brass sundial

Sundials, Sentiments, and S-Town

The immensely popular podcast S-Town features some memorable sundial inscriptions. But where did the slightly morbid tradition come from?
drive-in theater

Why Drive-Ins Were More Than Movie Theaters

Drive-ins embodied the suburbanization of middle class families -- and created an entirely new way of watching the movies.
Dear White People

Humor and Race in Dear White People and White Chicks

Black producers and entertainers use the concept of physically appropriating another race to discuss racism in "Dear White People" and "White Chicks."
Gwyneth Paltrow at Toronto International Film Festival, 2012

The Glamorous Tradition of Hollywood Lifestyle Advice

For more than a century, Hollywood has been offering Americans lifestyle advice on how to live better, and the public has been gobbling it up.
Tiger Beat Magazine

The Sexual Lessons of 1980s Teen Magazines

Teen magazines put girls in charge by inverting the male gaze
Carrie Fisher and Wim Wenders

Carrie Fisher and Women’s Voices in Hollywood

Remembering Carrie Fisher: Actress, writer, and so much more.
His Girl Friday

Rory Gilmore: The New New Woman

Recently, Netflix brought us the Gilmore Girls revival–Rory, Lorelei, and Emily 10 years on, able to “end” the show as its creator intended.
The inside of a newsroom

Four Hard Truths about Fake News

Skeptical, self-aware interaction with digital data is the critical foundation upon which democracy may be maintained, explains media scholar Alexandra Juhasz.
The Simpsons

“The Simpsons”: More Than Just a Cartoon

"The Simpsons" is the longest-running scripted series in television history, full of canny satire and the occasional prophecy.
Gwen Ifill

R.I.P. Gwen Ifill, Pioneering Journalist

Pioneering journalist Gwen Ifill has died. Her career in a white and male-dominated industry inspired many to the profession.