Arts and Culture

Mapping has always been contentious, no matter where you look in time. Maps preserve ideological assumptions on paper, rationalizing physical space as they render it in two dimensions. No matter how didactic, they can become political weapons. In the case of Charles Booth’s visually impressive  Maps Descriptive of London Poverty , we have a series of maps whose own assumptions can sometimes seem at odds with their ostensible purpose: to improve the living conditions of London’s poor. Booth’s “colourful poverty maps were created between 1886 and 1903,” Zoe Craig writes at Londonist , as part of a “ground-breaking study into the lives of ordinary Londoners.” A philanthropist born into wealth in the shipping trade, Booth took it upon himself to study poverty in London in order to initiate social reforms. He succeeded. The study, conducted by Booth and a team of researchers, led to the creation of Old Age pensions, which Booth called “limited socialism,” as well as school meals for...

The ongoing "golden age" of prestige television drama began more than twenty years ago, but how many shows have truly surpassed  The Sopranos , the one that started it all? However many series come and go, raising large and often obsessive fan bases with their varying mixtures of crime, history, politics, science fiction, fantasy, and intrigue, none have shown the cultural staying power of this six-season tale of a mob boss in turn-of-the-21st-century New Jersey. That  The Sopranos remains relevant owes in part to the vision of creator David Chase  as well as to the tour de force performance of star James Gandolfini. Evan Puschak, better known as the Nerdwriter , has stronger words of approbation: Gandolfini's is "probably the greatest acting achievement ever committed to the screen, small or big." In the video essay "How James Gandolfini Navigates Emotion" he marshals in support of this claim just one scene, but a scene that features Gandol...

Image by Clemens Pfeiffer via Wikimedia Commons The first computer I ever sat before, the 1983 Apple IIe, had a manual the size of a textbook, which included a primer on programming languages and a chapter entitled “Getting Down to Business and Pleasure.” By “pleasure,” Apple mostly meant “electronic worksheets,” “word processors,” and “database management.” (They hadn’t fully established themselves as the fun one yet.) Getting these programs running took real effort and patience, especially compared to the MacBook Air on which I’m typing now. All those old tedious processes are automated, and no more do we need manuals—we've got the internet, which also happens to be the only way I could operate an Apple IIe, whether that means tracking down a manual on eBay or finding a scanned copy somewhere online. Luckily, for vintage Apple enthusiasts, this isn’t difficult, and someone with rudimentary knowledge of Apple DOS could muddle through without one. When we go further back int...

Dorothea Lange’s " Migrant Mother "... Nick Ut’s Pulitzer Prize-winning " The Terror of War "... Richard Drew’s " The Falling Man "... Throughout the years, a number of iconic photographs have tapped into the collective unconscious, shaping our view of historic events, sometimes to a degree that leads to social change. These images are not dependent on knowing the subjects’ identities, though it’s always interesting when more context leaks out, often as the result of some serious sleuthing by reporters, archivists, or other interested parties. 1932’s "Lunch atop a Skyscraper (New York Construction Workers Lunching on a Crossbeam)" is one of the lighter-hearted photos to create such a lasting public impression. Eleven workers are depicted enjoying their break, relaxing on a girder a dizzying 840-feet above New York City, unburdened by safety harnesses or other protective gear. In the words of Rockefeller Center archivist  Christina ...

Until Monday, the Beastie Boys' final concert--captured at Bonnaroo on June 12, 2009--will stream free on YouTube. (Watch it above.) Just five weeks after the show, Adam "MCA" Yauch would announce that he had been diagnosed with salivary gland cancer. Originally optimistic, Yauch said "I just need to take a little time to get this in check, and then we'll release the record and play some shows." "It's a pain in the neck (sorry had to say it) because I was really looking forward to playing these shows, but the doctors have made it clear that this is not the kind of thing that can be put aside to deal with later." Sadly, the cancer proved aggressive and took MCA's life in May, 2012, leaving the show above as the Beastie Boys' final live document. Find the setlist for the final show here . Would you like to support the mission of Open Culture? Please consider making a donation to our site . It's hard to rely 100% on ads, and yo...

Painter Diego Rivera set the bar awfully high for other lovers when he—allegedly—ate a handful of his ex-wife Frida Kahlo’s cremains, fresh from the oven. Perhaps he was hedging his bets. The Mexican government opted not to honor his express wish that their ashes should be co-mingled upon his death.  Kahlo’s remains  were placed in Mexico City's Rotunda of Illustrious Men, and have since been transferred to their home, now the  Museo Frida Kahlo . Rivera lies in the  Panteón Civil de Dolores . Other creative expressions of the grief that dogged him til his own death, three years later: His final painting,  The Watermelons , a very Mexican subject that’s also a tribute to Kahlo’s last work,  Viva La Vida ... And  a locked bathroom  in which he decreed 6,000 photographs, 300 of Kahlo’s garments and personal items, and 12,000 documents were to be housed until 15 years after his death. Among the many revelations when this chamber was be...