Film and TV Ratings in the Streaming Age
We've got Netflix, AppleTV, YouTube, and Prime literally in the palms of our hands. Do conventional movie and television rating systems matter to us?
Race-baiting the Last Big City Socialist
When business interests tried to use red-baiting to take down a socialist mayor of Milwaukee in the Fifties, it didn't work, so they used race-baiting instead.
Sells Like Teen Spirit
OK Soda disappeared from the store shelves of the 1990s shortly after its debut. But did its wink-wink marketing to Gen X actually work?
QAnon as Neo-Noir
The popular conspiracy theory has intriguing parallels with classic noir by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.
When the Truman Campaign Used a Song from an All-Black Show
"I'm Just Wild about Harry" originated with the songwriting team of Sissle and Blake and first appeared in the Broadway musical Shuffle Along.
Ray Bradbury on War, Recycling, and Artificial Intelligence
As the 21st century unravels, Ray Bradbury remains a fundamental figure of the sci-fi genre.
Naomi Klein: We Are Sleepwalking toward Apocalypse
Klein talks about her new book, On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal, and the youth movement for climate action.
On Brands’ Bad Social Media
The phenomena of brands trying to tweet like teenagers might be new, but brands have been trying to seem cool for decades.