A daily journal of good news.
Art, music, books, and the cultural moments worth pausing for.
The historic Marian image has been restored thanks to the support of Friends of Florence, revealing details that had been obscured for decades and offering new insights into the artwork’s history.
Hundreds of residents turned out in a demonstration of solidarity, resilience, and togetherness. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and…
The original basilica was long ago destroyed (7-8th century) but the foundation remains as do amazingly well-preserved floor mosaics. There are different designs - animals,…
Educate yourself, welcome life's messiness, read Chekhov, avoid becoming an architect at all costs.
Guertin summons moments of peace and reflection through felting, crochet, and embroidery. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and…
Thinking back to the many childhood grocery-store trips made with their parents, Americans of a certain age will remember nothing so vividly as the Weekly World News. It always…
Researchers have named the city “Minanbé,” a Maya Yucatec phrase meaning “there is no road.”
Archaeologists have discovered a huge Viking Age textile production site in Denmark that dates back more than 1,000 years and underlines the sophistication of Viking society.
A new study of the ancient Indus city of Mohenjo-daro challenges a long-held view of history by suggesting that prosperity did not lead to greater inequality. Unlike ancient…
Despite a tightly controlled narrative, for some workers and artists, the mega-gallery’s downsizing has left more questions than answers.
Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler has led the fight to bring resale royalties to artists in the US. With his retirement, it could all go away.
Nan Goldin, Molly Crabapple, and Laurie Simmons are among the artists urging Mayor Mamdani to “protect New York City’s creative future.”
"It is not easy to give closeness and freedom, safety plus danger."
The western pediment of the Parthenon, one of the main attractions of the Acropolis of Athens, Greece, has been partially restored to its full splendor and was unveiled to the…
The history of moral philosophy in the West hinges principally on a handful of questions: Is there a God of some sort? An afterlife? Free will? And, perhaps most pressingly for…
We ate bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches and got to school by swiping MetroCards. We have our own language, style, and unmatched pride. We call NYC home.
Thousands of handmade ceramic tiles form the collaborative "Shape of Movement." Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support…
At one time or another, we all feel twinges of anxiety about what will constitute the legacy we leave behind. Jerry Gretzinger may well be subject to just the same discomfort, but…
The announcement was made at a recent conference in Accra.
Every four years, humanity undergoes a great increase in its number of soccer fans — or rather, football fans, depending on what part of the world we’re talking about. That’s not…
Overseas volunteering can offer a practical route into global citizenship – one built through classrooms, communities and cross-cultural exchange The post Can volunteering abroad…
Whenever there is a will, there are two things: a way and an obstacle in the way — that place midway between desire and destination where one’s will collides with the will of the…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a standardized behavioral experiment run with more than 100,000 people across 125 countries, 69 percent of participants chose to cooperate…
Cole's imaginative sculptures tap into environmentalism, consumerism, and global traditions and histories. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member…
"The mind narrates what the nervous system knows. Story follows state."
What’s Britain’s best museum? We asked the five shortlisted for the Art Fund’s £120,000 prize to pose questions about their collections. Here, National Gallery curators get the…
"These are the times in life — when nothing happens — but in quietness the soul expands."
"How can a creature who will certainly die have an understanding of things that will exist forever?"
Events are being held across the country to mark the 30th National Indigenous Peoples' Day — meant to honour the culture and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people.
From co-op living on a Swedish farm to a 17th-century convent with a picture-perfect pool, meet the world’s must-visit holiday destinations.
Every mind, even the greatest, is a product of its time and place. The true visionaries are those unwilling to mistake the figments of their culture for facts; those daring enough…
Immigrant dads, absent dads, flawed dads, fellow artist dads, adopted dads — these artworks explore all that a father figure can be.
A new documentary presents the artist as a perpetual voyager, generously highlighting her lesser-known work and combating myths about her relationship with Alfred Stieglitz.
Where we go when we go to sleep and why we go there is one of the great mysteries of the mind. Why the mind at times refuses to go there, despite the pleading and bargaining of…
"The meaning of life... clearly has to do with love — what and whom and how one can love."
Judy Blume wrote her last book more than a decade ago. At the Santa Fe International Literary Festival, NPR's Scott Simon talked to Blume about her long career and why she doesn't…
At Free Shakespeare in the Park in New York, real weddings are happening every night after a production of Romeo and Juliet . But don't those characters die?
The remains of a wooden monument in southern England, three miles away from Stonehenge, may demonstrate Neolithic people's interest in the heavens
As part of a collaboration between the Poetry Society of America and Babbel, 1,500 poets and poetry lovers weighed in on the most beautiful word in the English language, crowning…
The LGBTQ+ community soldiers on, especially in the visual arts, where expression of LGBTQ+ themes are more vital than ever.
Anyone with a smartphone (or a computer) will be able to conjure the presence of five women who helped shape the country over the past 250 years.
The Hooks brothers documented life and joy in Memphis during the 20th century. Their images will be put on public view when the Memphis Art Museum opens
This story originally appeared on The 19th and GBH News Rooted in Boston. On a sunny morning in June, about two dozen people walk the land of Soul Fire Farm in Rensselaer County…
The cultural craze is seizing the big screen, the White House, the New York gallery scene.
With this year’s theme exploring identity and unity, Students Rebuild is showing young people how creativity can connect classrooms to communities around the world The post How…
The ill-fated romance of Abelard and Héloïse may be a permanent cultural fixture, but it’s worth asking what any of us understand about Abelard or Héloïse themselves. Before the…
Can't travel and looking for ways to satisfy your wanderlust? Check out this roundup of thirty epic virtual tours of castles in Europe!
"Thread becomes a way of drawing, connecting, and constructing forms," the artist says. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support…
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel back in time and look over the shoulder of one of the early 20th century’s greatest artists to watch him work? In this brief…
The SS Great Britain is now part of Bristol Dockyards.
Artists boost the economy and enrich society, yet many struggle to make ends meet. Enter Ireland's basic income scheme The post Ireland is now paying artists a basic income. Will…
"Children, in particular, tend to view objects with a freedom that is less constrained by function, convention, or rules," Yun says. Do stories and artists like this matter to…
An ugly remark from Andrew Tate about the pub events drew condemnation and emboldened podcast hosts Matt Carter and Lawrence Price to keep going.
His playful, cartoonish works compress stuffed polyurethane flowers between acrylic panels. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and…
"It is the intentions, the capacities for choice rather than the total configuration of traits which defines the person."
The term apocryphal may sound antiquated, but any reasonably serious reader encounters it fairly often, even in recently published texts. In the modern usage, it usually describes…
The origins of the Stars and Stripes are murky, but generations of Americans have admired stories about Ross creating the first American flag
The Frank Bowling Foundation, which celebrates the legacy of the eponymous ninety-two-year-old British artist, is set to launch in London on June 24, 2026. Supported by a…
Long before massive steel coasters launched riders into physics-defying drops and corkscrews, Pennsylvania helped define the art of the wooden roller coaster. When they debuted in…
"While wandering down the path of wonder, I briefly escape the world of separation and enter the world of unity."
When Clare Torry went into the studio to record her now-legendary vocals for Pink Floyd’s “Great Gig in the Sky,” the centerpiece of 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon, neither the…
A groundbreaking cartoonist paired images with a running narrative in 1896 to create the first comic strip. They've mutated into books, blockbuster movies and Pulitzer…
In 1929, the book publisher George Macy founded The Limited Editions Club (LEC), an imprint tasked with publishing finely illustrated limited editions of classic books. In the…
Summer is the perfect time to go back to great books that whizzed by in spring, including The Family Man , by James Lasdun, The Hill, by Harriet Clark and A Beautiful Loan , by…
"I learned to love him more than I have ever loved before or after." The post Maria and Georg Von Trapp’s real-life love story is even better than ‘The Sound of Music’ appeared…
Art for a moment when we’re no longer sure whether to laugh or cry.
The Wizard of Oz is one of the most beloved movies of all time, but studio concerns led to a major change from Frank L. Baum's original book.
"Our very life here depends directly on continuous acts of beginning."
Students at Cavour Scientific High School have turned a school protest into an archaeological breakthrough.
For years, high-end audio meant choosing between performance and aesthetics, often leaving enthusiasts with bulky, utilitarian "black boxes" hidden in corners. Function ruled, and…
Exiled Russian journalist Vladimir Raevsky says laughter can be a weapon against authoritarianism. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports on his history-inspired comedy act.
What is a Knickerbocker? NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks to Peter-Christian Aigner, Director of the Gotham Center, to find out.
Modern life has fried our attention spans. Could flexing our long term memory muscles help? NPR's Elissa Nadworny talks to actor William Sutton, who knows all 154 Shakespearian…
Not every disagreement begins with a lack of facts.
Scattered throughout Hernando County, the Mermaid Tale Trail is a sprawling scavenger hunt made up of mermaid statues painted by local artists. The project was created to…
In the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains is the small town of Oakhurst, California. Once a cattle stop and logging town, Oakhurst became known in more recent times as the…
Most of us who know the work of Roald Dahl grew up with it, eventually coming to consider the man a master of imaginative, often grotesque tales for children. A bit later on, when…
From Indigenous survivance to quilting to modernism, these exhibitions and projects reframe and challenge the story of the United States.
A new public art project is set to liven up the streets of New York City’s five boroughs as well as nearby parts of New Jersey with soccer ball-themed sculptures created in honor…
So you want to ignite a reading habit this summer. How do you get back into the groove? We talk to reading enthusiasts for their best tricks — like allowing yourself to read…
"You can expect good and bad luck, but good or bad judgment is your prerogative."
Swiss newspaper Züricher Tagesanzeiger asked, "What are they all doing up there?" Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support…
The Morgan Library & Museum traces the history of beautifully illustrated tarot cards from their origins as a card game to modern occult fascination
Eye-tracking technology revealed which underrated corners of the Land of the Rising Sun are worth adding to our ever-growing list
The study was able to ID a known van Gogh fake, as well as confirm a recently authenticated painting by the Dutch artist.
Mary Randolph, an in-law of the Jefferson family who was influenced by enslaved cooks and traditions of European immigrants, didn’t change Southern cooking with her 1824 cookbook…
Any idea who was here? Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The…
Admit it, your list of favorite Bowie songs is full of the big hits. Hell, maybe it’s all hits; there’s no shame in that. Digging deep into the crates will yield many an…
Opening this week at Bureau in New York, her new show is the opposite of everything she’s made before.
The National Museum of Korea is home to the Room of Quiet Contemplation, which features two of South Korea's most treasured artworks: gilt-bronze bodhisattva statues from the 6th…
The ancient civilisation which thrived in the Sahara Desert over 2,000 years ago.
The region is dominated by rugged landscapes, scenic roadways, and a salty, no-frills sensibility.
At her longtime studio in Tribeca, the Palestinian-American painter discussed her experimentation with color and how she “accidentally stepped into abstraction.”
In the Moroccan city, shared infrastructure, labor and ritual gave rise to a savory dish prepared in hammams and neighborhood ovens
He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending WWI and worked to improve the plight of American workers. Today, his blind spots shroud most of his accomplishments
Lila Fadista and João Caçador are pushing new boundaries in the Fado music scene.
The Ministry of Awe is a wacky, wonderous vault of secrets, questions and forged checks. It's a collective that has no point of origin. It's an experience with no right or wrong…
Piepenburg came out and came of age in the ‘90s, moving from Cleveland, Ohio to Chicago, Washington, D.C., and eventually New York City, where he lives today and works as a…
"It wouldn't have been failure to be bankrupt, dishonoured, pilloried, hanged; it was failure not to be anything."
A new online platform, Leonardotheka, was launched on Monday that, for the first time in over 400 years, reunites two historically essential collections of writings and drawings…
“10 Years in L.A.!” makes the case that Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers built something historic on Wilshire Boulevard.
Though seldom heard these days, the term “desktop publishing” once opened a great many eyes to the promise of the personal computer. It meant that one could create a publication…
A new film about da Vinci's life by Harrison Powell inspired the project. The post Over 113,233 people worldwide recreate Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’ in a photo mosaic…
An encouragement for invention was written right into the Constitution, and whatever the task at hand, someone is always up for the challenge
An English collector who acquired ten of the drawings at an auction loaned them to the Liverpool Beatles Museum for a temporary exhibition
Exquisite corpse was among the most popular of the Surrealist games and is still widely enjoyed to this day.
"I believe the purpose of an artist is to move the crowd," writer Marvin Wade says. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support…
The traveller stumbled on the beach which he named as one of the 'world's most beautiful' - and it's less than 4 hours away from the UK.
We kick off our Pride Month series with painter Jamie Nares. Plus, a sports betting company makes its first foray into the art market.
Her work, on view at the Studio Museum, feels both familiar and transcendent.
Follow along as we retrace the route one journalist laid out in “The Fashionable Tour,” from New York City to Niagara Falls, when memories of the fight for independence were still…
Exclusive: Screenwriter David Koepp breaks down how his collaboration with Steven Spielberg evolved and richened, beginning in the pages of Jurassic Park and culminating in…
Harpo Marx -- the "silent" Marx brother -- can finally be heard speaking in a live album of recently recovered material, which was recorded just six months before he died in 1964.
"Creative fantasy, because it is mainly trying to do something else (make something new), may open your hoard and let all the locked things fly away like cage-birds."
Silphium was an extinct Libyan plant renowned for contraception, medicine, and trade. Its disappearance remains a historical mystery, and scientists continue searching for…
At the Art Institute of Chicago, cleaning the Thorne Rooms, shoebox-sized rooms presenting a visual history of interior design in miniature, is a meticulous and delicate process.
These tweaks stopped the endless scrolling
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with "Rivals" star Danny Dyer. The series follows a group of upper-class Brits as they jostle for power and double-cross each other along the way.
We are the survivors of immense and minute events — violent cosmic collisions and subtle genetic mutations, the deaths of innumerable suns and the births of innumerable cells, the…
Photographer Akash Pamarthy has documented the Sikh religious community in Ohio over several years. His photos tell a story.
It is there like a constant whisper, like a ceaseless gust of thought rustling through the canopy of the collective mind: the haunting sense that ours is a particularly difficult…
"In old age we should wish still to have passions strong enough to prevent us turning in on ourselves."
"Songs are like rivers: each follows its own course, yet all flow to the sea, from which everything came."
The mystery of the central Stonehenge altar stone—a 6 ton, approximately 16-foot-long micaceous sandstone megalith—has posed a tantalizing question to researchers and amateur…
Women have played a vital role in building the technologies that shape modern life, but their contributions have at times been overlooked, minimized or left out of the historical…
When Antoni Gaudí dreamed up his ambitious vision for Sagrada Família, he knew he wouldn't live to see its completion. One hundred years after the architect's death, the tallest…
Now surrounded by city life, the home remains an unexpected reminder of Manhattan's rural roots and Revolutionary War history.
After a record avocado harvest, over 1,000 growers in the Mexican state of Michoacan sat down to set another one: the largest bowl of guacamole in history. They succeeded, as…
Toni Morrison once lamented that people have been taught to think of a book as a mirror, when it ought to be a door. All great storytelling — be it a novel or a poem, a film or a…
“I love that I can make a mess and leave it until the morning.”
Given the region’s abundant petroglyphs, why are there so few legal protections and only one World Heritage inscription?
The question of how the megalith made the 435-mile journey from Scotland to Britain is the focus of a new research study.
The exhibition at Claire Oliver Gallery spotlights remarkable narratives in fabric. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support…
There are theories that "love" in the tennis context has French, English or Dutch origins. But like many words, historians and language experts say it's hard to pin down the…
In former slums such as Gamcheon, emerging artists are being given a leg up, helping to foster both inventiveness and neighbourhood regeneration.
The New Jersey-based artist's works hang tapestry-like on the wall or unfurl into three-dimensional biomorphic forms. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a…
Newspaper Rock, just off the road to Canyonlands, makes a wonderful pitstop where you can see a large rock carved by residents over the past 1,000-plus years.
"We only need to be as true to others as we are to ourselves that there may be ground enough for friendship."
Her writing posed the novel premise: What does it mean to be a woman? Her early death meant she never saw the movement she inspired
To be a true person is to be entirely oneself in every circumstance, with all the courage and vulnerability this requires. And yet because a person is a confederacy of parts often…
Even among the most acclaimed albums ever recorded, not a single one is perfect. That goes more so for the releases of what I call the “heroic age of the album,” which enjoyed its…
A routine sweep with a metal detector has led archaeologists to one of the most remarkable Byzantine-era discoveries made in Israel in recent years. Excavating the ancient city of…
Artist Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s small maquette represents the big ideals of the iconic national monument in New York Harbor
“We want to act as a little eddy in the stream of gentrification, giving these houses one last burst of life before they’re gone,” one of the organizers of “Once Removed” told…
From a beam of limelight in Sydney comes the story of a young man fulfilling something of a dream as he stepped in to perform on stage after a professional pianist felt ill. La La…
This mysterious Viking-age hoard lay buried for more than a millenium. Unearthed by an amateur metal detectorist, it is now on show in Sydney.
Visitors can hop on the teeter-totter and adjust the ecological soundscape of "There, Now, Here." Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today…
Thousands of people in New Zealand have attended one of the world’s best-known steampunk festivals. The four-day event in rural Ōamaru is a celebration of Victorian aesthetics…
It may be that consciousness evolved to sieve the relevant from the incomprehensible allness of all there is, to parse the world into concepts and find an organizing principle for…
Animals & Monsters: Cute, Scary, and a Little Weird is the perfect exhibition for anyone who delights in art that doesn't take itself too seriously.
The golden hour hues of the West Coast's legendary sunsets spurred Hubbard's reacquaintance with the camera. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal…
References to Islam in major media can make it sound monolithic and eternal. But it’s actually a much younger and less unified phenomenon than many of us imagine, especially if we…
Selvedge denim – a fabric made with heritage techniques – is having a moment. With inflation top of mind for many, discerning consumers are seeking out jeans that are built to…
Be a clever girl and piece a Velociraptor together for just $20.
"Who we are and who we become depends, in part, on whom we love."
A writer returns home to a city with weirdness to share.
LOS ANGELES, June 1 — Marilyn Monroe’s hometown of Hollywood kicks off Monday a series of special events marking the 100th anniversary of the movie icon’s birth.At the...
For centuries, mariners feared the waters around Cape Hatteras in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Shifting sands and powerful storms make the area especially hazardous and…
I’ve interacted with many entertaining language-learning resources in various classes—from miniseries in Spanish to comic books in French—all geared toward making the unfamiliar…
Beat poet Allen Ginsberg's 100th birthday is being marked by celebrations around the world – an appreciation of his importance to poetry and how his influence on the medium…
This was the steepest downside of the 20th-century newspaper critic: While the writer’s career received the kind of support that enabled a real relationship with an artistic…
This essay is adapted from Traversal and continues the story of the making of Leaves of Grass. With Leaves of Grass already printed — by a Brooklyn friend, at the poet’s own…
Road-tripping in a different country can be daunting, but 2026’s best country for foreign drivers boasts safe roads and beautiful landscapes.
Italy has beautiful cities steeped in history and scenic landscapes. Plan the perfect Italalian holiday by visiting these pretty cities!
"You are born alone. You die alone. The value of the space in between is trust and love."
An exclusive doughnut you won't find anywhere else in the world.
Though the 2026 festival featured less Hollywood razzle-dazzle than in years past, there were still plenty of great films. Most notable: All of a Sudden , from the Japanese…
From The Twits to the Gruffalo… Quentin Blake, Cressida Cowell, Axel Sheffler, Lauren Child and more reveal how they bring children’s books to life
Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze’s mosaic “May Your Road Be Light and Fun” at Borough Hall excerpts drawings from over 10 years of the artist’s practice.
"If you are now wondering where to look for consolation, where to seek a new and better God... he does not come to us from books, he lives within us... This God is in you too. He…
MIT List Visual Arts Center, Fall River Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Bell Gallery at Brown University
The Lincoln Memorial Undercroft Museum is scheduled to open June 25.
Researchers say the numbing agent splashed onto iron scissors and tweezers during a procedure. They were found in a Ming dynasty doctor's tomb
Stephon Alexander says his passion for musical improvisation helps him to understand and teach complex ideas.
If you’ve taken a good art history course on the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, you’ve inevitably encountered Vincent van Gogh’s 1889 masterpiece “Starry Night,” which…
Summary: Scientists have uncovered evidence that the domestication of potatoes in the Andes influenced the evolution of human metabolism. A new study suggests ancient potato…
It is more important than ever to learn directly from trans and nonbinary writers. Here’s a reading list to get you started.
Since it was first built as a Mycenaean fortress in the thirteenth century BC, what we now know as the Acropolis has been used to worship not just Greek gods, but also, in later…
A Scottish crannog older than Stonehenge has been mapped in new detail using a shallow-water 3D imaging technique. Archaeologists at the University of Southampton have excavated…
The new movie, based on writer and actor David Haig's 2014 play, dramatizes the tensions between military leaders and meteorologists in the lead up to the Allied invasion of…
Experts from the University of Oxford surveyed 80,000 people in 76 countries about their happiness and life satisfaction. The results revealed five key traits among happy people.
With Europe more choked with tourists than ever amid year after year of record-setting summer heat, Italy is looking to change course: off the beaten path of luxury hotels and…
A group of researchers at University College London identified a relationship between consuming and creating art and a lower biological age.
These works bear witness to centuries of American history and American change.
Paris is an open-air museum, but sometimes art leaves the galleries to take over the city’s landmarks, transforming perspectives and surprising passers-by! For just a few days or…
Art and artist, creation and creator, Marilyn Monroe left behind a now-century-old mystery we're still trying to unravel.
In the artist's paintings, are we looking at plants in a state of beautiful decay, ghosts, deities, fairylands, or something from a dream?
Celebrate with a visit to Betye Saar's doll collection and Roberto Lugo's ode to Puerto Rico.
Hugh Broughton Architects incorporates designs by artist and illustrator James Lambert, who interprets the distinctive character of each location. Do stories and artists like this…
Casa Roja pulls back the curtain on the iconic artist’s family life and may have even introduced a new work to her oeuvre.
The beloved “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” stamps will be available to purchase in June.
Philadelphia is full of historic venues. A must-see on your next trip is McGillin's, the city's oldest pub, which has been around since 1860.
Ready for the magic of modern realism? Museum More's two unique and beautiful locations (one of which is a castle!) offer culture like never before.
Even if you don’t know the myth by name, you know the story. In Greek mythology, Sisyphus, King of Corinth, was punished “for his self-aggrandizing craftiness and deceitfulness by…
In a quiet Nigerian community, the ancient craft of Akwete weaving - practiced only by women for centuries - was disappearing as fast fashion erased demand for textiles that take…
Nearing the occasion of her upcoming 100th birthday, an exhibition at the New York Historical celebrates Saar’s promised gift of her collection of dolls to the institution.
Nature and magic come alive in tiny watercolor scenes. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for…
Every night, for every human being that ever was and ever will be, the Moon rises to remind us how improbably lucky we are, each of its craters a monument of the odds we prevailed…
Photograph by Kiliii Yuyan (Chinese and Nanai/Hèzhé) We come from the San Juan Islands. And that’s important, because the youth need to know that the islands are the place we need…
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