Ilia Blinderman
Open Culture
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Past articles by Ilia:
The Psychology Experiment That Shocked the World: Milgram's Obedience Study (1961)
The Milgram Obedience Study was conducted by Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram in 1961. It measured the willingness of participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience. You can see how things played out in original footage recorded during the experiment. → Read More
Behold Friedrich Nietzsche’s Curious Typewriter, the "Malling-Hansen Writing Ball"
Check out the Malling-Hansen Writing Ball, the 19th century proto-typewriter that Nietzsche used to type up some 60 manuscripts. → Read More
The historical cost of light
How difficult was it to obtain artificial light before the 19th century? Well... → Read More
William Shatner Raps About How to Not Kill Yourself Deep Frying a Turkey
One Thanksgiving, William Shatner purchased a sizable fryer and deposited a turkey into a vat brimming with oil. Oh, woeful day! The oil, displaced by the turkey, ran over the fryer’s sides and onto the open flame. Flames then shot up, burning Shatner’s arms. In this video, Shatner raps about how to avoid making the same mistake. → Read More
Defining the ’90s Music Canon
Quantifying the songs that will characterize the ’90s → Read More
Watch Footage from the Psychology Experiment That Shocked the World: Milgram's Obedience Study (1961)
For decades following World War II, the world was left wondering how the atrocities of the Holocaust could have been perpetrated in the midst of—and, most horrifically, by—a modern and civilized society. How did people come to engage in a willing and systematic extermination of their neighbors? → Read More
Making Internet Things, Part 2: Design
This is the second installment of a multi-part series designed to help you familiarize yourself with the tools used to make visual, data-driven essays. → Read More
Download Over 325 Free Art Books From the Getty Museum
In 2014, Getty Publications announced the launch of its Virtual Library, where readers can freely browse and download 325 art books from the publisher’s backlist catalogue. The Virtual Library consists of texts associated with several Getty institutions. → Read More
A Romp Through the Philosophy of Mind: A Free Online Course from Oxford
These days, neuroscience seems to have a monopoly on the mind. Flip to the science section of an established newspaper or magazine, and you’ll likely see the most alluring headlines describing the latest neural findings. → Read More
Harvard’s Free Computer Science Course Teaches You to Code in 12 Weeks
At the beginning of last year, we wrote about CS50, Harvard’s Introductory Computer Science course, taught by Professor David Malan. Today, we bring you the updated version of the class, filmed throughout the past semester at Harvard. Why revisit an updated version of the same class a year later? → Read More
Soviet-Era Illustrations Of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1976)
Until I read J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings, my favorite book growing up was, by far, The Hobbit. Growing up in Russia, however, meant that instead of Tolkien's English version, my parents read me a Russian translation. → Read More
Download Over 250 Free Art Books From the Getty Museum
Getty Publications just announced the launch of its Virtual Library, where readers can freely browse and download over 250 art books from the publisher’s backlist catalogue. → Read More
How Vinyl Records Are Made: A Primer from 1956
The arrival of the compact disc was thought to be the death sentence for LPs. Vinyl was big, imprecise, and stuck in the past: CDs were the wave of the future. Recent years, however, have seen a surprising trend. → Read More
Watch Footage from the Psychology Experiment That Shocked the World: Milgram's Obedience Study (1961)
The Milgram Obedience Study was conducted by Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram in 1961. It measured the willingness of participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience. You can see how things played out in original footage recorded during the experiment. → Read More
Morgan Freeman Masterfully Recites Nelson Mandela’s Favorite Poem, “Invictus”
Nelson Mandela, who died on December 5, 2013, had spent more than a quarter of his life serving time in various jails. → Read More
Discover the “Brazen Bull,” the Ancient Greek Torture Machine That Doubled as a Musical Instrument
The video above describes how Phalaris, keeping to his character, asked the craftsman Perilaus to construct a bronze bull for the execution of criminals. The bull housed a hollow chamber where victims were deposited through a trapdoor. A fire was kindled beneath the bull, turning the statue into an oven. The most savage aspect of this brazen monstrosity was its musical nature. → Read More
Hunter S. Thompson’s Personal Hangover Cure (and the Real Science of Hangovers)
Last year, we brought you a description of Hunter S. Thompson’s daily drug and alcohol regimen, consisting of frightening amounts of cocaine and liquor, supplanted by the occasional cup of coffee or acid tab. → Read More
Download Over 22,000 Golden & Silver Age Comic Books from the Comic Book Plus Archive
The decade beginning with the late 1930s is known as the Golden Age of comic books. Many of the superheroes from today’s blockbuster franchises, including Batman, Superman, and Captain America, emerged during this period, and the industry grew into a commercial powerhouse. → Read More
Cook Real Recipes from Ancient Rome: Ostrich Ragoût, Roast Wild Boar, Nut Tarts & More
Thanks to a 2003 book, Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome, you can cook over 150 real recipes from Ancient Rome. You can find eight of those recipes online today. → Read More
Oxford’s Free Course Critical Reasoning For Beginners Will Teach You to Think Like a Philosopher
When I was younger, I often found myself disagreeing with something I’d read or heard, but couldn't explain exactly why. Despite being unable to pinpoint the precise reasons, I had a strong sense that the rules of logic were being violated. → Read More