The Secret To Those Viral Video Phenomena

“On YouTube some videos have been downloaded tens of millions of times. There is a cat playing the piano , a music video set on treadmills at a gym, a cackling baby. At first there may not seem any rhyme or reason behind their appeal. Yet there are shared characteristics to some viral videos, and companies seeking to advertise their products are keen to decipher these.”

Waaah (Eng), Ouain (Fr), Wäh (Ger): Even Babies’ Cries Have Accents

In an analysis of the cries of 60 newborns, half from German-speaking families and half from francophones, researchers found that “cry melodies were distinctive and different. The French newborns tended to cry with a rising melody contour, while the German tots wailed with a ‘falling’ tone, a signature feature in each language.”

When Akram Khan Kept Quiet

“In Asian culture, you don’t have a voice. You just accept what everybody says.” The star Bangladeshi-British choreographer, dubbed a “great new hope” of dance, still lives around the corner from his parents and claims he never stood up to anyone in his community: “No, because it’s a form of disrespect. … I disagreed all the time, but it was in my head.”

Time To Close The Rock Hall Of Fame?

“The Hall of Fame is a notoriously top-down institution, with an elite group of insiders making up a nominating committee that pre-selects their own idiosyncratic idea of the worthy candidates. So all of us lowly peons are only allowed to vote for 5 out of 12 possible candidates, which judging from this year’s nominees makes for slim pickings.”