Classical Music Essentials: 30 Pieces, the Periods, and a Listening Map
The map lists 30 pieces in rough date order, from Hildegard of Bingen in the 1150s to Arvo Pärt in 1978.
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Ways of Life
How people find meaning and live well: purpose, culture, film, music and the stories we tell, read carefully and turned into ideas you can use.
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Start here What Makes a Good Life? How the Great Traditions and Modern Research Answer It Ways of Life · 14 min · 9 points Ways of Life · 8 min · 8 points Ways of Life · 10 min · 8 points Ways of Life · 9 min · 9 points Ways of Life · 7 min · 11 points Ways of Life · 9 min Ways of Life · 4 min Ways of Life · 6 min Ways of Life · 3 min Ways of Life · 7 min Ways of Life · 4 min Ways of Life · 7 min · 8 points Ways of Life · 5 min Ways of Life · 10 min Ways of Life · 4 min Ways of Life · 5 min · 6 points Ways of Life · 5 min · 7 points Ways of Life · 7 min Ways of Life · 7 min Ways of Life · 6 min
Aristotle judged a good life over its whole length, by excellence; Epicurus aimed at freedom from pain and trouble, Epictetus at what is in our power, the Buddha at a middle way.
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Amusing Ourselves to Death Summary: The Key Ideas, What Holds Up, and How to Use Them
Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985) argues that television turned news, politics, religion and teaching into entertainment, because a medium's form shapes what it can say.
Man's Search for Meaning Summary: The Key Ideas, What Holds Up, and How to Use Them
Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's account of surviving the Nazi camps, and his argument that the search for meaning, not pleasure, drives people.
Quiet Summary: The Key Ideas, What Holds Up, and How to Use Them
Quiet argues that a culture built around an Extrovert Ideal of the bold, sociable self wastes the strengths of quieter people.
Walden Summary: The Key Ideas, What Holds Up, and How to Use Them
Thoreau went to Walden Pond because he "wished to live deliberately": to work out what a life really needs and what everything else costs.
Music Myths Checked: 11 Things People Believe About Music
Of eleven common beliefs about music, seven are myths, three are partly true and one is disputed; none is simply true as usually told.
De Facto Meaning: Understanding Reality Beyond Formal Recognition
De facto means "existing in fact, although perhaps not intended, legal, or accepted", in the Cambridge Dictionary's words.
Mukbang: Beyond Mountains of Food - A Dive into the Global Eating Show Phenomenon
Mukbang (먹방) is a Korean word for an eating broadcast: a host eating a large meal on camera and talking to viewers, live or recorded.
Epic Sax Guy Meme: The Enduring Legacy of Epic Sax Guy in Meme Culture
Epic Sax Guy is Sergey Stepanov, the saxophonist of the Moldovan band SunStroke Project.
Fight Club: A Philosophical Brawl in a Consumerist Wasteland
Fight Club is Chuck Palahniuk's 1996 novel and David Fincher's 1999 film; the lines quoted here are film dialogue, like Tyler Durden's "The things you own end up owning you".
Memory Reboot Meaning: Reclaiming Clarity and Freshness
"Memory Reboot" is a song by VØJ & Narvent, released on 13 January 2023.
Don't Cry for Me Argentina Meaning and Significance
"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" is a song from the musical Evita by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, first released in 1976.
Toma Meaning
In Spanish, toma is a form of the verb tomar: "take".
100 Reasons to Stay Alive and Embrace the Beauty of Life
Here are 100 reasons to stay alive, most of them small and ordinary on purpose, offered as prompts rather than an argument.
Life in Pink Meaning: Unveiling the Essence of a Colorful Existence
La vie en rose, word for word “life in pink”, is a French idiom for seeing things through rose-tinted glasses.
Victory or Death: Lok'tar Ogar Explained
Lok'tar ogar means "victory or death", the orcs' war cry in Blizzard's Warcraft: fiction from a video game world, not a real language.
Mr. Kitty's "After Dark" Song Meaning
"After Dark" is a 2014 song by Mr.Kitty, the synth-pop project of Forrest Carney, and we found no explanation of its meaning from the artist.
Finding Meaning in Life's Suffering: Life Lessons and Life Hacks from The Last of Us
Our reading: the practical lessons of The Last of Us, a work of fiction, are to plan ahead, test your instincts and keep the relationships that matter.
IKIGAI: Living A Purpose-Driven Life ∙ Finding Meaning and Fulfillment in Work and Life
Ikigai is a Japanese word for something that makes life worth living, and in Ken Mogi's account it can be small, private and unpaid.
The Godfather Life Lessons and Quotes: A Guide to Living a Life of Power, Respect, and Leadership
Our reading: what carries over from The Godfather is modest: earn respect, keep your word, and decide after the anger passes.