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David Bowie in a 1975 photograph, one period within a career of changing presentations.

Culture

David Bowie’s Stage Characters and the Craft of Reinvention

David Bowie’s reinventions joined music, costume, photography and performance. Explore Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and the collaborators behind some of his best-known images.

Ella Fitzgerald in a photograph by William P. Gottlieb.

Music

Ella Fitzgerald’s Scat Singing: Listening Beyond the Notes

Ella Fitzgerald’s scat singing treats the voice as an improvising instrument. Learn what to listen for in rhythm, phrasing, musical shape and her broader recorded career.

Original illusion diagram: the two central horizontal segments have equal measured length.

Science

How Optical Illusions Reveal the Work of Seeing

Optical illusions reveal how vision uses context, depth and figure-ground cues. Learn to compare an impression with a measurement without treating illusions as tests of intelligence.