OCW
The dark origins of Disney fairy tales
An evil stepmother demands a maiden’s lungs and liver; a girl is ripped from a wolf’s stomach; and sisters mutilate their feet to squeeze into a gold slipper. During the early 1800s, brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm gathered these unflinchingly gory details from stories circulating around what..
TED
Edgar Allan Poe's story of the Red Death
Looking to avoid the plague devastating his country, Prince Prospero summons a thousand nobles from his court and sequesters them in his abbey. Months into their seclusion, the Prince throws a lavish masquerade ball held in seven colored rooms. But amidst the revelry, a mysterious shrouded figure ap..
TED
3 grammar rules that you don’t need to follow anymore
Grammatical rules have caused heated debate in various regions and languages for centuries. But while we know people take grammar seriously, what’s less clear is, why? Where do these seemingly random rules come from, and which, if any, actually matter? Arika Okrent takes a closer look at three fam..
TED
War, love, and betrayal: The epic tale of the “Legend of the Condor Heroes”
In the 1950s, citizens flocked to newsstands to pick up the latest edition of a story set hundreds of years in the past — a multigenerational tale of adventure and war, romance and intrigue, brotherhood and betrayal. Jin Yong’s epic
TED
Why was this kung fu masterpiece banned?
In the 1950s, citizens flocked to newsstands to pick up the latest edition of a story set hundreds of years in the past — a multigenerational tale of adventure and war, romance and intrigue, brotherhood and betrayal. Jin Yong’s epic
TED
The sneaky language tricks cults use to influence you
In the age of social media and wellness trends, the comments section is as good as a cult compound, says linguist and cultural commentator Amanda Montell. Using Taylor Swift's throng of devoted Swifties as her guide, she exposes three sneaky language tactics that cults use to influence us (for ..
TED
