Listen to the Pink Floyd album inspired by 'Animal Farm'

Why both the left and the right use 'Animal Farm' as an allegory

Figures from both ends of the political spectrum have claimed Orwell's novella as their own, sometimes ignoring inconvenient aspects of the plot or details of Orwell's biography. This analysis of those political reactions explores why the text is so malleable.

Read T.S. Eliot's rejection letter for Orwell's 'Animal Farm'

In 1944, the renowned poet T.S. Eliot, then an editorial director at Faber and Faber, wrote to George Orwell to decline "Animal Farm," arguing that the fable's politics didn't quite make sense, writing, "after all, your pigs are far more intelligent than the other animals, and therefore the best qualified to run the farm."

An academic on why the animals in 'Animal Farm' matter

Although Orwell intentionally wrote his 1945 novella as an allegory of the Russian Revolution, Charlotte Sleigh—an associate professor of science and technology—argues that the text can also be used to understand (and complicate) our relationship with the nonhuman world.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

Watch the 1954 film adaptation of 'Animal Farm'

The animated feature was covertly funded by the CIA in an attempt to spread anti-Soviet media. The film simplified Orwell's beast fable by repackaging it as a family-friendly cartoon about the dangers of communism. It underperformed at the box office, though it is still sometimes shown in schools as students read the original text.

George Orwell's '1984' is one of the most famous dystopian works

Orwell's life experiences, from living among the poor to witnessing the rise of authoritarian regimes, deeply shaped his worldview. His iconic works, "Animal Farm" and "1984," offered stark warnings about power, control, and propaganda, making him one of the most enduring voices against totalitarianism.

A theory about Pink Floyd and 'The Wizard of Oz' was popularized by a 19-year-old

Pink Floyd’s seminal album “Dark Side of the Moon” eerily synchronizes with “The Wizard of Oz,” offering a psychedelic soundtrack for the movie. Journalist Charlie Savage popularized the phenomenon when he was 19. He’d go on to write for the Boston Globe and New York Times winning a Pulitzer Prize.

The story behind David Bowie's failed '1984' musical

The musician hoped to adapt Orwell's dystopian novel for the stage, though the project floundered after Orwell's widow—who found Bowie's vision in poor taste—refused to grant him the rights. Several of the project's songs—including "Big Brother" and "1984"—eventually appeared on Bowie's 1974 album "Diamond Dogs."

Patti Smith's 'Horses' was the first album from the CBGB scene

The poet’s debut album, released in 1975, blended literature and the early New York punk sound. Smith called the combination “three chords merged with the power of the word.” Throughout the album, she references and repurposes earlier rock hits (including Them’s “Gloria” and Chris Kenner’s “Land of 1,000 Dances”).

Animal wines: Wine bottles with pigs on the label had the lowest median prices at $23.22

If you’ve ever spent too much time staring at a shelf in a wine store, you might have noticed something similar: animals, specifically, cats, pigs, or birds on the labels. So, what do these wines have in common? This interactive tool attempts to figure out what wines that include the same animal have in common.

Broadway hit 'Stereophonic' was inspired by Fleetwood Mac

The show follows a 1970s rock band while they're in the studio, tracking a new album, and mirrors many of the internal conflicts that led to Fleetwood Mac's 1977 record, "Rumours." The play was a massive hit, earning 13 Tony nominations (the most ever for a play). It won five, including best play.

Dylan's political songs were often abstract

Dylan's protest songs weren't always explicit; sometimes, his dense lyrics only suggested political themes. "Hard Rain," for example, features Biblical allusions, charged images, and what would become generational axioms. It's a perfect encapsulation of what his early records could offer and a thrilling preview for what would come later.

The Shaggs weren't good musicians, but they still made a classic

In 1969, the three sisters recorded "Philosophy of the World"; only 100 copies were publicly distributed. The record became a cult classic thanks to its strange backstory (their father forced them into playing music) and the band's amateurism. Critic Lester Bangs wrote, "They can't play a lick! But mainly they got the right attitude, which is all rock'n'roll's ever been about from day one."

Learn about the Beatles song 'Taxman,' which was inspired by Britain's tax structure

In the US, many people think of the IRS as the "taxman"—but the Beatles song is actually about the tax structure in the UK at the time. George Harrison wrote the song when he realized that even though the Beatles had started earning money, "we were actually giving most of it away in taxes," as he wrote in his autobiography.

Nine different studies exploring animals' relationship to music

Researchers have conducted multiple studies attempting to answer a certain question: do animals like human music? Across species, they observed different results and no clear pattern. Primates appear to prefer silence, and cockatoos appear to dance to funky beats.

Listen to Jimi Hendrix’s mind-bending cover of the national anthem

Towards the end of his Woodstock ‘69 set, the legendary guitar whiz went in an unexpected direction with an instrumental cover of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Hendrix’s version, though, was dissonantly deconstructionist, which many critics believed was a commentary on the ongoing US involvement in Vietnam.

FDR inspired Rockwell's 'Four Freedoms'

In his 1941 State of the Union speech, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt defined "Four Freedoms" that democratic societies provided: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Rockwell conceived of a series of paintings based on those values, using his small-town examples of the principles in action. Below is "Freedom From Want."

William Blake may be best known as a poet, but he was also a painter

The author of "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" was a romantic poet and painter. "Newton," one of his better-known pieces, satirizes Isaac Newton, whom he saw as too concerned with the empiricism of science and, as a result, lacking an understanding of nature.

One prankster started a movement to clothe animals in the mid-20th century

G. Clifford Prout founded the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals, saying that animal nudity was rude and immoral. The campaign continued for years until CBS employees realized Prout was actually a comedian named Buck Henry.

The best album covers of all time

Rock 'n' roll has defined the style of several generations, and much of that is the result of iconic album covers. This Billboard list breaks down the best of the best, ranking generation-defining images from Pink Floyd, Cyndi Lauper, Nirvana, and more.

Music of the French Revolution

Listen to the melodies of the French Revolution of 1789 in this resource by the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Reconstructed by three professionals, these 10 songs from France's revolutionary era offer a glimpse into the haunting realities of such change. The songs were recreated based on musical scores included in fashion magazines from the era. French and English lyrics are provided for each song.

Why Billie Holiday's label refused to release 'Strange Fruit'

Columbia Records declined to record the protest song, fearing negative reactions from southern retailers. She instead recorded it in 1939 for the Commodore label. The recording would eventually sell a million copies, be added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry, and be called the "Song of the Century" by Time magazine.

How one trial tested the limits of satirical music

The rapper Afroman, who earned jokey hits in the '90s with songs like "Because I Got High," was taken into court by police officers by police officers in Adams County, Ohio, who alleged that he'd defamed them in his songs. The music in question was recorded after those officers raided his house and satirized the situation, often in graphic terms. The rapper beat the case, but not before his satirical songs were analyzed in court.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

Radiohead's chatbot was born over 20 years before ChatGPT

Looking for a novel way to promote their 2001 record "Amnesiac," Radiohead began working with ActiveBuddy, the people responsible for the popular SmarterChild chatbot, to create GooglyMinotaur, their own AOL chatbot based on a character based on the album. This oral history offers a deep dive on this fascinating piece of music and tech trivia, demonstrating the band's reliably forward-thinking perspective and providing a window into an early iteration of commercial artificial intelligence.

Unlike bossa nova, tropicália was intentionally confrontational

The genre drew on elements of older Brazilian music, like samba and bossa nova, but it was also influenced by psychedelic rock, especially the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," and was highly critical of the country's military dictatorship. That led to repercussions: Two of the movement's primary figures, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, were detained and exiled in 1968.

Revolution and performance art in Russia

In the wake of Vladimir Putin’s 2011 announcement that he would run for office for a fourth consecutive term, a group of Russian women formed a “punk protest art collective” called Pussy Riot. Their performances were largely staged in public stages representative of repressive political forces like the Orthodox Church. The group became a household name when three members were convicted of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred,” inspiring displays of support from across the world.

The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary,' the theme song for the Stephen King novel of the same name, was written while the band was admiring the writer's collection of horror memorabilia.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

American short story writer Flannery O'Connor raised 40 peacocks, which became potent symbols for her fiction's elegant violence

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

All rainbows are 'raincircles' caused by water droplets separating white sunlight into a spectrum of colors, but Earth's surface blocks the bottom half of the circle from our line of sight.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.