Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
How Heath Ledger prepared to play the Joker
Ledger isolated himself in London and kept a diary filled with ramblings, news clippings, and pictures of hyenas. He also spent weeks working on the Joker’s…
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Top Gear asked Lotus to turn an airfield into a test track
Dunsfold's runways and taxiways supplied the space; Lotus helped devise the circuit used by the show. Corners tested different aspects of a car instead of…
Discover moreWhy Muppets favor their left hands
Most puppeteers are right-handed, so they use their dominant hand to work a puppet's mouth and the left to move its arms—making many Muppets appear left-handed.
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Magical realist author completely burned early work
Gabriel García Márquez destroyed early manuscripts and personal letters to keep scholars from examining his early work and to shape his own legacy.
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Godzilla became a tourism ambassador for a city he keeps destroying
Tokyo's Shinjuku ward gave the monster a special residency certificate in 2015 and appointed him its tourism ambassador. A giant Godzilla head overlooks the…
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The knife thrower aims for where the person won't be
On a spinning target, the safe gaps move along with the assistant. The act depends on timing as well as aim: a throw has to meet an empty part of the board…
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Ed Sheeran releasing a studio album of pure collaborations
Every track on Ed Sheeran’s No. 6 Collaborations Project features a guest artist, turning the album into a series of collaborations.
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Why the One Ring could become impossibly heavy
In Tolkien's story, the Ring's weight can change, turning a piece of jewelry into a burden that grows harder for its wearer to carry.
Discover moreAshton Kutcher described a hospital scare while preparing to play Jobs
He said he tried a fruitarian diet while researching the role and was hospitalized with pancreatic problems. His account shows how far he took the…
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John Travolta famously mispronounced Idina Menzel's name as Adele Dazeem at the Oscars
At the 2014 Oscars, his mangled introduction went viral, and “Adele Dazeem” quickly became a catchphrase.
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Risk originally featured completely different wooden cubes
The original game used small wooden blocks as its armies, rather than the familiar plastic soldiers.
Discover moreMadonna recruited Chic's producer for her second album
Nile Rodgers helped shape Like a Virgin into pop aimed beyond the dance floor, bringing experience from Chic and productions for other major stars. Madonna…
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The V-chip couldn't actually understand TV content
The V-chip relied on ratings encoded in broadcast metadata rather than analyzing what appeared on screen. If a program wasn't tagged correctly, the chip…
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When TV networks shipped shows by airplane
Before satellite links were reliable, networks recorded East Coast broadcasts on large magnetic-tape reels and flew them to Los Angeles so local stations…
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Hugh Jackman's screen transformation included dangerous dehydration
Discussing Les Misérables with BAFTA, Jackman said he went without water for the final 36 hours of preparation and explicitly warned others not to copy him.…
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Ripley's backward basketball shot was really Sigourney Weaver
For Alien Resurrection, Weaver practiced the over-the-shoulder basket rather than leaving the ball to a digital effect. The successful take captured a real…
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Why Wile E. Coyote survives until he looks down
In cartoon logic, the coyote can run off a cliff and stay suspended—as long as he doesn’t look down.
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The Sopranos filmed inside a real strip club
Satin Dolls, a working strip club in New Jersey, supplied the location for the Bada Bing. The series turned an existing business into the mob's familiar…
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Threatening death by divine intervention
One broadcaster told viewers live on television that God would end his life if they didn't send him money.
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Your encore may be on the set list before the first song
The dramatic exit can be a scheduled break, giving performers time to drink water and towel off before returning. The audience supplies the suspense; the band…
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Why TV characters watch exactly three seconds
They catch the one sentence of a news bulletin they need, then immediately switch off the TV—a level of focus rarely seen in real life.
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Why Starfleet's redshirts rarely survive missions
On Star Trek, red-shirted security officers were often the ones killed to show that an unfamiliar planet was dangerous—while the main characters survived.
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Early silent films were shot in a nearly square ratio
The 1.33:1 ratio matched 35mm film moving vertically through cameras, and it remained the industry standard for decades.
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Why Mozart wrote music for clocks he hated
He was commissioned to write pieces for mechanical organ clocks but reportedly disliked their shrill, tiny pipes.
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