The Magic Bullet Theory is the view that media messages hit audiences directly, like bullets, and produce the same effect in everyone. We look at the age of propaganda that produce
Caramelization is the reaction in which sugar, heated to high temperatures, breaks down and recombines into brown compounds and aroma molecules. We look at how it works, the temper
Engel's law is the empirical rule that as income rises, the share of total spending that goes to food steadily falls. This piece covers the basic concept, the Engel coefficient and
The experience curve is the phenomenon in which the cost of making one unit falls by a fixed percentage every time cumulative production doubles. This piece covers its origins, fro
Foley is the craft of recording everyday sounds such as footsteps, rustling clothes, and closing doors in post-production to match the picture. This piece covers its roots in 1920s
The Barnum effect is our tendency to accept vague personality descriptions that fit almost anyone as accurate analyses of ourselves. This piece covers where the name came from, P.
Avogadro’s number is the number of particles in one mole of a substance, about 6.02 × 10²³. This piece explains what it means, ways to grasp its size, how Avogadro, Cannizzaro, Los
Diegetic sound is sound whose source we accept as being inside the story world, like dialogue, footsteps, or a radio in the scene, while non-diegetic sound such as background music
Parasocial interaction is the one-sided sense of face-to-face closeness we feel with media figures who don’t know us. This piece covers Horton and Wohl’s 1956 concept, the differen
Enzymatic browning is the reaction in which enzymes in fruits and vegetables use oxygen to oxidize phenolic compounds into brown pigments. This piece covers how polyphenol oxidase
A dolly zoom moves the camera while zooming the lens the opposite way, keeping a person the same size while the background stretches or swells. This piece covers its birth in Hitch
An emulsion keeps immiscible liquids together as tiny droplets with the help of emulsifiers. From mayonnaise and milk to butter, this piece walks through O/W and W/O types, Bancrof