Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
Why karaoke demands applause, no matter how bad
Karaoke etiquette calls for applause even when someone sings wildly off-key. The whole room is expected to cheer them on.
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The rom-com myth of dropping your papers
Rom-coms turn a dropped stack of papers into a meet-cute: a stranger helps gather them, eyes lock, and marriage supposedly follows.
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The original Green Lantern could be vulnerable to a wooden club
Alan Scott's magical ring had a weakness to wood, unlike the different origin and rules of later Green Lanterns such as Hal Jordan. The contrast made a…
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A Bollywood star's singing voice can belong to another star
Playback singers record songs that actors then perform on screen. Voices such as Lata Mangeshkar's became famous in their own right, even while paired with…
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Why Sesame Street kept people and puppets apart
Child-development experts feared the mix would confuse young viewers, but test audiences tuned out during human-only scenes. Jim Henson pushed for Big Bird to…
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Why a brass saxophone is a woodwind
It belongs to the woodwind family because a vibrating cane reed produces its sound; brass instruments use the player's lip-buzz instead.
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Copyright infringement requires proving actual damages
Copyright owners don’t always have to prove lost income to seek damages: U.S. law can allow statutory damages. But proving actual financial harm may matter…
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Why late-night infomercials stop at 28½ minutes
A 28½-minute infomercial leaves 90 seconds in a half-hour slot for required station identification and local commercials.
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A televangelist tried to blow COVID-19 away on camera
In 2020, Kenneth Copeland blew toward the camera and declared that he was directing the wind of God at the coronavirus. The broadcast turned a public-health…
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Millionaire uses a rigid fifteen-question logic tree
The early questions are relatively easy, while later ones draw on categories selected to make the upper tiers harder to reach.
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A spirit cabinet turned tied-up performers into a séance spectacle
The Davenport brothers performed with ropes, a cabinet, bells, and instruments that appeared to move mysteriously. Magicians later examined such methods as…
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Investigative podcasts won prestigious journalism awards
A serialized investigation into an old murder became the first podcast to win a major broadcast journalism prize.
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General admission guarantees absolutely no seating
Venues can admit people without assigning them chairs, so you may have to stand and find your own viewing spot.
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A scenery truck convinced Pokémon players that Mew was underneath
The truck near the S.S. Anne became the center of a rumor that a special maneuver could reveal the rare Pokémon. In the original games, it did not provide…
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That traffic reporter may be miles from the road
Some traffic reports come from a studio, where a reporter tracks congestion on a digital map instead of flying over the roads.
Discover moreStevie Wonder made a soundtrack for the secret life of plants
The album is mostly instrumental and devoted entirely to the botanical world.
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The game that planned for every way you'd disobey
The developers wrote sarcastic voice-over for the ways players might break the rules, so attempts to defy the game trigger commentary instead.
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Why Disney's Animal Kingdom bans plastic straws
A dropped plastic straw or lid could choke an animal, so the park uses paper straws instead.
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The streaming platform named after a gourd
Hulu’s name comes from the Mandarin word for a gourd, a hollow vessel traditionally used to hold precious things.
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Liam Neeson said a warning from Natasha Richardson ended his Bond interest
Producers asked whether he was interested while considering actors for the role. He later recalled Richardson saying she would not marry him if he played…
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Titles are frequently changed to appease focus groups
If test audiences don’t understand a metaphorical title within three seconds, studios may replace it with a more literal one.
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Jazz improvisation requires intense mathematical anticipation
Jazz improvisers track changing chords and choose compatible notes in real time, so a solo that sounds spontaneous can involve rapid musical calculations.
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Livestream chat commands trigger automated bot responses
Background scripts can post preset text and links whenever viewers use a chat command to request basic information.
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A game's T-pose is the character underneath the performance
An animated character starts from a reference pose used to build and rig the model. If the animation system fails to supply the intended movement, that…
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