Open Culture

You can still type a symbol originally invented for Cicero nearly 21 centuries ago — at least if you configure your keyboard properly. The character ⁊ appears in Unicode as U+204A, but is better known as the “Tironian et”: the “et” is Latin for “and,” and the “Tironian” comes from its creator, a man named Tiro, or in full,

Twenty years ago, United States senator Ted Stevens drew long-lasting online ridicule by describing the internet as “a series of tubes.” While some commentators noted that the analogy wasn’t quite as outlandish as it seemed, most rea...

Each time I sit through the end credits of a film, I think about how weird auteur theory is—that a work of cinema can be primarily thought of as the singular vision of the director. Typical examples come from artier fare than the usual Hollywood blockbuster in which crews of thousands of stuntpeople, special effects technicians, and animators (and several dozen “produ...

Over the years, you’ve probably heard at least a few people casually describe themselves as Epicureans. As used today, the label can refer to as little as enjoying the occasional expensive restaurant meal. The bar was a bit higher in...

Stewart Brand came onto the cultural scene during the 1960s, helping to stage the