Why East Germany Loved the Wild West
During the Cold War, both the West and East Germany film industries made popular westerns. Yes, westerns. What was that all about?
How Buon Fresco Brought Perspective to Drawing
Buon fresco, perhaps the best-known kind of wall painting, is the result of a chemical reaction turning paint and wet plaster into a single, solid surface.
Stephen King’s Prophetic Early Work
King of Horror Stephen King celebrates his 70th birthday. Will he finally get the respect he deserves from academia and the culture industry?
Why India Once Led The Fashion Industry
India led the fashion world in the 16th and 17th centuries through cotton fabric, design motifs, and its customer-centric market system.
America’s Unlikely Cold War Weapon
During the Cold War years, the distribution and selection of American books had to change with changing objectives overseas.
The 17th-Century Dutch Version of Bookstagram
Jan Davidszoon de Heem, one of the greatest still-life painters of the 17th century Dutch Golden Age, brought particular brilliance to book still-lifes.
Sentenced to Death (and Other Tales from the Dark Side of Language)
One cold morning in 1953, Derek Bentley, a nineteen-year-old youth in the wrong place with the wrong words, was hanged for a murder he did not commit.
How We Escape It: An Essay
Escape is an ancient word, escapism, a modern one, and the designation of a genre—“escape literature”—dates to the 1930s.
Flying Spaghetti Monsters and the Quest for Religious Authenticity
Fake religions tend to embrace irony over piety and satire over sincerity, preferring to critique existing institutions than to displace them.
The History of Purple, From Pliny to Prince
In August Pantone honored late singer/songwriter Prince with a new shade of purple called Purple Rain. Why is the color purple considered to be so special?