The Mystery of the Mona Lisa
The mystery surrounding the 1911 theft and subsequent conspiracy theory catapulted the Mona Lisa into the popular imagination.
Zadie Smith
Ever since the publication of White Teeth, Zadie Smith has made a career of writing about the actual experiences behind topics like race and immigration.
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.
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison, the first African American writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, was born to working-class ...
Norman Rockwell: Provocative Artist or Predictable Hack?
While Norman Rockwell's paintings struck a chord with the mass American public, that was not always not the case with art critics.
James Joyce, Catholic Writer?
James Joyce remains a novelist whose characters are imbued with a Catholic world view, despite declaring himself to be a freethinking heretic.
Jimmie Durham and the Art of Interruption
Jimmie Durham’s first North American retrospective opens at The Hammer Museum this month. Learn about his art, performance, and undying need to interrupt.
George Orwell’s 1984
George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 finds itself at the top of the best-seller lists this week, the first of Trump's presidency.
The Enduring Humor of New Yorker Cartoons
With 90 years of New Yorker cartoons, readers learn much about changing trends in political and social history, all while celebrating through laughter.
The Sexual Lessons of 1980s Teen Magazines
Teen magazines put girls in charge by inverting the male gaze