Showing results by narrator "Lucas Lee" in All Categories

If you're watching a movie where a world-weary detective is having trouble with a "dame" or a "broad", and cigarette smoke is wafting through the scene - you're probably appreciating a bit of "film noir". Film noir literally means black film referring to both the look and the attitude of these movies.

Learn about the US Triple Crown of Racing with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The Triple Crown is the most esteemed horse racing trophy in North America. The Triple Crown trophy was introduced in 1930 after a journalist suggested that Gallant Fox's triumph in America's three biggest horse races, the Preakness Stakes, the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, deserved a trophy of its own. He suggested the name, the Triple Crown, after the British Triple Crown trophy.

It is said that when Joan of Arc was born on January 6 in 1412, the roosters in her village all crowed, even though it was midnight. When Joan was 13 years old, something happened to change her life. She was working in the garden when she thought she saw a bright light coming from the church, and heard someone speaking French in a sweet, low, beautiful voice.

Learn about the U.S. Federal Reserve with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The Federal Reserve is stirring more excitement these days than is probably recommended for a central bank just shy of its 100th birthday. The Fed, tasked with fostering economic growth and price stability in the US, was ratified by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913.

People come from all over the country and all over the world to seek success in New York City. A group that represents the success of the city is the American League baseball team, the New York Yankees. This team has more championships, more records and more star players than any other team in the history of baseball. However, the team that eventually became the "New York Yankees" was not always based in New York City.

When Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928, it was a lucky accident. He didn't realize at the time that penicillin would dramatically change the face of medicine and the pharmaceutical industry. Fleming was a researcher studying the natural antibacterial substances produced by the body. He had been working with the bacteria that caused boils. To study the bacteria he grew colonies of it on plates.

Epidemics are important to us as humans because they affect our very survival. Knowing what they are and how to control them have been of interest to us for centuries. A simple explanation of the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic would be to say that an epidemic is the large-scale transmission of an illness, whereas a pandemic is an epidemic that spreads across several countries.

A meteorite is a mass of stone or metal which has reached the earth's surface from outer space. There are various names for a meteorite depending on where it is situated. While it is traveling in space, it is referred to as a "meteoroid". When it passes through the earth's atmosphere and produces a fiery streak in the sky, known as a "shooting star", it is called a "meteor".

Lehman Brothers Holding Co. was the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank before the firm's spectacular collapse in 2008. Lehman's global businesses previously generated more than $19 billion in 2007 from its vast capital markets, investment banking and investment management businesses. Lehman's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing on September 15, 2008 marked one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history.

It was November 25, 1947.The place was the Hotel Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The president of the Motion Picture Association of America, Eric Johnson, was meeting with 48 film industry executives representing the major studios. The outcome was the joint release of a statement saying the Hollywood studios would not employ Communists. But it did not end there.

Learn about the history of whaling with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The history of whaling is a fascinating look at international efforts to protect finite resources in international waters, otherwise known as common territory or commons. While whaling can date back to 6, 000 B.C., large-scale whaling is thought to have commenced around the 12th century, with the Basques who killed a large number of right whales in the Bay of Biscay.

It is increasingly in the media, but what exactly is culture jamming and how does it work? Culture jamming is a form of protest in which advertisements and other media messages are re-arranged or parodied in humorous or disturbing ways. The term covers a range of practices, including sabotaging billboards, spoofing well-known ads, and hoaxing the mainstream media.

It's 2030, and AI has made trial lawyers obsolete. When a former trial lawyer, John Keys, lands in jail, he becomes embroiled in a life and death situation that forces him to confront a horrifying truth to gain his freedom. John Keys is a trial lawyer and a damn good one. That is until artificial intelligence takes over the criminal justice system and makes him obsolete. Faced with the harsh reality of his new life, he lands himself in prison for good.

Learn about the dance style of Krumping with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Imagine teams of super athletic dancers, engaging in spectacular and aggressive dance battles, their styles reminiscent of African dance to Hip Hop break beats, the scene looking more like a fight than a dance. The teams of dancers, made up of men, women and children, have their faces painted in elaborate styles from the childlike to the grotesque.

Learn about the sport of Parkour with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. If there was only one way to describe parkour, it would be to call it a sport. Parkour involves the task of overcoming obstacles, both physical and mental. But not everybody is in agreement with what parkour is truly about. What we do know is that parkour originated in France where it is sometimes referred to as "l'art du déplacement" meaning "the art of displacement".

"Bay of Pigs" refers to the 1961 invasion of Cuba by a force of CIA-backed Cuban exiles attempting to overthrow Fidel Castro's left-wing government. In Cuba the invasion is called the Battle of Girón, one of the beaches in the Bay of Pigs, which is on the south coast of Cuba. The invasion was one of the flashpoints of the Cold War and pushed the world towards the brink of nuclear war.

Learn about Pelé with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. Edson Arantes do Nascimento is one of the most successful sports players in history. You probably know this Brazilian soccer player by his nickname: Pelé. He played soccer professionally for 20 years between 1957 and 1977. In that time he went from being a young sporting prodigy to the most admired and distinguished soccer player in history.

Have you ever witnessed 200 dancers in gold-lamé trousers invade a Los Angeles department store? Or maybe 300 nude cyclists riding down Paris' Champs-Elysees? Or perhaps you've received a text message inviting you to an impromptu 500-person pillow fight in London's Piccadilly Circus?

If you answered yes to any of the above, chances are you've unwittingly been exposed to the contemporary but curious cultural phenomenon of the flash mob.

Learn about landing a man on the Moon with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. When the Cold War was at its height in the 1950s and 1960s, the U.S. and Russia were fierce rivals. So, with burgeoning technology making flying safer and easier, these two world powers embarked on a "space race" to see who could be the first to launch a man into space - and eventually to put a man on the Moon.

Learn the history of the Davis Cup with iMinds insightful audio knowledge series. The Davis Cup weighs more than 100 kilograms, is over one metre tall, and is the world's oldest sports trophy. It has been filled with champagne in Paris nightclubs, stolen in Peru, and locked in bank vaults during world wars. These days, it is sought after by more than 100 countries every year and known to many as the "holy grail" of men's tennis.