The Alamo by day with the Texas flag waving

How to Remember the Alamo?

A historian’s childhood visit to the Texas monument prompts questions about history, memory, and multiculturalism.

Seeing America in 1900

Posters and postcards showcasing unique destinations and sights in the United States helped homogenize the tourist landscape of the early twentieth century.
The Staples Singers performing at Wattstax Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 20, 1972.

How Wattstax Ushered in a New Era of Black Art

Organized in the aftermath of the 1965 Watts uprising, the music festival showed that something powerful was happening in the Black community.
The Gang Busters sound effects team, 1937

The Rise and Fall of “True Crime” Radio Dramas

Depictions of poor, non-white victims and informants led working-class and rural listeners to turn against the genre.
Portrait of Beatrice Hastings before a door by Amedeo Modigliani

Beatrice Hastings: The Forgotten Modernist

Marginalized in early histories of Modernist literature, Hastings left a mark on one of the most influential literary magazines of the early twentieth century.
Voting Hands and Ballot Box

Happiness is a Warm Democracy

A greater exposure to democracy leads to a higher level of self-reported happiness.
Mt. Ontake spews volcanic ash on September 28, 2014 in Otaki, Japan

After the Volcano Erupts

The catastrophic eruption of Japan’s Ontake-san allowed residents to reconsider and reinvent their relationships to the mountainous landscape.
The video game "Doom 3" is displayed on a computer and game store shelf August 4, 2004 in New York City

Roger Ebert vs. Video Games

The film critic’s unconsidered observation about Doom touched off a firestorm that continues to burn for gamers and digital media critics.
Annie Londonderry, 1896

The Hunt for the Massachusetts “Wild Man”

In a tale with as many false identities as supposed crimes, investigative reporter Annie “Londonderry” Kopchovsky gets her man (maybe).
A man sweeps cooked rice still in the husk into piles to dry at a rice mill July 18, 2008 in Srinigar, Bangladesh

Food Price Inflation and Health

Periods of concurrent economic downturn and high food price inflation can exacerbate health threats for infants and children in developing countries.