Difficulty:
Intermediate
USA
The unstable surface of a paddleboard makes yoga challenging for the body and mind alike. Next, we cross over into the state of Maine, where craftsmen use hand tools and traditional boatbuilding techniques to build bespoke and beautiful wooden surfboards.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
USA
Mike and his team find time to test out some of the surfboards they've built. Nearby, we visit a pier that once had a ballroom and hosted some of the biggest names in US music history, and a lighthouse commissioned by George Washington himself.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
USA
Deep in the Maine woods, sawmill owner Alan Higgins shows us how he gets along just fine by repairing and reusing what he has. When he’s not hard at work at the mill, he can be found tinkering with trucks and old sports cars in his yard.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
USA
Machines and the sawmill are not Alan’s only interests. He’s also an enthusiastic musician, with dreams of getting his own song played on the radio. Along the Maine coast, oysters are farmed where the rivers and creeks meet the sea, and we meet Judy, who’s been a waitress at her family’s restaurant for over forty years.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
USA
Over decades, Moody’s Diner has become a social hub for its long-standing customers, and any change to its décor and menu can only happen with their agreement! Maine’s Penobscot Bay, with its many islands, is famous for lobsters and sailing, and it’s here we meet Tomás Sowles, a young commercial pilot loading his plane for an early morning flight.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
USA
Tomás is sometimes greeted with incredulity by new passengers who can't believe he's so young. But the pilot has already racked up hundreds of flights between the remote island communities of Penobscot Bay, often navigating rough, unpaved forest landing strips.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
USA
Tomás’s responsibilities go far beyond the basic flying of the plane. He must weigh the risks to himself and his passengers before setting out on every route. On Isle au Haut, a small island where Tomás’s plane cannot land, Professor Marshall Chapman is waiting for some important mail to arrive by boat.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
USA
Marshall has several old Ford cars, so he’s got options if one decides not to start up for him on any given day. He’s happy to be living an old fashioned lifestyle, one that suits this isolated island. Next, we join Genevieve Kurilec McDonald at work aboard her own lobster fishing boat. She explains which lobsters she can keep, and which must be thrown back.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
United Kingdom
With Britpop at its peak, bands such as Oasis and Blur vied to have the biggest hits, but it was The Verve who struck a chord with perhaps the most memorable song of the era, “Bitter Sweet Symphony." But even their success was bittersweet, as they were promptly sued by the Rolling Stones, who claimed the band had stolen one of their melodies without permission.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Canada
This smash hit from Canadian singer, songwriter and record producer The Weeknd comes from his album After Hours. The song reached number one in more than thirty countries, and in the United States it was the first song ever to remain in the top ten of the Billboard charts for over a year!
Difficulty:
Adv-Intermediate
United Kingdom
This whaling ballad was written long before the song became a surprise internet sensation. In the Nineteenth Century, the original Weller Brothers (Wellermen) brought supplies to remote whaling communities off the New Zealand coast. The lyrics speak of the voyage of one whaling vessel, the Billy of Tea, whose voyage did not go according to plan. Locked in an endless battle with a whale, they longed for a supply ship to bring them sugar, tea, and rum.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
USA
Jimmy Fallon can't believe he's at the White House on the Fourth of July. Watch part of his stand-up performance from that evening in which he does impressions of ten other comedians!
Difficulty:
Intermediate
United Kingdom
One of the great rock bands of all time, the Who, perform the song "Pinball Wizard" from their rock opera Tommy.
Difficulty:
Adv Beginner
USA
Here’s another fun clip from the American alternative band They Might Be Giants’ Grammy award winning children’s album Here Come the 123s!
Difficulty:
Beginner
United Kingdom
Learn and practice the days of the week in English with this fun kids’ video from the American alternative band They Might Be Giants’ album Here Come the 123s!
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