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What Does I.Q. Really Test?

Back in 2007, Malcolm Gladwell wrote a terrific article for The New Yorker on the history of I.Q. At its core, Gladwell's article is a book review, covering James Flynn's What Is Intelligence? Gladwell discusses a series of surprising facts about I.Q., and explains long-held debates about differences in I.Q. among populations (the most famous being the brouhaha over The Bell Curve). The salient facts are: 1. I.Q. scores are frequently normed. In general, the entire population taking the test tends to... READ ON

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Scott McCloud on Understanding Comics

Scott McCloud tells a compelling story about his journey into comics (McCloud is the author of Zot!, among other awesome things). He's great with a slideshow, and in the talk below he gives one hell of a good show. From the story of his father's blindness (ostensibly caused by staring at an eclipse), to an academic analysis of comic art in Calvin & Hobbes, this is the story of a man with a passion. A passion for comics. Have a... READ ON

Article

Documentaries I Like: Frontline

Frontline is a PBS documentary series that has consistently offered the best reporting on a huge range of topics for over 25 years. Since 1983, Frontline has produced more than 480 documentaries on everything from politics to religion to personal finance. I can enthusiastically say Frontline produces documentaries I like, though I will caution that their war coverage in recent years has been so grim that it's often hard to watch. Starting in 1995, Frontline took much of its programming online,... READ ON

Article

Poetry Animations

Have you ever wanted to see classic poems "read" by their long-dead authors via creepy computer animation? Well, now you can! On YouTube, poetryanimations has published a nearly 250-part series of poems that feature photos of their authors, modified so that they appear to be talking. Have a look at this creepy, but kind of awesome, example, in which Lewis Carroll "reads" his poem "Jabberwocky": A few more favorites after the... READ ON

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The Evolution of the Inaugural Ball

On January 20th, a new president will take office in Washington, DC. There will be a big parade, a swearing-in ceremony, and boxes moving in and out of the White House. Then the balls begin at night. Inaugural balls were once the most elegant and sophisticated affairs in the nation, although they were joyous occasions, too. Now they are a once-in-a-lifetime event, because so many people who attend say they won't ever do that... READ ON

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Surprising Dr. Seuss Trivia

My father went to Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and he recently came across a nice article in Haverford's alumni magazine about Theodor Geisel. Now, Geisel is not a Haverford alum...but his agent Herb Cheyette is. I've collected a few choice bits of trivia from the article below, but I encourage you to read the full article for a fond remembrance of Geisel from his friend and agent Herb Cheyette. Geisel had a closet next to his studio filled with hats sent to him from children around the world,... READ ON

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The Internet Looks Back at 2008

The internet as we know it was built by, and is populated with, people who are just obsessive-compulsive enough to appreciate a good, ranked top ten list. The turning over of every calendar year is a fine excuse to indulge in an orgy of list-making, as we sum up the previous year and see if there are some lessons we can learn for the new year.... READ ON

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6 Open Letters That Changed the World

Epistolary history is full of open letters, those that are written with the intent that they'll be read by a wide audience. Here we've collected six of the best (or at least, most influential) open letters of all time. 1. Letter from Birmingham Jail Writer: Martin Luther King, Jr. Recipients: "Fellow Clergymen" Key statements: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"; "Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds."... READ ON

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8 Television Pioneers

The development of television resembles the development of the airplane in that many engineers were working on the project around the same time, separately, and the finished product owes credit to quite a few pioneers. There are still arguments over who invented television. If one person must be named, Philo T. Farnsworth gets the credit in most cases, since he patented the all-electronic television system. However, many other breakthroughs came before Farnsworth. 1. Paul Nipkow German inventor Paul... READ ON

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Messing with Mother Nature: 5 Cautionary Tales

The balance of nature took about four billion years to settle into the pattern the earth now holds. When humans change one thing, large or small, it begins a chain reaction that we often can't foresee. We don't know everything there is to know about Mother Nature yet. Killer... READ ON