Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
In 1991, a small study conducted at the University of California, Irvine found that young adults received a modest brain boost from listening to Mozart before performing small mental tasks. From this, an exaggerated mythology surrounding what became known as ‘the Mozart effect’ emerged, linking exposure to classical music with heightened intelligence – especially in babies. In this animation, the UK broadcaster and psychologist Claudia Hammond dissects how a mania for this Mozart effect took hold, and what the research on music and intelligence actually says. In doing so, the short video also provides a telling look at how academic studies are often distorted and overstated in the media and in the public imagination.
Video by BBC Reel
video
Neuroscience
The brain repurposed our sense of physical distance to understand social closeness
5 minutes
video
Consciousness and altered states
You need to make friends with pain to run through the Grand Canyon and back
5 minutes
video
Art
Grotesque imagery meets religious conservatism in Hieronymus Bosch’s art
51 minutes
video
Architecture
Why a sculptor pivoted from gallery installations to big-box stores design
9 minutes
video
Physics
Spectacular fractal patterns emerge when electricity meets a wooden surface
4 minutes
video
Wellbeing
A tender poem doubles as a guide to sitting comfortably in one’s own company
3 minutes
video
Values and beliefs
How a God-fearing Jewish woman found atheism – and bacon – in her later years
9 minutes
video
War and peace
Before he leaves to go to war, Artem, 18, says goodbye to the man who raised him
12 minutes
video
Art
A mindbending trip that summons the forgotten women of surrealism
17 minutes