Video: Tilda Swinton reads Rumi’s poem “Like This”
Tilda Swinton reads Rumi’s poem “Like This” translated by Coleman Barks. Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, and more popularly as Rūmī (1207 – 1273), … Continue reading
Video: “Rare” by Ace Zed
Parisian writer Ace Zed composes his novel page after page through a series of paintings, photos, and videos: a strange but compelling montage. .
Video: “Planetary Bands, Warming World,” a composition for string quartet demonstrating global climate change
Daniel Crawford, an undergrad at the University of Minnesota, has produced in collaboration with geography professor Scott St. George, a composition for string quartet using a method called “data sonification,” … Continue reading
Video: Sebastião Salgado — The silent drama of photography
Economics PhD Sebastião Salgado took up photography in his 30s, and the discipline became an obsession. His years-long projects beautifully capture the human side of a global story that all … Continue reading
Video: Frans de Waal — Moral Behavior in Animals
Empathy, cooperation, fairness and reciprocity — caring about the well-being of others seems like a very human trait. But Frans de Waal shares some surprising videos of behavioral tests, on … Continue reading
Video: Mark Twain at Stormfield, 1909 (Edison film)
Shot by Thomas Edison in 1909, this digital restoration of a short film is most likely the only moving image of Twain in existence. Watch him strolling around Stormfield, his … Continue reading
Video: The Lady Lifers — A moving song from women in prison for life
The ten women in this chorus have all been sentenced to life in prison. They share a moving song about their experiences — one that reveals their hopes, regrets and … Continue reading
Video: The Tomato Effect
Why does the medical establishment ignore highly efficacious therapies such as plant-based diets for heart disease prevention and treatment? In this video, Dr. Michael Greger recalls an amusing but sad example … Continue reading
Audio: “Hurrian Hymn No. 6” (c.1400 B.C.E.) Ancient Mesopotamian Music Fragment
Here is an interpretation of a song, titled “A Hurrian Cult Song from Ancient Ugarit,” performed on a lyre, an instrument probably close to what the song’s first audiences heard. … Continue reading
Video: Interview with Pema Chodron
Bill Moyers interviews the legendary Buddhist teacher and author Pema Chodron. Ani Pema Chödrön was born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown in 1936, in New York City. She attended Miss Porter’s School in … Continue reading
Video: Lucille Clifton reads “Come Celebrate with Me” and “The Killing of the Trees”
Lucille Clifton (1936–2010) reads “Come Celebrate with Me” and “The Killing of the Trees.” These are the first two of 108 videos of Clifton available sequentially on YouTube. .
Video: Persepolis author Marjane Satrapi
When not hard at work on a page of comic art, Marjane Satrapi lights up a cigarette and remembers how, due to the last forty years of constant war and … Continue reading
Video: Haoma
Haoma is the Avestan name of a plant and its divinity, both of which play a role in Zoroastrian doctrine and in later Persian culture and mythology. Directed by Matthieu Deltour, … Continue reading
Video: George Jucha’s Tour of Fracking Wells Seen from Outer Space
Environmental activist George Jucha takes us for a tour of fracking country in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming and Pennsylvania. From outer space, we can see hundreds of … Continue reading
