How Black-Owned Record Stores Helped Create Community
What was it like for Black American music lovers during the age of segregation to find a place they could call their own?
The Complications of “Outlaw Country”
Johnny Cash grappled with the many facets of the outlaw archetype in his feature acting debut, Five Minutes to Live.
The Mockumentary: A Very Real History
What's the appeal of humor masquerading as seriousness? An entire movie genre stands ready to shed light on that question.
Captain America and Wonder Woman, Anti-Fascist Heroes
Who needs black clothing to fight fascism when red, white, and blue will do quite nicely?
The D-I-Y Origins of Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead’s production story reads like a means to an end: a rag-tag group of creatives makes a movie on nothing to get noticed.
The Bizarre Marvels of Segundo de Chomón, Father of Spanish Cinema
Segundo de Chomón made “trick films” that experimented with color and temporality, influencing the surrealist work of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí.
Lon Chaney’s Movie Monsters
You might know him from Phantom of the Opera or The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
The Delectably Indulgent History of Perfect Food Photos
Instagram didn't invent photos of culinary masterpieces designed to inflame the appetite. Cookbooks have been at it for centuries.
How Mexican and Cuban Music Influenced the Blues
The pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton once told an ethnomusicologist that real jazz tunes needed "tinges of Spanish."