Chuck Berry does the splits as he plays his Gibson hollowbody electric guitar in circa 1968.

Race, Rock, and Breaking Barriers

The rock music industry brought more than a little racism to the radio, but a few artists pushed beyond the boundaries imposed by white audiences.
Octavia Butler

Octavia Butler’s Roots in Black History

The Parable books seem different yet familiar, their plots framed by a world shattered by racism, economic inequality, and climate change.
A woman's sari and feet

Fighting for Sex Workers’ Rights in India

Labor unions for sex workers reveal how sexuality, gender, and caste intersect in a precarious and often dangerous work environment.
Scene from 'Mischievous Matt,' Bracebridge Hemyng (Jack Harkway's), new story in No. 487 Frank Leslie's Boys' and Girls' Weekly

Dime Novels and Story Papers for Kids

The rise of popular literature for children put a story, a role model, and a set of values in a young boy’s pocket.
Gertrude Stein

Is it a Crime?

An appreciation of Gertrude Stein’s pulp explorations.
Film still from a 1960s drag cocktail party, picnic, and pool party, c. 1968-1969

The Battle over Drag in 1960s San Francisco

The organized struggle for rights has been shaped by debates over the relationship between gender presentation and sexuality.
The New York American 1912 Headline for the sinking of the Titanic

Bodies of the Titanic: Found and Lost Again

Ideas about economic class informed decisions about which recovered bodies would be preserved for land burial and which would be returned to the icy seas.
Self-portrait with Her Daughter by Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun

Smiles, Pollen, and James Baldwin

Well-researched stories from Aeon, Teen Vogue, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
Elvis Presley is shown during a karate workout, as seen in the film 'This Is Elvis', 1981.

Elvis and American Karate

Presley’s embrace of martial arts resonated with working- and middle-class Americans who felt alienated from the US justice system.
A #buryyourgays hashtag over a black and white drawing of a cemetery

Can Fan Hashtag Campaigns Stop the “Bury Your Gays” Trope?

Organized fan hashtag campaigns put pressure on the entertainment industry to improve their writing for and treatment of LGBTQ+ characters.