Photograph: Charli D'Amelio attends the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards at The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, which was broadcast live on FOX on May 27, 2021. 

Source: Getty

The Real Appeal of Reality Stars

Reality shows bring "ordinary people" into our homes as entertainment, presenting celebrity to us "cafeteria-style."
Nat "King" Cole performs a song on piano on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on April 13, 1958 in New York City

Way before MTV, Music Ruled the Living Room

I want my Ed Sullivan, Arthur Godfrey, and Lawrence Welk! To say nothing of Soul Train!
An illustration of somebody using an inhaler

Asthma Tropes and the Kids Who Hate Them

Children with asthma respond to the movie executives who see them as weak people helped by magical inhalers.
Matt Robinson (as Gordon) and Loretta Long (as Susan) lean on a brick wall and speak with Roosevelt Franklin, 1970

Who Was Sesame Street’s First Black Muppet?

Since the beginning, the children's show has tried to represent the diversity of the nation. But Roosevelt Franklin was controversial.
Ruby Barker as Marina Thompson in the first season of Bridgerton

The “Tragic Mulatta” of Bridgerton

While colorblind casting increases opportunities for diverse casts, colorblindness after casting can result in the perpetuation of stereotypes.
People standing in a group looking into the light

Cults on TV!

How stereotypes influence our ideas about what is and isn’t legitimate religion.
A woman in a soviet house

Early Television in the Soviet Union

Communist Party officials saw potential in the new technology in the 1950s. So did ordinary people, but not always in the same way.
The Beatles as they prepare for 'Our World', a world-wide live television show

All You Need Is Live

The very first international TV simulcast was 1967's Our World, which featured performers from around the globe—including the Beatles.
The Loud Family, 1973

Remembering Craig Gilbert and An American Family

The twelve-part documentary chronicling a family's dissolution was one of the most talked-about TV shows of the past fifty years.
Sailor Moon mid transformation

Selling Toys with the Sailor Moon Transformation Sequence

From her nails painted glossy red to the tiara appearing on her forehead, if you time it out, the transformation in Sailor Moon lasts 40 seconds.