Ask MetaFilter

Thinking about the Faust story and the fairly common trope of making a "deal with the devil", looking into things, it's been strangely difficult to find examples of the trope before the 18th century except a small handful of works. Is the notion of the "deal with the devil" a fairly modern phenomenon, or are there far earlier works I'm missing? It seems strange that this is a modern trope.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 1:06 PM - 15 answers

I recently picked up a copy of John McPhee's Annals of the Former World at a church sale - but decided I really wanted someone to read me the books in the series. The only place I am seeing audio books in the series is on Audible - but would I be able to get them as MP3s? [more inside]
posted by rochrobbb at 11:14 AM - 6 answers

Went to the San Diego Museum of Art in Jan 2021 and saw a painting by a Korean or Korean-American woman that I'd like to see again. What painting am I thinking of? [more inside]
posted by GamblingBlues at 11:13 AM - 4 answers

Can you help me figure out the source of this image? When I try to do an image search online I get a bunch of sites selling prints of the image, but I haven't been able to find a source. This link goes to a site selling prints of the image in question. [more inside]
posted by hapticactionnetwork at 8:57 AM - 3 answers

My library sends an annual newsletter out to local residents. I'd like to update its look a bit, and am searching for examples of great, brief PRINT newsletters. If you have suggestions for a library-related name for the newsletter, please drop them here. [more inside]
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:07 AM - 2 answers

Any recommendations for books of short stories where all of the stories feature the same protagonist (and/or group of recurring characters)? I love fantasy and science fiction, and am open to non-sf/f fiction recs, but don't really like mysteries unless they have a supernatural element. [more inside]
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 4:16 PM - 34 answers

I know two pre-teen girls (11 and 13) who are into eco adventure books. They live overseas and don’t have access to many English books. They aren’t into romance or horror. I don’t even know where to start! Thank you.
posted by Frenchy67 at 3:51 AM - 12 answers

Can this project be found anywhere on the internet anymore?? Halp me.
posted by latkes at 10:12 AM - 2 answers

I'm looking at green screen backgrounds now, using iMovie for iOS, and I'm seeing that some of the backgrounds take up the whole screen, whereas others are too small --- they have a black border around them. [more inside]
posted by DMelanogaster at 9:53 AM - 4 answers

In each US state, who are the people with blogs, columns, or other web presence that report on politics from a position of deep and/or longstanding expertise? (State or Federal level politics coverage are equally appreciated.) [more inside]
posted by kensington314 at 12:06 PM - 13 answers

I'm re-reading a book hoping for a different ending, but I'm pretty sure that's not how novels work, so I need a new fantasy queer romance with a wholly satisfying happy ending (pun not intended, but there it is.) [more inside]
posted by itesser at 10:23 PM - 16 answers

Is there evidence that Picasso ever actually said or wrote 'If there were only one truth, you couldn't paint a hundred canvases on the same theme' (in Spanish, I presume)? My searches so far have mostly just turned up those awful quote sites. If it's not documented, do you know of any sayings with a similar sentiment that are?
posted by atlantica at 10:48 AM - 6 answers

Playing around with the idea of making backgrounds for my (solo) music performances. Is the idea to sing in front of a green screen, draw the background (or find one), then figure out how to size the picture/drawing properly to fit the green screen exactly? [more inside]
posted by DMelanogaster at 1:30 PM - 8 answers

A friend of mine asked me recently about a book he saw at an airport shop around 2017. It seems to be a detective (possibly Gestapo) novel, set in Berlin during WWII, which was published probably in the early years of the last decade, and certainly not later than 2017. I now, this is vague and we do not have any more information, but I've seen great results among the Mefite Community. Do you think we can help him out? Thanks in advance!
posted by Matrod at 5:36 PM - 14 answers

Cancelling the Washington Post; looking for a digital subscription to a paper/news org with good national coverage and, you know, integrity. Suggestions? [more inside]
posted by A Terrible Llama at 1:05 PM - 12 answers

I am 5 episodes into a radio show that I co-host on a weekly basis and I'm looking for a robust system for archiving my past shows. In my initial search it looks like there are 3 contenders: Soundcloud, Mixcloud, and Archive.org. I'm looking for advice on which of these to consider and/or alternatives I haven't even thought about. Do you have experience archiving radio shows? Any recommendations and/or advice. [more inside]
posted by jeremias at 11:11 AM - 3 answers

I thought to myself it would be child's play (excuse the pun) but it's not. For me, at least. I found the notes and when I listen to the music and look at the notes, my foot taps the "one" in the wrong place. I cannot force myself to tap my foot as it is supposed to be in the notes. [more inside]
posted by hananc at 5:35 AM - 14 answers

I missed a show I wanted to go to last week. How do I not do that again? [more inside]
posted by pdb at 2:16 PM - 18 answers

What are the most independent newspapers? In terms of not being, directly or indirectly, controlled by our potential dear leader. [more inside]
posted by sillysally at 1:10 PM - 11 answers

I'm running a game of Crash Pandas next week, in which a gang of raccoons engages in a high-octane illegal street race. One of the raccoons, Alice, is a back alley drummer and general badass. She has a mixtape. What's on her mixtape? I need high energy, lo-fidelity rock suggestions, bonus points for ties to the Northwest, gold stars for references to trash, raccoons, etc.
posted by skookumsaurus rex at 6:20 PM - 22 answers