Animal experts are attempting to identify the origin of a toad — found in a supermarket bag of salad. Graham Martin, from Berkshire Reptile Rescue, said he was asked to collect the animal on Monday by staff at Waitrose distribution center, Bracknell. Since collecting the frog he had been keeping the toad in isolation because … Read more
Would Donald J. Trump enjoy Cannes? It’s possible, since the extravagant displays of wealth here — all the yachts and glamour — are typically his thing. But would Cannes enjoy Donald J. Trump? You might be tempted to say no, since the Cannes Film Festival draws the sort of liberal-leaning artists that reliably vote against … Read more
Popular sayings in the English language often have multiple meanings — such as “a heart of gold” and “time is money.” Some expressions are also clever metaphors for deeper meanings. But where did they come from? Who started saying these popular phrases — and why are they so familiar today? Here are a few interesting expressions to explore. … Read more
Caesar salad, according to common acclaim, is named for Roman emperor Julius Caesar. You can stick a knife in that delicious myth. Instead, credit romaine emperor Caesar Cardini, an immigrant restaurateur from Italy, according to food historians. He lived in San Diego, California and operated restaurants there and just across the border in Tijuana, Mexico, with his brother … Read more
Kiss and tell. Danish historians say evidence of the first mouth-to-mouth smooch can be found on a clay tablet unearthed in the Middle East, the New York Times reported, upending academic theory about which culture kissed first — and introducing a spicy secret. Until recently, scholars believed that those in South Asia were the first … Read more
Ava DuVernay earned an Emmy nomination for the Netflix limited series “When They See Us,” but according to actress Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who stars in DuVernay’s newest project “Origin,” they don’t see women of color when it’s time to earn awards in Hollywood. “This film does something that is very, very brave,” Ellis-Taylor explained to People. “I … Read more
“We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame,” a young Langston Hughes proclaimed in an essay nearly 100 years ago. “If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter.” Seeking to establish his autonomy as a Black writer, he … Read more
DUVERNAY Paul Garnes and I, we always knew that, even though we were on this very finite independent budget, we needed to get to the real places. We needed to be in the real square of Bebelplatz [in Berlin], where the books were burned. [In 1933, a Nazi group and supporters burned more than 20,000 … Read more
Ava DuVernay’s “Origin” is as audacious as it is ambitious. At its core, it concerns an intellectual argument about history and hierarchies of power, but it’s also about the fraught process of making this argument. It’s a daunting conceit that DuVernay has shaped into an eventful narrative that is, by turns, specific and far-ranging, diagnostic … Read more
These researchers have made a great discovery. Scientists believe they have finally figured out how, exactly, the Great Sphinx was built in Egypt more than 4,500 years ago. For decades, experts have agreed that the detailed face of the iconic limestone statue found along the Nile River in Giza was most likely hand-carved by stone … Read more
It’s where devotees can meet their babymaker. The Bible’s golden calf has nothing on Buddhism’s golden vagina. Thai Buddhists took golden idle worship to another level after praying at the altar of a giant gilded vagina, which was recently greenlit by authorities following some minor alterations. “We do ceremonies here to provide remedies for misfortunes,” … Read more
Anyone who has a fitness tracker knows 10,000 steps per day is touted as the pinnacle of health. That magical number of steps has been linked to a wide variety of health benefits, such as weight loss and lowered risks of cancer, dementia and heart disease. Walking 10,000 steps has even become a trend on … Read more