A brief history of yoga

Yoga is a spiritual, mental, and physical practice that dates back to ancient India. Originally developed in ancient India as a diverse set of spiritual and physical practices aimed at achieving higher consciousness, yoga is now primarily associated with exercise and mindfulness. In India, however, it remains a spiritual practice, a significant form of healthcare, and an expression of the country’s soft power. (See the basic yoga postures.)
 

Yoga can be traced back to around 1500 BCE and was practiced by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and other various ethnic and religious groups. It gained Western popularity throughout the 20th century, thanks to traveling gurus, mass media, and a countercultural interest in Eastern spirituality.
 

Today, yoga is a popular form of exercise that’s believed to have a positive effect on both mental and physical health. About one in six US adults practices yoga, with women twice as likely to take part in the activity as men. It’s also popular with professional athletes, who find the practice enhances their performance.

Also, check out ... 

> Traveling yogis spread the practice across the US. (Read)

> Yoga is believed to improve mental health, but studies are not definitive. (Watch)

> Steve Jobs mandated that a legendary book on yoga be distributed at his memorial service. (Read)

> Bikram Choudhury's abuse dismantled his yoga empire. (Read)

Explore everything else we've found on yoga. 

Satire, 101

Satire is an artistic form that employs various rhetorical strategies—including irony, hyperbole, and parody—to expose something (or someone) as ridiculous, corrupt, or unjust. Often, satirists adopt a fictional persona, creating a character that allows them to embody what they believe to be the absurdity of their intended target. (Watch an explanation of its three major forms.)
 

Satire can be traced back to ancient Egyptian literature, although modern satire more closely resembles that of ancient Greek and Roman satirists. The 19th-century rise of the novel was accompanied by an evolution of the form, with writers such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens critiquing the hypocrisy of their respective societies. Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, new technologies enabled satire to evolve further.
 

Satire is generally protected by the US Constitution, which distinguishes it from defamatory speech. Still, some have raised concerns about the proliferation of satirical content on social media, where users sometimes mistake exaggerated, ironic stories for fact.

Also, check out ... 

> "Dr. Strangelove," which many consider one of Hollywood's greatest satires, was one of the first films added to the National Film Registry. (Read)

> Japanese Americans in internment camps wrote satirical poetry. (Read)

> The term "McCarthyism" was coined by a political cartoonist. (Read)

> Some believed Sept. 11 was "the end of irony," but that didn't stop satirical newspaper The Onion. (Read)

Explore everything else we've found on satire. 

An introduction to the Beat Generation

The Beat Generation was an American literary movement that rose to prominence in the 1950s. A loosely affiliated collection of poets, novelists, playwrights, publishers, and other artists reacted to what they considered an anti-intellectual and homogenous social order following World War II.
 

The writing of the Beat Generation used experimental forms, surreal imagery, and vernacular language, and emphasized the importance of “spontaneous prose” to mimic the improvisation of jazz. Although the Beats praised canonical poets like William Blake, Arthur Rimbaud, and Walt Whitman, much of their work sought to rebel against literary tradition. (Read a collection of the Beats' poetry.)
 

The Beats’ radical politics and nonconformity influenced several subsequent countercultural movements, including anti-war, gay rights, second-wave feminism, and Black liberation organizations. The aesthetics of the Beat Generation movement found a home in popular music, with artists like Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and Kurt Cobain citing Beat writers as major influences and collaborators.

Also, check out ... 

> Ginsberg's poem "Howl" kick-started the movement. (Listen)

> The Beats' books inspired the aesthetics of 1960s counterculture. (Read)

> Conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr. once invited Allen Ginsberg on his television show to discuss the counterculture. (Watch)

> A lost Jack Kerouac story was discovered in the belongings of a gunned-down mob boss. (Read)

Explore everything else we've found on the Beat Generation. 

Cultural Context

Beyond our weekly deep dives, we love finding great takes on the culture currently shaping our lives. Here are some of the best reactions, profiles, and think pieces we encountered this week.

> Why I Keep Returning to Middle-Earth

NY Times | Michael DC Drout. Drout, an English professor at Wheaton College and editor of the Tolkien Studies journal, unpacks how Tolkien's long road to publishing "The Lord of the Rings" informed its unique voice. He also explains that, following the death of his 18-year-old son, the books offered him a glimmer of hope. (Read)

> The Fall of Caesars Palace

SF Gate | Katie Dowd. The Las Vegas hotel was once the epitome of Sin City excess, but in recent years, it's been reevaluated as little more than a relic of another time. Dowd dug into its fascinating history and booked a trip to see firsthand whether the Palace had lost its luster. (Read)

> A Ping-Pong-Specific Review of 'Marty Supreme'

The Ringer | Miles Surrey. The Timothée Chalamet film is racking up Oscar buzz, and with good reason: It's a legitimately exciting, maximalist wonder, despite being about table tennis. Surrey, a Ping-Pong player in a past life, evaluates the movie on its treatment of the sport. (Read)

> When Did 'Rock' Become 'Classic Rock'?

Stat Significant | Daniel Parris. Genre names are sometimes limiting, but they're also fascinating. Parris goes deep on data to trace the origins of "classic rock," a radio programming term that surged in the 1980s but has only grown fuzzier with each passing year. (Read)

> The Chaos of College Sports

Hoops HQ | Seth Davis. Baylor's basketball team recently added James Nnaji, a forward from Nigeria who played professionally in Spain and the NBA's Summer League, provoking a number of criticisms. Davis breaks down the legality of the move and explains other implications for this new era of college sports. (Read)

Best of the Week

We curate hundreds of resources into 1440 Topics each week. Here are some of our favorites from the world of society and culture.

> Time-travel back to your favorite decade with this makeshift MTV.

> Nobel Prize winner William Butler Yeats was fascinated by magic and the occult.

> Performance artist Laurie Anderson had an unexpected pop hit with "O Superman."

> Disney chipped away at its debt by creating propaganda during World War II.

> A record label executive coined "new wave" to appeal to listeners who might find "punk rock" distasteful.

> Kermit the Frog was originally a lizard—and made from Jim Henson's jeans.

> Chicago's O'Hare International Airport uses goats, sheep, and a donkey to help maintain its land.

> Fremont, Ohio, produces over 1 billion pounds of Heinz ketchup every year, often sending the smell of the condiment through the small city.

> Before "Saturday Night Live," Chevy Chase played in a band with the members of Steely Dan.

> Authors like Sylvia Plath, Franz Kafka, and Flannery O'Connor were also talented visual artists.

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