Nik Wallenda completes wire walk across Chicago skyline
Source: The Guardian
Read about how daredevil Nik Wallenda broke two records tightrope walking on a steel wire more than 50 stories above the Chicago river.
Arts & Entertainment
Why Shakespeare Matters
Source: Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., houses one of the richest collections of materials related to William Shakespeare and fosters research, productions, and educational outreach. Why devote so much effort to works over 400 years old, by an author from another country?
Are All Movie Heroes the Same Person?
Source: Pacific Standard
If you’ve ever watched a movie and thought, This hero reminds me of a hero in another movie, you’re not alone. Author Joseph Campbell explored myths and stories about heroes from around the world and found that they have much in common; his work in turn inspired the creation of new movie heroes, including the heroes of the Star Wars series.
Amid Tensions, a New Portrayal of Anne Frank
Source: The New York Times
Although the story of Anne Frank has been told in a movie and two plays, a fresh version of her story was recently written and performed on stage in Amsterdam. The new play covers some of Anne’s life before the war and after the discovery of the Secret Annex.
Good Art Is Popular Because It’s Good. Right?
Source: NPR
In an effort to find out why certain pieces of art are successful, a Princeton professor designed a study that concluded that chance has a lot to do with it.
The Hudson River School
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Hudson River School was a group of distinctly American artists who painted landscapes in the mid-1800s. View the slideshow and consider how their depictions of nature reflected the ideas of the Transcendentalist writers of the same time period.
Famous Ghosts in American History
Source: History
Everyone knows that ghosts aren’t real. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of ghost stories to go around. This site lists a few of those stories, describing tales sometimes told about the nation’s most famous ghosts.
Asian Dragons
Source: American Museum of Natural History
Dragons are creatures of power in the tales of many cultures. In Asian legends, dragons are wise, protect people, and control the water of the earth.
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales 2012 – a multimedia pilgrimage
Source: The Guardian
In 2012, a group of people retraced the route of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales pilgrims in a four-day trek. Listen to the audio and watch the videos embedded throughout the article to hear the participants recite pieces from the work.
Eugene O’Neill Biography
Source: Biography
Over the course of his career, Nobel Prize-winning writer Eugene O’Neill used his struggles as inspiration for his moving plays. Read about his life in this biography.