Culture & entertainment
Discover facts about culture & entertainment. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Culture & entertainment
Boy bands sing a century-old harmony
Underneath the frosted tips, synchronized dance routines, and overwhelming teen angst, the musical foundation is incredibly old-fashioned. Pop vocal groups…
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Why dark-ride vehicles slowly turn
You might think the slow, sweeping turn of your doom buggy is meant to heighten the dramatic tension of the scene. In reality, the vehicle is just…
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On Jeopardy, knowing the answer isn't enough
You aren't watching a battle of pure intellect; you are watching a heavily rehearsed rhythm game. On shows like Jeopardy, knowing the answer is completely…
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Why sitcom furniture faces an empty wall
Ever wonder why television families live in homes that look like theatrical stages? It is because every single piece of furniture is awkwardly angled toward a…
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Why heavy metal sounds like Mozart
The terrifying wall of distortion and screaming is deeply rooted in high society classical tradition. Countless heavy metal tracks directly lift the complex…
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Why your TV makes movies look like soap operas
Your brand new flatscreen actually hates the way traditional television is filmed. Because standard broadcasts are captured at a low frame rate, modern…
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Pokémon catches depend on more than button mashing
Screaming at your screen and aggressively mashing the A button does absolutely nothing to secure your capture. Underneath the hood, the game runs a…
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Why a bass drop can trigger fight or flight
The overwhelming urge to jump around at an electronic dance festival is actually your body preparing for an emergency. Deep sub-bass frequencies…
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SimCity can randomly bury your city in toxic waste
Nothing teaches municipal planning better than spontaneous apocalyptic radiation. If you choose to power your booming metropolis with nuclear energy to save…
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Sports leagues strictly blackout local television broadcasts
You might think subscribing to a premium sports package guarantees you can watch your hometown team play. In reality, leagues intentionally leverage vicious…
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Why carnival basketball hoops are hard to score on
Your inability to sink a basic free throw at a theme park isn't a lack of athletic prowess; it is sheer physics manipulation. Game operators frequently use…
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Why game show audiences seem impossibly excited
The people screaming and clapping wildly in the studio bleachers aren't just overly enthusiastic tourists. Production companies actively employ aggressive…
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Your Tetris pieces have official names
Those generic geometric shapes invading your dreams are technically branded intellectual properties. The Tetris Company officially designated each unique…
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In Final Fantasy, getting hit charges your ultimate attack
The ultimate flashy combat moves in this iconic RPG franchise rely entirely on strategic masochism. The meter required to unleash devastating cinematic…
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Dark Souls lets players lure strangers off cliffs
A game notoriously famous for its crushing difficulty gives players a unique communication tool, and humanity immediately uses it for evil. The messaging…
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Why everyone can sing along to a national anthem
There is a very specific reason you can confidently belt out your country's patriotic tune after three beers at a stadium. Composers intentionally restrict…
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Why virtual queues lead you into gift shops
Digital fast-passes were not invented to save you from standing in the miserable summer heat. They were explicitly designed by corporate accountants to keep…
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One novelist helped create the myth that Earth was flat
Everyone believes that medieval people thought the earth was flat, and you can blame one fiction writer for it. In 1828, Washington Irving wrote a heavily…
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Moby-Dick was a flop during Melville’s lifetime
You can pour your absolute soul into a towering masterwork about human obsession, and the public will still yawn. When 'Moby-Dick' was published in 1851,…
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Alexandre Dumas had a writing team
The mastermind behind 'The Three Musketeers' wasn't so much a writer as he was a narrative factory manager. Alexandre Dumas published over 100,000 pages in…
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Gutenberg lost his press and died nearly penniless
Inventing the most important communication device in human history does not guarantee you a comfortable retirement. Johannes Gutenberg borrowed a massive…
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Why Mark Twain hid his autobiography for 100 years
If you want to insult all of your friends without dealing with the fallout, simply outlive them via a legal document. Mark Twain wrote a massive, brutally…
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Where the Wild Things Are began with bad horse drawings
Sometimes artistic incompetence is the best career move you can make. Maurice Sendak originally pitched his famous picture book as 'Where the Wild Horses…
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Why Maya Angelou wrote in bare motel rooms
Writing is hard enough without being distracted by your own nice furniture. To achieve total focus, Maya Angelou would routinely rent a cheap, generic motel…
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