For nearly five years now, I’ve written a post every weekday at Open Culture, usually to do with literature, film, music, art, television, radio, or language. Here are ten of my favorites from the more than 250 I wrote in 2016:
- Color Footage of America’s First Shopping Mall Opening in 1956: The Birth of a Beloved and Reviled Institution
- David Bowie’s Music Video “Jump They Say” Pays Tribute to Marker’s La Jetée, Godard’s Alphaville, Welles’ The Trial & Kubrick’s 2001
- Good Morning, Mr. Orwell: Nam June Paik’s Avant-Garde New Year’s Celebration with Laurie Anderson, John Cage, Peter Gabriel & More
- How Chris Marker’s Radical SciFi Film, La Jetée, Changed the Life of Cyberpunk Prophet, William Gibson
- How Steely Dan Wrote “Deacon Blues,” the Song Audiophiles Use to Test High-End Stereos
- J.M. Coetzee on the Pleasures of Writing: Total Engagement, Hard Thought & Productiveness
- The Philosophy of Bill Murray: The Intellectual Foundations of His Comedic Persona
- Tilda Swinton Gets a Portrait Drawn by Art Critic John Berger
- What Makes Vertigo the Best Film of All Time? Four Video Essays (and Martin Scorsese) Explain
- When Glenn O’Brien’s TV Party Brought Klaus Nomi, Blondie & Basquiat to Public Access TV (1978-82)
See also my ten favorite Open Culture posts of 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.