Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
How Popeye made Americans eat more spinach
Popeye's love of canned spinach got children asking for the vegetable and influenced American spinach consumption.
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This romance repeats its own title 22 times
The film says its own title in the dialogue roughly 22 times, turning a sweet holiday romance into an unusually repetitive vocabulary lesson.
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The Blue Man Group makes music with plumbing pipes
The group plays custom instruments made from PVC plumbing pipes, striking them with paddles.
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A Ouija board can move without anyone feeling in control
Players unconsciously guide the planchette through the ideomotor effect, making its movement feel like an outside force.
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Classical pianos originally lacked the crucial sustain pedal
Without a sustain pedal, players sometimes had to repeat notes rapidly to imitate a lingering chord.
Discover moreStephen King once let filmmakers adapt stories for $1
His Dollar Baby program licensed selected short stories for noncommercial films, giving aspiring directors access to a famous writer without a Hollywood…
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Non disclosure agreements legally silence audiences
Attendees may have to sign an NDA promising not to reveal unreleased details. Posting a plot summary afterward could violate that agreement.
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Yoda's face was inspired by Albert Einstein
The designers modeled Yoda's eyes and wrinkles on Albert Einstein's, using those features to make the small alien look wise.
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The imagined betrayal behind 'Mr. Brightside'
Flowers said the song’s detailed jealousy was imagined: after catching a girlfriend cheating, he spun out worst-case scenarios.
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The sound engineer needs to sit where the audience listens
A position among the crowd lets the engineer hear the speakers and the room together. From backstage, the same show would sound very different. Giving up some…
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Why reality-show contestants rarely drink freely
After lawsuits, producers began regulating how much alcohol contestants could drink. Some still get drinks, but their intake is limited.
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The NSA worried Furbies could record secrets
In 1999, the NSA barred Furbies from its premises over fears that the talking toys could record conversations. The apparent learning was an illusion: the toys…
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Wizard boy universe almost featured a vampire
The author considered making one of the professors a sleepy vampire, but dropped the idea because the school’s teenage-wizard chaos was already enough to…
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A live TV host is talking against a clock you cannot see
A broadcast has scheduled breaks and a fixed ending, while an interview can wander wherever a guest takes it. Producers send timing cues to keep the…
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Tony Soprano's ducks came from a real backyard pool
David Chase recalled seeing a ramp for ducks at a friend's house while working on another project. He decided the birds belonged in his new show. Their…
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A reporter asked Mark Twain to comment on his own death
In 1897, a rumor about Twain's death reached the press while he was alive in London. Confusion over a relative's illness had helped start the story. Twain…
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Movie cigarettes can contain herbs instead of tobacco
Herbal props let a performer repeat a smoking scene without repeatedly consuming nicotine. They still produce smoke from burning plant material, so…
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Soap operas build their production around keeping up with the next episode
Regular sets, rehearsed blocking and fast shooting let a continuing drama produce far more finished screen time than many prestige series. The difference is a…
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Why Oddjob was banned in GoldenEye
Oddjob's short stature put his head below GoldenEye's default auto-aim level, so shots could sail over him unless opponents aimed manually. That made him an…
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Hip-hop got its name from a joke about marching
An early MC mocked a friend who had joined the military by scat-singing in a marching cadence. The joke accidentally gave hip-hop its name.
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Why Peppa Pig changes how toddlers talk
Its popularity has led some toddlers to say “holiday” instead of “vacation” and pronounce “tomato” differently.
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A surprise radio phone call has a notice problem
U.S. broadcasting rules generally require a station to tell the other person before recording a call for broadcast, unless that person already knows in the…
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Animated animals violently oppose wearing standard trousers
Cartoon animals may wear shirts, hats, or bow ties while leaving their legs bare—a familiar bit of character design that stops their clothing at the waist.
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Romantic encounters require humiliating social disasters
Romantic stories often turn a first meeting into a mishap—a collision or spilled coffee, for example—giving two strangers an awkward reason to interact.
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