Gymnastics

Gimnastyka (intelektualna) - Ciekawostki naukowe

Gymnastique

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Gimnasia

Ginnastica culturale

The series that quenches your curiosity and puts the cult back into culture. From classical sculptures to video games, memes to Mafiosi, Gymnastics stretches the intellect by linking things that seem to have little in common.

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Cultural Brain Stretching

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Brilliant FBI agent and scientist Dana Scully solved supernatural mysteries with her partner Fox Mulder in the TV series The X Files. She had significant influence on an entire generation of young women, inspired to become scientists.

The Scully Effect

The X File's Dana Scully had significant influence on an entire generation of young women

Since its invention in the 19th century, the bicycle has allowed Western women to move around independently. Today, it is the turn of women in Arab countries to discover its power. Though at first glance innocuous and common, the bicycle is unexpectedly feminist.

The Freedom to Cycle

Though at first glance innocuous and common, the bicycle is unexpectedly feminist

The paintings of Vincent Van Gogh are losing their colours. The paints he used were vibrant, but cheap, and degraded within months of painting. It's now impossible to appreciate the true beauty of his works, as his flamboyant flare for colours has slowly turned drab. If nothing is done, the Sunflowers which are still a beautiful gold today could well turn brown. Should we just accept they can't be saved?

Van Gogh's Disappearing Colours

The paintings of Vincent Van Gogh are losing their colours because the pigments used were vibrant but cheap

Why do the works of the Italian painter Caravaggio exude such violence? The answer is to be found in the eventful life of the artist, who just couldn't stay out of trouble and met a sticky end.

Caravaggio, Genius - and Killer?

Caravaggio just couldn't stay out of trouble and met a sticky end

Women who play men's roles while singing high notes may seem suprising but in opera, it's tradition. Handel, Mozart, and Bellini all wrote roles for men, to be played by women. So how does the opera deal with questions of gender?

Does the Voice Have a Gender?

Handel, Mozart, and Bellini all wrote roles for men, to be played by women

Acrobatics, crazy sets, unobtainable beauty standards. A lot of porn often lacks realism. But the industry is changing: audio pornography, which leaves room for the imagination while arousing the listener with erotic stories. The increasingly popular medium attracts feminist women who see the medium as more sensual and empowering than traditional porn.

The Sensual World of Podcast Porn

Audio pornography leaves room for the imagination while arousing the listener with erotic stories

For millennia, people have wondered what constitutes our existence. But could it be that our reality is not real and that, like in the sci-fi movie Matrix, everything is just a simulation?

What if the Matrix Was Real?

Ayn Rand was a survivor of Communism, and as a result, her writings fiercely advocate uncompromising individualism. Her high profile fans include Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Angelina Jolie.

Ayn Rand, Capitalism Guru

Ayn Rand was a survivor of Communism, and as a result, her writings fiercely advocate uncompromising individualism

In 2019, Les Indes galantes was performed at the Opera de la Bastille in Paris, hip hop style. This baroque opera, composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau, is an ode to colonial exoticism, and its reworking is the brainchild of Bintou Dembélé, the first black woman to choreograph a ballet at the Paris Opera.

Operatic Hip Hop: Dance Decolonised

In 2019, Les Indes galantes was performed at the Opera de la Bastille in Paris, hip hop style

Yurts, tipis, igloos: traditional homes are round, but most modern buildings are full of harsh right angles. In the 60s, influenced by science fiction, strange, curved creations started popping up in France. But it was a brief movement that fell out of favour.

Why Live In a Bubble House?

In the 60s, influenced by science fiction, strange, curved homes started popping up in France

California, 1962: as counter-culture boomed, Corita Kent created her first pop-art paintings. The nun and art teacher mixed Jefferson Airplane, Pepsi and Bible verses in her work. But her activism and political convictions would force her to hang up her habit.

Corita Kent, the Pop Culture Nun

How a nun became a counter-cultural icon thanks to her art

Nikola Tesla claimed to have invented a "death beam" in the 1930s, but laser has been more useful for printing out payslips than it has shooting planes out of the sky. But science fiction loved the idea. From Star Wars to Mars Attacks!, lasers slice up bodies or grind them to dust. What is the enduring appeal of deadly lasers for the SF fandom?

Why Does Science Fiction Love Lasers?

What is the enduring appeal of deadly lasers for the SF fandom?

Ever notice how utterly bizarre lions in medieval manuscripts look? It's like the artist had never been to a zoo or searched for 'lion' in Google images or something. Oh, wait...

Why Are Medieval Lions So Strange?

Ever notice how utterly bizarre lions in medieval manuscripts look?

Stadiums filled with raving fans, millions of dollars in contracts and fierce competition: esports is no longer a fad, and could even be headed to the Olympics. A look back on how it all began.

Esport: Born in 1972?

Esports is now mainstream. We take a look back at where it all began

Film director Jean Boullet was obsessed with Dracula. The vampire gained ground in popular culture in the Paris underground scene of the 50s, and Boullet was determined to create a film that captured the true creepy essence of Dracula. He decided to use shadow puppets, but the work would never see the light of day.

The Man Who Wanted to Be Dracula

Film director Jean Boullet was obsessed with Dracula, even getting surgery to look like him

A 1960s icon and a martial arts legend, Bruce Lee is still beloved as the king of martial arts the world over. But Quentin Tarantino may have committed the small crime of lese-majesty in his latest film. He asks: was Bruce Lee even really that good at fighting?

Was Bruce Lee Actually Good at Fighting?

Was Bruce Lee even really that good at fighting?

A tribute to nature and a classic coming-of-age film, Bambi is not just a cute Walt Disney cartoon. It first started off as a novel by Austrian writer Felix Salten, which was banned by the Nazi authorities in 1936. So why did the story of this harmless deer draw the ire of the facist censors?

Why Burn Bambi?

Statues are silent observers of our everyday lives... and most of the time they go unnoticed as city dwellers bustle from one destination to the next. But now statues are having their moment in the spotlight. When we look at the stories of the people we put on plinths, we discover painful histories and shameful, forgotten truths.

Why are Statues Controversial?

When we look at the stories of the people we put on plinths, we discover painful histories and shameful, forgotten truths

These aren't doodles: Art Spiegelman or Marjane Satrapi's books are pieces of literary art. Without boxes or bubbles, the graphic novel is now a major genre in publishing. Graphic novels have an unlikely origin story: the genre emerged from woodcutting.

The Origin Story of the Graphic Novel

These aren't doodles: Art Spiegelman or Marjane Satrapi's books are pieces of literary art

White noise to better concentrate at work, pink noise to put baby to sleep, brown noise to meditate... After ASMR, this is the latest trend catering to a society in burn out. Tune in to a sound with a tune, melody, or rhythm.

Relax, Listen to Noise

White noise, pink noise, brown noise: tune in to a sound with a tune, melody, or rhythm

Gymnastics

Cultural Brain Stretching

All videos

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

The Scully Effect

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

The Freedom to Cycle

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Van Gogh's Disappearing Colours

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Caravaggio, Genius - and Killer?

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Does the Voice Have a Gender?

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

The Sensual World of Podcast Porn

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

What if the Matrix Was Real?

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Ayn Rand, Capitalism Guru

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Operatic Hip Hop: Dance Decolonised

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Why Live In a Bubble House?

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Corita Kent, the Pop Culture Nun

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Why Does Science Fiction Love Lasers?

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Why Are Medieval Lions So Strange?

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Esport: Born in 1972?

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

The Man Who Wanted to Be Dracula

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Was Bruce Lee Actually Good at Fighting?

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Why Burn Bambi?

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Why are Statues Controversial?

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

The Origin Story of the Graphic Novel

Gymnastics

Gymnastics

Relax, Listen to Noise