Los Angeles, 1981-1982. “This rumor went around in 1981, 1982, that kids just were brought to see the body of another kid.” The origin story of Bret Easton Ellis (and Less Than Zero), Part Two.
Los Angeles, 1980-1981. “There was just this huge sense that the world was gay, gay, gay.” The origin story of Bret Easton Ellis (and Less Than Zero), Part One.
Bennington. Autumn, 1982. Donna, Jonathan and Bret arrive on the campus of the school nicknamed “The Little Red Whorehouse on the Hill.” One of them comes with a steamer trunk. One of them comes with a Kangol cap. One of them comes with a “suitcase full of drugs.”
It’s the groves of academe: Bennington College, the wildest and wickedest school in America. In the last great decade: the 1980s. Bennington class of ’86, class of Bret Easton Ellis, future writer of American Psycho and co-leader of the literary Brat Pack; Jonathan Lethem, future writer of Motherless Brooklyn and MacArthur Fellow; and Donna Tartt, future writer of The Secret History and Pulitzer Prize winner. All three are, at various times, infatuated and disappointed with one another, their friendships stimulated and fueled by rivalry as much as affection. And all three will mythologize Bennington in their fiction—fiction that, as we’ll discover, isn’t always fiction, is often fact—and thereby become myths themselves. From the Peabody-nominated C13Originals studios and Vanity Fair's Lili Anolik, comes the latest installment in the “Once Upon a Time…” franchise, Once Upon a Time… at Bennington College. This is a tale of money, murder, madness, and—of course—genius. This is, too, a multi-dimensional expose: the secret history of The Secret History revealed; the secret history of three of the greatest writers of Generation X revealed; and the secret history of Generation X itself revealed.
Will a ray save the day? It’s inspiring a way to prevent more pollution of our oceans. As sea water enters a manta ray’s large mouth, plankton are captured and other particles are thrown up by whirlpools. Systems are being developed to extract or capture microplastics from water.
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In 2007 Steve Jobs took the stage and introduced something that would change our lives forever -- a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough internet communicator...aka, the iPhone.
Now we live in a world that Apple has completely reshaped. The iPhone created entirely new industries, wiped out giant competitors, and changed the way all of us live. Here’s how Apple did it.
Bye-bye bacteria! How an insect’s wings inspired materials that could keep surfaces free from bacterial infections. The wings of cicadas are covered with tiny spikes which burst the walls of bacteria and kill them. Replicating this remarkable design could lead to the development of antibacterial materials with potential for industrial and medical use.
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From its beginnings as a niche personal computer company, Apple became the preeminent maker of consumer tech products, a cultural trendsetter, and the most valuable company in the world. And along the way, it changed the way we live.
Hosted by Recode’s Peter Kafka. New episodes come out on Wednesdays starting September 22nd.
We love cats (well, many people do)! Thanks to one feline friend, they help keep us safe. An inventor narrowly avoided a road accident thanks to the eyes of a cat. He developed reflective road studs and named them, fittingly, ‘cat’s eyes’, which help us drive safely at night.
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S2 Ep11. Can the remarkable dexterity of octopus suckers help improve delicate surgery? The octopus uses its powerful arms to grip onto rocks, capture prey and walk around the sea floor. Suckers are found along the arms which are crucial for manipulating objects. The action of these suckers has inspired a device to transfer fragile sheets of thin tissue in surgical procedures.
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