Martin Scorsese, the Nobel Prize, and the 'Black Sox' Legacy

Martin Scorsese is an American film director and screenwriter who's considered one of the most important filmmakers of all time, known for works like "Raging Bull," "Goodfellas," "Killers of the Flower Moon," and more.

> Watch Scorsese break down his films in a career-spanning interview. (Watch)
> Explore a critic's guide to the director's legendary filmography. (Read)

Scorsese emerged as part of the 1970s "New Hollywood" movement alongside contemporaries like Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg. 1976's "Taxi Driver" earned the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Palme d'Or, establishing him as a major force in film. After a flop and a subsequent bout with addiction in the late '70s, Scorsese spent the next several decades consistently making some of Hollywood's most critically acclaimed films.

> Scorsese was one of the "Movie Brats," the brash directors who ushered in a new era in Hollywood in the 1970s. (Read)
> His failed 1977 musical movie "New York, New York" sent him into a self-destructive spiral. (Read)

> "The Last Waltz," a documentary about the Band's final performances, revolutionized the concert film. (Watch)

> "Goodfellas" features one of cinema's most famous uninterrupted shots. (Watch)

Scorsese's movies have earned over 100 Academy Award nominations, though he has only won the Oscar for best director once, for 2006's "The Departed," which celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this week.

> "The Departed" is a remake of a Hong Kong thriller. (Read)

> Hear Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese's primary editor, explain why she has worked with the director for decades. (Watch)

Discover more: 

> Scorsese initially planned on becoming a Catholic priest but was kicked out of the seminary. (Read)

> He directed Michael Jackson's short film for "Bad," which was inspired by "West Side Story." (Watch)

> In 2019, he argued Marvel movies are not cinema, comparing them to theme parks. (Read)

Behind the News 

1440 brings you the knowledge behind the week's stories:

The Chicago Marathon anticipates the largest field in its history tomorrow. (More)

> There are over 800 marathons every year, but only eight are deemed World Marathon Majors.

> The race's oddly specific 26.2-mile length is thanks to the British royal family.

Nobel Prize in literature awarded to Anne Carson, a genre-bending Canadian. (More)

> Jean-Paul Sartre rejected his Nobel Prize, arguing it was antithetical to his role as an artist.

> Some allege that Bob Dylan plagiarized his Nobel Prize lecture.

Kennedy Center Honors moved to arena in Washington, DC. (More)

> The Kennedy Center was the first arts venue built with US federal funding.

> Watch news coverage from the Kennedy Center's inaugural event in 1971.

"The Social Reckoning" opens in theaters nationwide. (More)

> Jesse Eisenberg turned down the opportunity to reprise his role as Meta's Mark Zuckerberg for the film.

> Zuckerberg claimed the movie's predecessor, "The Social Network," was mostly inaccurate.

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.

Still On Its Way to Cleveland

Longreads | Mark and Betsy Blondin. In 1996, Mark and Betsy Blondin, along with their three children, hit the road in a motorhome. They were determined to teach their children about the country by experiencing it firsthand. They brought a bulky desktop computer with them and documented the trip through a website that anticipated the blogging and social media revolutions. (Read)

> A $50 bet led to the first American coast-to-coast road trip.

> Justin Hall was known as "the founding father of personal blogging."

Duncan Sheik's Final Gift to New York Theater

InsideHook | Alex Lauer. The singer-songwriter might have been a one-hit wonder in the pop world, but he was a constant hitmaker in musical theater, pushing the industry toward more contemporary songwriting with 2006's "Spring Awakening." Lauer unpacks Sheik's first posthumous work, which recently opened off-Broadway. (Read)

> "Broadway," "off-Broadway," and "off-off-Broadway" are determined by size, not location.

Mike Tomlin Knows Block

The Ringer | Nora Princiotti. Until recently, the former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach was known for his football IQ. Last month, he revealed that he's also a big fan of "Minecraft," the "sandbox" video game that lets players build intricate worlds. It's a strange fit that Princiotti tries to square in this playful piece. (Read)

> A nonprofit used Minecraft to build an "Uncensored Library" of journalism that bypasses government censorship.

Coke's Forever Bottle

 Etcetera 

> Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara quit "Saturday Night Live" after just one week as a cast member.

> Members of the 1919 Chicago "Black Sox" were banned from baseball for fixing that year's World Series despite being acquitted by a jury.

> One of the earliest known satires is an ancient Egyptian parody of life advice.

> The "jump scare" was initially used to keep costs low, but went on to become a classic horror trope.

> The Ohio State-Michigan college football rivalry has roots in a 19th-century border dispute.

> Iconic hip-hop record label Def Jam's first office was founder Rick Rubin's NYU dorm room.

> A member of the Hells Angels confronted Hunter S. Thompson on live TV, criticizing his book about the gang.
 

> Some American sparkling wines can legally be called "Champagne," thanks to a grandfather clause.

> In 1968, the Beatles met with an Indian guru, anticipating a Western interest in Eastern spirituality.
 

> Disney's 1940 film "Fantasia," now considered one of the greatest animated films of all time, initially flopped.

> Watch the 1940 thriller "Rebecca," the only Alfred Hitchcock film to win the Academy Award for best picture.

> Explore the history of the Comic Sans font, the journalist who invented grunge, and how existentialist philosophy inspired FDR and MLK at 1440's Society & Culture hub.