into the universe by factors of ten. And, before too long, you find yourself 100 million light years away. Based on Kees Boeke’s 1957 book, Cosmic View, the 10-minute film offers what amounts to a breathtaking tour of the universe. This clip was sent our way by Helena, who will get a free copy of the new Rolling Stones documentary, Stones in Exile.

Would you like to support the mission of Open Culture? Please consider making a donation to our site. It’s hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us continue providing the best free cultural and educational materials to learners everywhere.

Also consider following Open Culture on Facebook and Twitter and sharing intelligent media with your friends. Or sign up for our daily email and get a daily dose of Open Culture in your inbox. 

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