Michael Simms: All-time Most Popular Posts in Vox Populi
My favorite comment about Vox Populi comes from contributor Doug Anderson who said, “Vox Populi is basically a personal blog that seems to have swallowed a small planet.”
Video: Wavy Gravy & Ace of Cups | “Basic Human Needs”
And wouldn’t it be neat if the people that you meet had shoes upon their feet
And something to eat
And wouldn’t it be fine, now if all of human kind had shelter
Video: The Urgency of Intersectionality |Kimberlé Crenshaw
Now more than ever, it’s important to look boldly at the reality of race and gender bias — and understand how the two can combine to create even more harm.
Stephon Alexander: The Physics of Jazz
Physicist Stephon Alexander narrates how he came to understand the parallels between quantum particle theory and jazz composition.
Video: Willie Nelson | Ride Me Back Home
This song earned Willie his ninth Grammy Award.
Michael Simms: A True Story of How I Almost Became a Rock and Roll God (with special appearance by Iron Butterfly)
So there I was, jumping up and down on a king-sized bed in an expensive hotel in Miami Beach, drinking rum straight from the bottle. And right beside me, jumping up and down, playing the air-guitar and blasting out his famous song In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, was Doug Ingle.
Video: Mongolian yurt-building is a master class in cooperation
Set to traditional throat singing, The Nomad’s Ger uses time-lapse video to convey the dazzling, deeply rooted skill and efficiency with which a Mongolian family assembles its home on the open plains in just over an hour.
Video: Praise Song for the Pandemic
Blessed are those in grief, especially who mourn alone, blessed are those who have passed into the Great Night
Video: Universal Machine
Set to a score by Philip Glass and shot in the Arabian desert with a haunting backdrop of the Burj Khalifa, Universal Machine is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a gifted young girl must find a way to understand and overcome a violent encounter with a life-like android.
Daniel Burston: John Prine, Working Class Poet (1947-2020)
John Prine was a national treasure, whose songs about love, loss and aging – many written while he was still a relatively young man! – reflect his working class roots. But even so, they have a universal and timeless relevance.
Video: Soleá — The Flamenco of Seville
Soleá — The Flamenco of Seville explores the living present of the folk tradition in its most iconic city, showing how a vibrant history resonates through quotidian challenges, inspiring devotees and neophytes alike.
Video: The Italians Making Music on Balconies Under Coronavirus Quarantine | The New Yorker
Italians have now been at home for nine days, and, from Bologna to Rome, they have invited their neighbors to engage in what they call a “Flash Mob Sonoro,” or a sound flash mob.
Video: Leonard Cohen — Tower of Song (Live in London)
Well, my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I’m crazy for love but I’m not comin’ on
I’m just payin’ my rent every day in the Tower of Song
Video: Tom Lehrer | The Vatican Rag & Send the Marines
What do we do? We send the Marines!
For might makes right,
And till they’ve seen the light,
They’ve got to be protected,
All their rights respected,
‘Till somebody we like can be elected.
