Yes We Can video

Viral Videos and the Presidential Campaign

How do viral videos shape a presidential campaign? How do voters learn to “read” the art and advertisements they are seeing? Learn more from our scholars.
Beauty and the Beast

How Disney Movies Teach Straightness

Despite the perils of mistaken identities, evil stepmothers, and cruel curses, in a Disney movie the princess always finds her prince.
Roanoke baptism

Our Long Roanoke Nightmare

The sixth season of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story focuses on the mysterious lost colony of Roanoke.
Spock and Kirk

Star Trek’s 50th Star Date Anniversary

September 8 marks the 50th anniversary of the first season of Star Trek, the NBC science-fiction series produced by Gene Roddenberry.
The Mummy movie poster

Why We Love to Be Scared

Nearly 1.5 billion tickets to horror movies were sold in 2015 alone. But why do we love being scared so much?
Stranger Things title

“Stranger Things” and the Psychic Nosebleed

Where did we get the idea that using psychic or telekinetic powers makes a person's nose bleed?
Gene Wilder in 1978

Gene Wilder

Gene Wilder and the fan letters he got...from Gene Wilder.
true crime pamphlet

The Bloody History of the True Crime Genre

True Crime is having a renaissance with popular TV series and podcasts. But the history of the genre dates back much further.
Leni Riefenstahl

Leni Riefenstahl’s Nazi Olympics

Leni Riefenstahl was the Nazi regime’s most artistic propagandist. She is also remembered for Olympia, her documentary of the 1936 Olympics.
The Devil Wears Prada

‘The Devil Wears Prada’ and the Retail Orgy in Film

On the film portrayals of women that equate consumption and love.