The Lost World (1925) - film poster

The 1925 Dinosaur Movie That Paved the Way for King Kong

During a slow day at work, a young marble cutter named Willis O’Brien began sculpting tiny T-Rex figurines.
Two women speaking beside a water cooler in an office

Streaming Television Might Just Bring Us Together After All

A look at TV watching as a social activity, from the "water cooler" network shows of yore to today's "second screen" live-tweets.
Dwayne Hickman and Bob Denver as Dobie Gillis and Maynard G. Krebs in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

How the Beat Generation Became “Beatniks”

The rebellious culture of the Beat Generation was coopted into fodder for a marketable lifestyle.
Pogo comic

The Most Controversial Comic Strip

In the 1950s, Walt Kelly's comic strip about a cute opossum named Pogo was syndicated by over 450 newspapers. It was also frequently censored.
Antiques Roadshow

The Religious Experience of Antiques Roadshow

What has made this slow, quiet television show about antiques the sleeper hit of PBS? One scholar describes the show as enacting near-religious rituals.
refrigerator

The Complicated Politics of… Refrigerators

When American kitchens started getting high-tech in the 1950s, the refrigerator seemed to alienate and frustrate many men.
Cynthia Nixon

Why Sex and The City is Still in Style

Sex and the City was on television from 1998-2004, and still holds cultural cachet today. But does the actual programming still hold up?
Hollywood's disappearing lesbians

American Film’s Disappearing Lesbians

In the 1990s, lesbian characters were repeatedly transformed into "close friends" in film adaptions of LGBTQ-themed books.
Queer Eye cast

Why Queer Eye Still Matters

Underneath the home and personal makeovers, is "Queer Eye" political?
Oprah and Obamas

How Oprah Became a Cultural Icon

The idea of a President Oprah has sparked excitement rather than ridicule. Americans value symbolism as much as political experience; while Oprah has little of the latter, she is practically made of the former.