Featured Stories in Culture

Surfers worldwide recognize the hang loose sign, or shaka, as a symbol of goodwill and friendship. But the story of its Hawaii origins aren’t as simple as one might think. Through a combination of language, tragedy, mystery, and advertisements, the hang loose sign found its way into the cultural zeitgeist.

One of Santa’s most intriguing companions, Knecht Ruprecht is a legendary figure in German folklore, attested as early as the 17th century. A wild, shaggy-haired figure dressed in dark, fur-trimmed clothing, he is said to roam the countryside during the Christmas season, dolling out punishments to all the naughty children, while Santa rewards the good.

Dwight K. Shrute: What about an authentic Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas? Drink some gluhwein, enjoy some hasenpfeffer. Enjoy Christmas with saint Nicolas’ rural German companion, Belsnickel. Jim Halpert: Yes! That, that, that! We’re definitely doing that. Are we all in agreement? OddFeed: Yes, yes, a resounding yes!

Can’t Help Myself, a famous art installation by Chinese artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, has divided viewers on its interpretation since its 2016 debut in the Guggenheim Museum. The robotic exploration of futility may never be fully understood, but the story of its creation and reception offer insights into its meaning.

The life and works of Zdzisław Beksiński are each engrossing in their own ways. His journey from war-torn Poland in the 1940s to a fantastical style of painting in the 70s and beyond gave the contemporary art world a visual jolt of deformed bodies and vivid hellscapes that were horrific and mesmerizing to behold.

In 1941, Jorge Luis Borges invented the Library of Babel, an infinite repository of knowledge, and a dizzying plunge into the depths of uncertainty and ignorance. Several decades later, we invented the internet. The two are linked—and have a lot to do with several ancient philosophers and Émile Borel’s million monkeys.

In the eastern woodlands of the Canadian North, there lives—in the chill of the air and in the fearful whispers of the local people—the wendigo, a horrendous creature of evil with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. There is only one thing the locals fear more than being eaten by the wendigo—becoming one.

We all know and love Leo the MGM Lion, the iconic roaring mascot of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, but his full story is one that many people have never heard. From Hollywood’s silent era to its golden age and beyond, there have been eight different Leos, each with varying levels of success in the role.

In the words of celebrated neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, the Euthanasia Coaster—essentially, a 2010 quasi-kinetic sculpture—is “not fun at all as art, and is preposterous as a technical device. But it does work as provocation, regardless of intent.” And the intent? A death-themed amusement park.

In Icelandic folklore, Jólakötturinn, or the Yule Cat, is a giant, monstrous cat said to prowl through the villages at Christmas, on the lookout for misbehaving children to eat for dinner—lest they have some new clothes!

For hundreds of years, just before they are visited by Santa, children in the Alpine regions of Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovenia have to ride out the coming of his dark companion—a long-tongued goat-like demon from Hell known as Krampus. 

The main difference between Santa Claus and La Befana—Italy’s two most beloved gift-givers—is that the latter one visits children on the night before Epiphany, rather than on Christmas Eve. She’s also, well, a witch.

What do you get when you cross Celtic Halloween traditions, French cream puffs, traditional carol singing, piñata-like sweets-filled barrels, and large, large amounts of food? The answer is three Icelandic holidays, celebrated in the days leading up to Lent: Bolludagur, Sprengidagur and Öskudagur.

Nowadays a popular Christmas ornament, the Yule Goat was once a Scandinavian version of Santa and, for centuries before that, he was a dying-and-rising deity bringing good luck and fertility to those who celebrated it. Join us as we try to trace back his origins—and resurrect his fascinating history!

Traditional nativity scenes show the Three Wise Men visiting the infant Jesus on the night of his birth in an animal-filled manger. Catalan nativity scenes are somewhat different: they also include a red-hatted farmer, squatting, with his pants around his knees and his bare buttocks exposed. Meet the Caganer, a saintly defecator!

Every great romantic comedy—from The Graduate to Shrek—features a melodramatic “I object” wedding scene. There’s a reason why real life rarely does. It’s got nothing to do with love—and everything to do with law.

A pagan wedding is commonly known as handfasting, but the handfasting is only a part of it. They also include circle closings and Claddagh rings, elemental invocations and off-the-wall vows. Oh, yes, broom-jumpings too!

In Christianity, Kikimora is undoubtedly a demon. But in pre-Christian Slavic mythology, although Kikimora is considered evil, there are exceptions.