Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
South Park began as a bizarre Christmas card
Before it became the longest-running satirical cartoon on television, it was just two college dropouts making a violently festive VHS tape. A Fox executive…
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Sekiro began as a reboot of Tenchu before becoming its own ninja game
The punishing ninja combat game was originally conceived as a direct reboot of a long-dormant stealth series. During its creation, they altered so many…
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The Sex Pistols played God Save the Queen from a boat beside Parliament
If you want to mock the monarchy, doing it directly outside their house is a solid strategy. The Sex Pistols rented a boat to sail down the River Thames right…
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Why TV networks fought for Thursday nights
The ultimate battleground for television ratings has historically always been Thursday evening. Networks relentlessly stacked their highest-rated, most…
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Why Shenmue's $70 million gamble mattered to Sega
Nothing screams fiscal responsibility quite like blowing your company's entire life savings on a virtual forklift simulator. Released in 1999 for the…
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Stratego traces its mechanics to a forgotten early twentieth-century game
Almost every brilliant modern idea is entirely completely stolen from the past. The famous game of hidden bombs and absolute military deception entirely…
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The first film kiss caused a scandal
Just a few seconds of pixelated, silent lip contact was enough to cause a national scandal. When Thomas Edison's studio released a brief clip of two stage…
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Why talking cars still have doors
When animating a world populated entirely by talking cars and trucks, logical anatomy entirely falls apart. These vehicles constantly have standard handles…
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How real crime data shaped GTA V's map
Creating a satirical sandbox of violence requires serious civic research. Rockstar didn't just guess where to place the ghettos and mansions in Los Santos;…
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Twitch began with one man filming his life
Before hosting millions of angry streamers complaining about lag, this absolute giant of live broadcasting began as a singular terrifying vanity project. One…
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Broadcasters must keep viewer complaints in a public inspection file
Your angry letters are literally a matter of public record. Federal authorities force stations to maintain a physical or digital public inspection file…
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Why bingo callers can’t play
Calling out letters and numbers looks incredibly easy until you realize the host is essentially quarantined from the fun. Because they have direct access to…
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Automated broadcasting tools pixelate moving faces
Manual censorship is too slow for the modern era. Broadcasters use advanced software that automatically locks onto unauthorized faces and heavily blurs them…
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Overtures played before films let the audience settle down
An elegant, highly orchestrated warning that you need to find your seat immediately. During the golden era of grand cinematic epics, the film would begin with…
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Pride and Prejudice had a very different first title
Before it became the ultimate standard for romantic tension, Jane Austen's masterpiece was saddled with a title that sounded like a cheap self-help seminar.…
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Minecraft's first prototype took just six days
A devastating blow to anyone who has spent four years trying to finish their 'innovative indie game.' In 2009, Persson cranked out the initial prototype of…
Discover moreHow Mirror’s Edge makes you feel faster
To convey extreme speed without making players violently ill, the camera actively shifts its focal length as you sprint. The edges of the screen blur out,…
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Tetris was born on a Soviet computer
The ultimate capitalist cash cow was birthed in the heart of communist Russia. Alexey Pajitnov just wanted to test the capabilities of a clunky Soviet…
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A French illusionist is widely credited with first pulling a live rabbit from a top hat
The most incredibly cliché trick in existence actually has a specific starting point. A famous French illusionist is widely credited with being the very first…
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George Romero filmed tonsil surgery for Mister Rogers
The godfather of the modern zombie movie essentially learned his craft from the most wholesome man in existence. Before he directed 'Night of the Living…
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Why childbirth on television takes only minutes
Broadcasts depict human reproduction as a brief, intense screaming match in a highly convenient location. While actual labor usually takes hours of grueling…
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IMAX was originally made for nature documentaries
Before it was the default way to watch explosions rattle your skeleton, IMAX was just trying to show you really big penguins. The format was developed in the…
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Paranormal Activity was filmed in its director's house
Why beg Hollywood executives for millions when you have a camcorder and a squeaky door? Oren Peli decided to shoot his supernatural thriller in his actual…
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Why movie books always open to the right page
Bookmarks are utterly useless when destiny is involved. When a character randomly cracks open a dusty, thousand-page volume of ancient lore, the binding will…
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