The Art Assignment
Draw a shape that represents you. | Tschabalala Self | The Art Assignment
This week we meet with Tschabalala Self, whose work explores ideas surrounding the black female body; and her assignment asks you to consider your own body as a symbol too.
Physics Girl
What is the MAGIC RUSSIAN DIAMOND?
In the early 2000s, physicist found a diamond they’d been searching for. Find out what it was used for.
The Art Assignment
The Case for Performance Art | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios
Dubious of performance art? Break into a cold sweat when you realize it’s about to begin? There’s a reason. Here we present you with a brief history of performance art and attempt to sway you to its potential charms.
Physics Girl
How to Shrink a Quarter with Electricity
How an 8000V electromagnet can be used to shrink a quarter. The interplay between electric and magnetic forces leads to the Lorentz Force and Faraday’s law of induction which can be used to shrink a quarter, or any other type of metal coin.
The Art Assignment
Become Someone Else | Tameka Norris | The Art Assignment
The Art Assignment travels to New Orleans to meet with Tameka Norris, who makes art in a variety of media and often uses her body in her work. She challenges YOU to become someone else. Sarah then highlights Adrian Piper, who created an...
Physics Girl
What do programmers actually do?
I left a physics job to do software engineering. Was it worth it? What do software engineers actually do?
Physics Girl
WHICH TANK FILLS FIRST? ft. Simone Giertz
Dianna Cowern from Physics Girl and Simone Giertz take this viral bucket riddle to the real world with a physical test. Which tank will fill first?
The Art Assignment
The Case for Ai Weiwei | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios
Ai Weiwei has been called an iconoclast, a radical, a voice for the voiceless, and was once named the most powerful artist in the world. Who is Ai Weiwei? And why is he considered one of the most renowned artists of our time?
PBS
War and Peace and Everything Else (Feat. Lindsay Ellis and Princess Weekes)
According to Tolstoy himself, War and Peace was "not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less a historical chronicle." And in this day and age of publishing, where word count, “readability”, and topical relevance are the lifeline...
PBS
Afrofuturism: From Books to Blockbusters
With the success of Black Panther, the term Afro-Futurism got pushed into the mainstream. But what is Afro-Futurism and what is its place in Black storytelling? In this episode we give you the starter pack on answering that question....
PBS
Humans and the Environment
What is “the environment”? Well, it’s everything, and it’s everywhere, including you and me. Just about every part of human civilization depends on a healthy and stable environment. Yet, human activity is causing pollution, climate...
The Art Assignment
Make an imprint. | Sopheap Pich | The Art Assignment
In which we meet Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich and receive the assignment to make an IMPRINT. We filmed with Sopheap at Indianapolis Fabrications while he was in town installing a new work for the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
PBS
The Constructed Languages of JRR Tolkien (Feat. Lindsay Ellis)
Tolkien is widely regarded as the most influential author on the fantasy genre… period. But one of the less-discussed aspects of his work is the way Tolkien used constructed language in his writing. Nowadays authors are constantly...
Physics Girl
Only some humans can see this type of light
Polarized light is an unusual form of light. Can humans see when light is polarized?
Physics Girl
How to Make a Cloud in Your Mouth
Learn how to make a wispy cloud come out of your mouth, even when it's not cold out. Like any awesome trick, physics is to thank for the mouth cloud. This simple and fun demonstration can be used to explain the cloud in a bottle...
PBS
The (Stephen) King of Horror Feat. Lindsay Ellis
Few writers have had the sheer staying power, popularity, and prolific output as Stephen King. From insatiably flesh-hungry clowns and sentient cars to telekinetic teenagers and mystical gunslingers, if there’s one author who has taken...
The Art Assignment
What's a Curator? | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios
PBS Digital Studio's The Art Assignment asks what the title "curator" really means, both traditionally and as it is used today. Can you be a curator of vintage sneakers? Let's talk about it in the comments.
PBS
How Greek Mythology Inspires Us (feat. Lindsay Ellis) | PBS Digital Studios
Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is one of history’s most famous novels and one of the longest-running musicals in Broadway history. On this special episode of It’s Lit! we explore how Les Miserable became both a national and revolutionary...
The Art Assignment
Complain creatively. | The Guerrilla Girls | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios
The Guerrilla Girls are asking, nay demanding, that we complain! But we must do so in ways unique and memorable. We met up with them in London at Tate Modern's new Tate Exchange space, where the Guerrilla Girls were in residence and...
The Art Assignment
Landscape Archaeology | Mariam Ghani + Erin Ellen Kelly | The Art Assignment
This week we speak to collaborating artists Mariam Ghani and Erin Ellen Kelly at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and learn about their approach to learning about and working with landscapes.
Curated Video
Why Did They Make Me Read This in High School? (Feat. Lindsay Ellis)
Literary critics, writers, philosophers, bloggers--all have tried to tackle where and why and how an author may strike such lightning in a bottle that their works enter the pantheon of “Classical Literature”. Why this book is required...
Physics Girl
DIY Lightning Experiment! Make a SHOCKING Capacitor
Create "lightning" in your living room! Make giant sparks by building up static charge on a homemade 2-plate capacitor, and discharging through a grounded rod. Watch as my friend Ashley agrees to touch the charged-up capacitor. How is it...
The Art Assignment
The Case for Jackson Pollock | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios
You’ve heard of Jackson Pollock and know of his infamous “drip paintings,” but what is it that you’re supposed to do when you look at his work today? Why did it cause shockwaves in 1947, and what does it mean now? We explore the life,...
The Art Assignment
The Case for Abstraction | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios
For much of human history, people made art by trying to represent the world as it appeared around them. Until about 100 years ago, when a bunch of artists stopped trying to do that. It was shocking then and it still upsets and confounds...