Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
Inner monologues are strictly reserved for main characters
Stories often give protagonists access to an inner monologue while leaving supporting characters’ thoughts unheard. That narrative choice can make everyone…
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Classical applause rules were radically altered over time
In Mozart’s era, audiences often applauded in the middle of a performance when a melody pleased them. The strict silence expected at modern symphonies wasn’t…
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In Far Cry 4, waiting can end the game peacefully
If you stay in the chair for 15 minutes instead of escaping, Pagan Min returns, helps scatter your mother’s ashes, and the game ends peacefully.
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Why soap operas reuse the same rooms
Daytime dramas often reuse a small set of wooden walls, repainting them to stand in for a mansion, police station, or hospital.
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The children's puppet show where everyone gets beaten
In this traditional seaside puppet show, the hero’s solution to nearly every problem is a beating with a wooden stick—even when the opponent is a police…
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America's Super Mario Bros. 2 wore another game's clothes
Nintendo adapted the Japanese game Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic for the Western release, replacing its heroes with Mario's cast. Picking up vegetables and…
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Yakuza games let you play real vintage arcades
You can step away from the crime story to play digital replicas of classic 1980s arcade cabinets inside the game.
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Why old Italian films had to be dubbed
1930s regulations required foreign films to be dubbed into Italian and banned subtitles, a language-protection policy that helped build a powerful domestic…
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Gravity guns pull items using artificial magnetism
Rather than simulating realistic gravity, the gun pulls targeted objects straight to the player. That lets you turn something like a radiator into a weapon.
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The Chase makes the quiz expert part of the obstacle course
Contestants face a specialist whose correct answers close the gap between them on a game board. Answering your own questions is only half the problem: someone…
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Syndicated comic creators submit work several months early
Daily strips can be submitted as much as six months before publication, making timely reactions to current events nearly impossible.
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Why movie villains often have British accents
Received pronunciation is a familiar movie shorthand for a polished, sinister villain, with crisp British vowels helping signal menace to the audience.
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A virtual influencer can land a very real ad campaign
Lil Miquela has appeared in brand campaigns despite being a computer-created character. Human teams build the images, manage the persona, and handle the…
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Keeping Friends on Netflix reportedly cost $100 million for one year
The reported price covered keeping the sitcom available in the United States through 2019. Netflix was paying for a familiar library title, not commissioning…
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Laundry detergent glows under blacklight
Laundry detergent’s optical brighteners fluoresce blue under blacklight, making it a cheap stand-in for theatrical paint at Halloween attractions.
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How Scotty's ashes reached the International Space Station
After rockets carrying his ashes failed to stay in orbit, space tourist Richard Garriott smuggled a laminated photo covered in Doohan’s ashes onto the ISS in…
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Binocular vision is always depicted as two conjoined circles
TV often shows a figure-eight view so audiences recognize binoculars, even though looking through them usually gives a single circular field.
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How an umbrella became a bat swarm
Opening and shutting a rain umbrella can recreate the leathery rustle of a swarm of bats in flight—without having to record real bats.
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Iranian new wave mixed fiction with documentary
Filmmakers blurred staged drama with real life, often casting untrained locals to play altered versions of themselves.
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The dramatic gasp is a movie shortcut for waking up
Films often announce a character's return to consciousness with one enormous breath and instantly alert eyes. It gives the audience a clear turning point in a…
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Ghost Adventures turns an overnight stay into a lockdown
The show's investigations use the premise of remaining inside a supposedly haunted location through the night. Darkness, restricted movement, and waiting…
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Samuel L. Jackson wanted the movie to stay Snakes on a Plane
The blunt title was a major attraction for Jackson, who objected when the project was renamed Pacific Air Flight 121. The original title returned. It did the…
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Event hot dogs are boiled in water instead of grilled
Boiling batches lets vendors cook many hot dogs at once without tending individual grills. The trade-off is that they lack the char of grilled dogs.
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Novel reading indicates extreme introversion or arrogance
In this stereotype, a book in public can look either like a shield for someone shy or a status signal meant to seem intellectual.
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