For as long as there has been recorded music, there have been attempts to copy, share, and distribute it without paying for it. Music piracy is often painted as a villain in the story of the modern music industry—accused of draining billions in revenue, shuttering record stores, and crippling artist careers. But is that the […]
The Spinoff becomes an unlikely fiscal conservative: Tourism minister Louise Upston was excited when she announced that Robbie Williams will play two shows in Auckland and Christchurch later this year. “It’s fantastic to welcome a showstopper act like Robbie, giving fans the chance to see him entertaining us,” she said in a press release. The…
Great artists are often distinguished not merely by talent, but by judgement. They possess an internal compass—hard-won, intuitive, and sometimes infuriatingly resistant to external advice—that tells them when a work works. This judgement is not always aligned with commercial logic, institutional taste, or the anxieties of producers and executives. The history of twentieth-century culture provides striking […]
This blog provides a structured psychological overview of Mark David Chapman, the individual responsible for the 1980 murder of musician John Lennon. Drawing upon documented interviews, legal testimony, and secondary analyses from criminology and psychology scholars, the essay examines key psychological themes associated with Chapman, including identity instability, obsessive ideation, parasocial attachment, and the role […]
“Yesterday” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. First released on the 1965 album Help!, it was issued as a U.S. single the following September, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, it appeared on the EP Yesterday in March […]
Yes. they say that age is “just a number,” but it isn’t in one sense: the bigger the number, the closer we are to taking The Big Nap. But in the birthday/anniversary sense, yes, it’s significant—though only because humans evolved with ten digits. And Eric Clapton has one of these anniversaries: he was born on […]
Marianne Faithfull, singer and actress, has died: . .Her story is a remarkable portrait of the rock and roll era. She was a doe-eyed poster girl of the 1960s, plucked from obscurity by the Rolling Stones’ manager at the age of 16 and given As Tears Go By, the first song ever written by Jagger […]
The murder of John Lennon on December 8, 1980, stands as one of the most shocking and tragic events in music and cultural history. Mark David Chapman, the man responsible for this heinous act, became infamous as the individual who ended the life of one of the most beloved and influential figures in the world […]
In the pantheon of charitable music events, few stand as tall as Band Aid, the groundbreaking 1984 charity supergroup. Conceived by Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats and Midge Ure of Ultravox, Band Aid was formed to combat the devastating famine in Ethiopia, a crisis that had gripped global attention. Their mission: to raise funds […]
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
In Hume’s spirit, I will attempt to serve as an ambassador from my world of economics, and help in “finding topics of conversation fit for the entertainment of rational creatures.”
“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. - J Robert Oppenheimer.
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