The History of Black-Owned Record Labels
Decades before Motown ruled the radio, labels like Black Swan and Black Patti put out records that didn't stereotype African American music.
The Folk Song That Fought against Fare Hikes
"M.T.A." is a humorous ditty about a never-ending subway ride. But it began in Boston's progressive political circles.
How a Beloved Musical Became a Cold War Weapon
The 1962 film The Music Man was seen as so all-American that some hoped it would help win the Cold War by transmitting American values abroad.
What Ever Happened to the Parlor?
For musicologist Edith Borroff, the parlor was egalitarian, open, and joyful—all qualities she equates with the best musical spirit.
The Long, Winding History of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”
Julia Ward Howe wrote her most famous poem, the legendary Civil War song, “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” in a single burst of inspiration 156 years ago.
The Gender Politics of the First Boy Bands
Crooning, a musical style of the late 1920s and early 1930s, was fraught with gender panic. Where the singers manly enough?
The Singing, Dancing Hormel Girls Who Sold America SPAM
SPAM was introduced 80 years, but it was a military-style corps of singing women that helped the canned meat skyrocket in the years after World War II.
How “This Land Is Your Land” Went From Protest Song to Singalong
Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” has lost a bit of its protest oomph—in part because of a decades-long denial of its later verses.
John Adams’ “On the Transmigration of Souls,” After 9/11
How to memorialize a national tragedy in music?
The Unlikely Origins of “Strange Fruit”
The man behind the anti-lynching anthem "Strange Fruit" was a white, Jewish, Communist named Abel Meeropol.