Lon Chaney’s Movie Monsters
You might know him from Phantom of the Opera or The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Marian Anderson Photo Archives
The African American opera singer made history with a stirring concert at the Lincoln Memorial. But there was much more to Marian Anderson.
How the Artists Union Shook Up the New Deal
When artists showed solidarity with one another and the larger labor movement, they won federal patronage.
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."
The Ethical Life of Euphemisms
Euphemisms can hide facts that need to be confronted. How do they work from a linguist's point of view?
How Hollywood Sold Glamour
The complicated notion of glamour in classic Hollywood, suggesting that stars were aloof and unknowable, was also a means to sell products.
Parental Advisory: The Story of a Warning Label
Songs weren't always labeled for explicit lyrics. The history of how it all came about includes some unlikely bedfellows.
Life in the Iron Mills as Fiction of the “Close-Outsider Witness”
Rebecca Harding Davis had no firsthand experience of iron mills. Neither does her nameless narrator.
“Are You Popular?”
Mental hygiene films of the postwar era gave advice to American teens—and parroted specific cultural values.