The Literati

01/31/2016

Using just an Ipad and with almost 300,000 brushstrokes, Kyle Lambert claims to have created the world's most realistic finger-painting, an honor which he bestows to

01/22/2016

WATCH: New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer joins us to discuss revelations that Fred Koch helped build an oil refinery in N**i Germany.

12/23/2015

Rudyard Kipling’s creations in verse and prose are among the most familiar in the English language. It would be difficult to shield a child in any

10/17/2014

A team of Japanese and American scientists headed by Dr. Wako Aoki of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan have discovered remnants of one of the

10/17/2014

Scientists Discover One of the Oldest Stars Named SDSS J0018-0939

A team of Japanese and American scientists headed by Dr. Wako Aoki of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan have discovered remnants of one of the oldest stellar systems in the universe and have named it SDSS J0018-0939.

Read more: http://theliterati.com/scientists-discover-an-ancient-star-system-named-sdss-j0018-0939/

A team of Japanese and American scientists headed by Dr. Wako Aoki of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan have discovered remnants of one of the

10/02/2014

Best and Worst Ice Bucket Challenge Videos


There seems to be no end to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge videos. It was an online campaign to generate awareness about ALS disease which stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Otherwise known as Louis Gehrig’s disease, it is a neurodegenerative disorder that deteriorates nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

See the best and worst Ice Bucket Challenge Videos here: http://theliterati.com/best-and-worst-ice-bucket-challenge-videos/

Save the Truth. Speak Funny to Power.

09/30/2014

Sebastian Junger’s Korengal

Sebastian Junger is an internationally acclaimed journalist, who has been reporting from war torn battlefields around the world for over twenty years. His last movie with Tim Hetherington titled ‘Restrepo,’ was nominated for an Academy award in 2010.

Read more: http://theliterati.com/sebastian-jungers-korengal/

Save the Truth. Speak Funny to Power.

09/26/2014

Kati Horna’s Surrealist Photographs of the Spanish Civil War

When Kati Horna covered the Spanish Civil War, she was alongside documentary photography giants such as Robert Capa, her childhood friend. Yet, her unusual, surrealist-inspired images of that conflict stand in stark contrast to Capa’s frontline photographs, making her contributions to the annals of conflict photography even more singular.

Read more: http://theliterati.com/kati-hornas-surrealist-photographs-of-the-spanish-civil-war/

Save the Truth. Speak Funny to Power.

09/23/2014

The Perilous History of The Great Barrier Reef


Tim Flannery reviews ‘The Reef: A Passionate History: The Great Barrier Reef from Captain Cook to Climate Change’ by Iain McCalman for the New York Review of Books. The European seamen and explorers who had first chronicled the presence of this wonder of nature, established a negative stereotype of the indigenous people who lived along this coast of Australia. They were portrayed as murderous marauding savages who were ....

Read more: http://theliterati.com/the-perilous-history-of-the-great-barrier-reef/

Save the Truth. Speak Funny to Power.

09/18/2014

A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel

"Reading has always been for me a sort of practical cartography. Like other readers, I have an absolute trust in the capability that reading has to map my world."

Read more:

http://theliterati.com/a-history-of-reading-by-alberto-manguel/

Save the Truth. Speak Funny to Power.

09/12/2014

The Tradition of Chhaupadi in Nepal Documented by Poulomi Basu

This photo essay by Poulomi Basu was published in Time Magazine
‘Tradition’ is broadly defined as a belief or custom that is passed between generations. It can be cultural, religious or something entirely different. It can be praised and celebrated and adapted over time, or it can be viewed as dated and misunderstood and forced upon people who would otherwise not participate. It can breed sorrow and guilt, fear or even pain. In many cases, it can be or do all of those things.
In some parts of Nepal, it’s Chhaupadi. Girls and women are made to live in makeshift huts while they’re menstruating out of the superstitious reasoning, and a tradition linked to Hinduism, that their blood is considered impure.

Read more: http://theliterati.com/the-tradition-of-chhaupadi-in-nepal-documented-by-poulomi-basu/

Save the Truth. Speak Funny to Power.

09/10/2014

Before Match.com or Tinder There Was a Five Ton Mainframe for Love

Online romance and matchmaking had a direct predecessor with respect to using computing power, the IBM 1401 mainframe which weighed five tons and was released in 1960. One of the most successful programs to run on this mighty machine was Operation Match, a dating service that began for Harvard Co-eds who had to use punchcards to answer a personality questionaire. The program would soon spread to campuses nationwide and had anxious students waiting for the results of their matches to arrive by mail.

Read more: http://theliterati.com/before-match-com-or-tinder-there-was-a-five-ton-mainframe-for-love/

Save the Truth. Speak Funny to Power.

09/05/2014

Wang Lixiong and Woeser Speak About Violence Against Minorities in China

This is a phenomenal interview by Ian Johnson of Wang Lixiong and Woeser, for The New York Review of Books. They are an activist couple who document the growing ethnic strife in China. Both are acclaimed writers who work very hard to engage the Chinese government with leaders of dissident movements, so bloodshed can be avoided.
Unlike before, episodes of violent suppression against Tibetans in Lhasa, and the Uighur in Xinjiang by the Chinese government occur fairly regularly.
://theliterati.com/wang-lixiong-and-woeser-speak-about-violence-against-minorities-in-china/

Save the Truth. Speak Funny to Power.

09/02/2014

Daniel Burrus writes an insightful OpEd for Wired Magazine about the science of certainty and how it can transform innovation. With the advancement of science and technology predicting the future is not only becoming easier but also very accurate.

http://theliterati.com/the-science-of-certainty-and-transforming-innovation/

Wouldn’t it be great if you could predict the future — and be right? If you could conceptualize the next great innovative product and know it will be a

08/30/2014

As we approach the fortieth anniversary of the resignation, next week, that “fevered detestation” has abated—in part, no doubt, because the generation that

08/30/2014

The Forty Year Legacy of a Nixon Nightmare

About a dozen years after Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency, on August 9, 1974, C. L. Sulzberger, a former Times correspondent who made his home in Paris, returned for a visit Stateside and discovered that passions still ran deep—that, “to my surprise, despite the passage of time since the Watergate scandal, the fevered detestation seemed to continue unabated. . . . This anger was, I found, astonishingly personal. . . . It was the same kind of personal hatred that survivors of Hi**er and Stalin in Germany and Russia felt toward their persecutors,” he wrote, adding, “I cannot explain this extraordinarily venomous sentiment, this blind rage that focused its attention entirely on one man and displayed not the faintest sign of forgiveness.”


Read more:
http://theliterati.com/the-forty-year-legacy-of-a-nixon-nightmare/

As we approach the fortieth anniversary of the resignation, next week, that “fevered detestation” has abated—in part, no doubt, because the generation that

08/29/2014

Oliver Lang on Mobile Photography and Instagram

http://theliterati.com/oliver-lang-on-mobile-photography-and-instagram/

Oliver Lang believes smartphones and Instagram have changed people's relationship with photography, which, he tells TIME, can be beneficial to professional

08/26/2014

David Shulman writes for the NYRB about the ground realities about the recent war in occupied Gaza. Besides the horrendous casualties, there are many untold incidents of racial violence and intimidation against Palestinians who live in Israel. These barbaric acts are not isolated incidents but occur often enough with a mob like frenzy. Astonishingly, this pogrom of racial and religious hatred has many supporters within Israeli’s intelligentsia. Despite all of this, the vast majority of Palestinians still choose peace over violence.

Read more
http://theliterati.com/palestine-the-hatred-and-the-hope/

David Shulman Since the Gaza war began, an unprecedented wave of blood lust and racist violence has raged within Israel. Similar manifestations have occurred in

08/26/2014

David Shulman writes for the NYRB about the ground realities about the recent war in occupied Gaza. Besides the horrendous casualties, there are many untold incidents of racial violence and intimidation against Palestinians who live in Israel. These barbaric acts are not isolated incidents but occur often enough with a mob like frenzy. Astonishingly, this pogrom of racial and religious hatred has many supporters within Israeli’s intelligentsia. Despite all of this, the vast majority of Palestinians still choose peace over violence.

Read more
http://theliterati.com/palestine-the-hatred-and-the-hope/

David Shulman Since the Gaza war began, an unprecedented wave of blood lust and racist violence has raged within Israel. Similar manifestations have occurred in

08/23/2014

Jerome Sessini Photographs Scenes From Malaysian Airline Crash in Ukraine

Warning: Graphic images and details can be found in the photographs above and in the text below.
Late Thursday afternoon, a field of sunflowers in the village of Torez in eastern Ukraine was transformed into a scene of a tragedy when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was brought down by a surface-to-air missile.

Late Thursday, a field of sunflowers in eastern Ukraine was transformed into a scene of a tragedy when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was brought down by a

08/23/2014

Warning: Graphic images and details can be found in the photographs above and in the text below.
Late Thursday afternoon, a field of sunflowers in the village of Torez in eastern Ukraine was transformed into a scene of a tragedy when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was brought down by a surface-to-air missile.
Jerome Sessini, a French photographer with the agency Magnum Photos, was one of the first people to arrive at the scene. A veteran war photographer who has worked in conflict sites like Iraq and Somalia, Sessini says he wasn’t prepared for the weight of what he saw.
Sessini, who had been working in a nearby mining village in Donetsk, first heard about the crash when his driver received a call from a local journalist, who explained that a plane had been downed in nearby Torez, apparently by pro-Russian rebels. Initially assuming it was a Ukrainian military plane—the pro-Russian rebels had already destroyed a military transport plane and reportedly brought down two other military aircraft—Sessini and his driver headed out.

To read more:
http://theliterati.com/jerome-sessini-photographs-scenes-from-malaysian-airline-ukraine-crash-site/

Late Thursday, a field of sunflowers in eastern Ukraine was transformed into a scene of a tragedy when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was brought down by a

08/21/2014

When this picture from a billboard in India that mistook Morgan Freeman for Nelson Mandela, had gone viral on the internet, people from all over

08/21/2014

Recently, this picture was the funniest thing we had associated Morgan Freeman with until this video, where as a guest on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, they inhale Helium and have a conversation.
Read more and watch the video:
http://theliterati.com/morgan-freeman-and-jimmy-fallon-inhale-helium/

When this picture from a billboard in India that mistook Morgan Freeman for Nelson Mandela, had gone viral on the internet, people from all over

08/09/2014

Nobel laureate and economist Joseph Stiglitz has only praise for the newly founded BRICS bank. This development bank was formed by six of the world’s leading emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The New Development Bank, formerly known as BRICS Development Bank was created on June 15 2014 by all member nations at a summit held in Brazil. Stiglitz who is a professor of Economics at Columbia University and was formerly the chief economist at the World Bank describes the new bank as.....
Read more:
http://theliterati.com/nobel-laureate-joseph-stiglitz-praises-brics-bank/

Nobel laureate and economist Joseph Stiglitz has only praise for the newly founded BRICS bank. This development bank was formed by six of the world's leading emerging

08/09/2014

Nobel laureate and economist Joseph Stiglitz has only praise for the newly founded BRICS bank. This development bank was formed by six of the world’s leading emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The New Development Bank, formerly known as BRICS Development Bank was created on June 15 2014 by all member nations at a summit held in Brazil. Stiglitz who is a professor of Economics at Columbia University and was formerly the chief economist at the World Bank describes the new bank as.....
Read more:
http://theliterati.com/nobel-laureate-joseph-stiglitz-praises-brics-bank/

Nobel laureate and economist Joseph Stiglitz has only praise for the newly founded BRICS bank. This development bank was formed by six of the world's leading emerging

08/06/2014

I see Brazil as a series of clashes — clashes of culture, ethnicity and philosophies. Clashes that generate a terrible, and yet-to-be tamed energy that has been given life to a complex society. Among the skyscrapers of the megalopolis and the trees of the Amazonia forest beats the heart of a multicultural country that is progressively learning to exploit the power of diversity. Contemporary photography takes possessions of these elements and emotions, becoming a solid instrument for new generations and a language to document the multifaceted angles of Brazilian society, its contrasts and renewed identity.
Contemporary photography in Brazil is colorful.
Read more
http://theliterati.com/nine-amazing-photographers-from-brazil/

The most exciting contemporary Brazilian photography takes possession of the clashes of culture, ethnicity and philosophies that make up the country.

08/04/2014

With an effort to reduce child mortality rates drastically, the Indian government has introduced four new free vaccines.

Read more :

http://theliterati.com/india-offers-free-vaccines-to-fight-high-child-mortality-rates/

The Indian government will provide four new free vaccines to fight rotavirus,polio,rubella, and Japanese encephalitis. Diarrhea from rotavirus

08/04/2014

With an effort to reduce child mortality rates drastically, the Indian government has introduced four new free vaccines.

Read more :

http://theliterati.com/india-offers-free-vaccines-to-fight-high-child-mortality-rates/

The Indian government will provide four new free vaccines to fight rotavirus,polio,rubella, and Japanese encephalitis. Diarrhea from rotavirus

07/28/2014

Independence Day, which commemorates the victories of the American Revolution, has always been a celebration of the liberation of colonized America against British Monarchy. A war fought by a group of fearless patriots against extreme odds . This is the high-school history book version of this story, that is often regurgitated through speeches on July 4th by many an American president. While the abolishment of a monarchy has its significance in history books, this version omits, the class descriptions of these founding fathers who were landed gentry and aristocrats. Along with this omission is a fantastic short summary description of the Declaration of Independence , where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all men was somehow falsely understood to include all social classes,gender and race. None of these lofty declarations benefitted the Native Americans, who suffered through a genocide.This war did not in any such manner improve the living conditions of slaves. In fact, we learn from historian Gerard Horne author of The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America” that life was far worse for the millions of African slaves in the new republic .

Read more at theliterati.com

Independence Day, which commemorates the victories of the American Revolution, has always been a celebration of the liberation of colonized America

07/26/2014

Independence Day, which commemorates the victories of the American Revolution, has always been a celebration of the liberation of colonized America against British Monarchy. A war fought by a group of fearless patriots against extreme odds . This is the high-school history book version of this story, that is often regurgitated through speeches on July 4th by many an American president. While the abolishment of a monarchy has its significance in history books, this version omits, the class descriptions of these founding fathers who were landed gentry and aristocrats. Along with this omission is a fantastic short summary description of the Declaration of Independence , where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all men was somehow falsely understood to include all social classes,gender and race. None of these lofty declarations benefitted the Native Americans, who suffered through a genocide.This war did not in any such manner improve the living conditions of slaves. In fact, we learn from historian Gerard Horne author of The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America” that life was far worse for the millions of African slaves in the new republic .

Read more at theliterati.com
http://theliterati.com/was-the-american-revolution-of-1776-a-war-to-protect-slavery/

Independence Day, which commemorates the victories of the American Revolution, has always been a celebration of the liberation of colonized America

07/24/2014

Water you buy in the store is not just hydrogen and oxygen. Here's why food producers add all those extra ingredients.