Author: Kirstin Fawcett

Watch (or read) a few of William Shakespeare’s plays and you’ll start noticing recurring character types: Tragic monarchs like King Lear or Macbeth, passionate young lovers like Romeo and Juliet, and strong, independent women—Viola in Twelfth Night and As You Like It’s Rosalind—who don male disguises, to name a few.

In the infographic below, Oxford University Press’s blog (OUPblog) lists facts about another one of the Bard’s favorite stock characters: the Shakespearean fool. The fool is an entertaining, clown-like figure who either provides minor entertainment or doles out sage bits of wisdom to more important characters. To learn more about the ubiquitous jester, read on or download the infographic as a PDF and click it for links to relevant scholarly articles [PDF].

[h/t OUPblog]

Don’t despair, struggling writers: Even F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fiction was sometimes rejected. During the mid- to late-1930s, The Great Gatsby scribe wrote an assortment of short stories that, for varying reasons, were never printed by magazines. Now, nearly 80 years after Fitzgerald’s death, The Guardian reports that these final works will be released in book form. The collection is titled I’d Die For You and will be published in April 2017.

Don’t purchase the book expecting condensed versions of The Great Gatsby, Paradise Lost, and Tender is the Night. According to publisher Simon & Schuster, the collection’s stories are a far departure—stylistically and topically—from Fitzgerald’s bestselling novels. In these stories, Fitzgerald is “writing about controversial topics, depicting young men and women who actually spoke and thought more as young men and women did, without censorship,” the publisher said in a release.

Some editors of the era didn’t like Fitzgerald’s shift in tone, and rejected the works. Other major magazines accepted the tales for publication, but never printed a final product. Instead of revising his fiction so it would sell, Fitzgerald chose instead for it to remain private—even though he badly needed both cash and publicity.

The collection’s title story, I’d Die For You, is reportedly inspired by a sad period in Fitzgerald’s later life, when he was living—and drinking heavily—in North Carolina’s mountains as his wife, Zelda, stayed in a nearby mental hospital. Learn more about the upcoming work by visiting Simon & Schuster’s website.

[h/t The Guardian]

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Interested in the Cold War and have up to $20,000 to spare? Gizmodo reports that you could soon purchase a piece of history: a chunk of the Berlin Wall signed by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Christie’s is selling hundreds of personal items from the Reagan family at auction in New York City on September 21 and September 22. (An online sale will run from September 19 to September 28.) According to The Dallas Morning News, the objects once resided in the couple’s Los Angeles home, and were packed up after First Lady Nancy Reagan’s death in March. Proceeds from their sale will go to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute.

Most of the catalogue’s offerings are pretty standard—books, music, silverware, knickknacks, paintings, and an assortment of Nancy Reagan’s jewelry and accessories, among other things. But look closely and you’ll spot some true collector’s gems, like Reagan’s personal, first edition copy of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead; a marine chronometer that was a gift from Frank Sinatra; and the President’s black quill ostrich cowboy boots, complete with a one-of-a-kind presidential seal crafted in gold and silver.

And then, of course, there’s the Berlin Wall piece. The two-foot-long, graffiti-covered concrete slab is by no means the auction’s most expensive item. However, it is expected to fetch anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000, largely because it evokes Reagan’s 1987 speech in West Berlin, in which he urged former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”

To learn more about the upcoming auction, visit Christie’s website. 

[h/t Gizmodo]

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When you hit the open road, it’s important to bring your manners with you. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety [PDF], 56 percent of fatal accidents involve at least one form of aggressive driving, and nearly 80 percent of drivers admitted to engaging in dangerous, road rage-fueled behaviors (ramming into another vehicle, confronting another driver) at least once in the past year.

Next time you’re stuck on a congested highway, try following the etiquette tips below, culled from The Wall Street Journal, the scientific journal Annals of Neurology, the California DMV, and other sources by the website AutoInsurance Center. They’ll help you keep your highway conduct—and your safety—in check.

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When it comes to food, ignorance is sometimes bliss. Take gummy candies, for example. You likely know they’re made with gelatin—a colorless, tasteless protein that’s used as a thickening agent. But did you know that gelatin is extracted by boiling animal skin, tendons, ligaments, and bones with water?

In an episode of Flemish public broadcaster VRT’s Over Eten (On Food), Belgian filmmaker Alina Kneepkens explores how the chewable treats are manufactured, step-by-step. According to Eater, the short film is part of a series examining how various foods and ingredients—including sugar, black pudding, lamb burgers, and more—make their way from farm and/or factory to grocery store shelves.

Origin videos aren’t exactly a new concept, but Kneepkens adds an interesting twist: She films the assembly process in reverse, presenting viewers with familiar foods before revealing how they’re made and what ingredients are used. Watch the video above, and be prepared to be surprised by how gross gummy bears can get.

[h/t Distractify]

Banner image: iStock.

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