Culture

Her private writing offers another, more idiosyncratic angle to understand the famed poet.

Abortion and "The Scarlet Letter."

Indigenous Americans knew how to avoid starvation. Colonists were too hungry to notice.

A new book on Claude McKay is part of an effort to place the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance within the Black radical tradition.

Two new studies ask readers to think expansively about art’s involvement in a broader system of racial capitalism.

Black femininity was always considered a hard sell in Hollywood, but Hattie McDaniels and Dorothy became the perfect women to peddle racist stereotypes.

It's the resurrection of an old dream.

A contemporary Atlantic writer reflects on one of the voices from the magazine's archives who helped shape the publication—and the nation.

A contemporary Atlantic writer reflects on one of the voices from the magazine's archives who helped shape the publication—and the nation.

A few weeks in the woods have taught kids to face new situations, make their way among strangers, solve their own problems—and live a more authentic life.

The humble origins and complex future of cowboy competition.

Despite the repeal of Prohibition, alcohol consumption was an enormous political issue for many white American Protestants.

For a burgeoning consumer society, store-bought flags and bonnets offered proof that commercialism could go hand in hand with heartfelt emotion.

One hundred years ago, Ralph Samuelson successfully skied across the waters of Lake Pepin.

How Ralph Ellison got Invisible Man into the canon.

Andrew Liptak on the origins of cosplay.

Bands like L7 and Heavens to Betsy were instrumental to the birth of the grunge scene, but for decades were treated like novelties and sex objects.

It's where legends like Tina Turner and Ray Charles launched their careers.

"To render the world more beautiful than it really is, as so many landscape photographers before Adams routinely did, is dishonest."

A review of how author Jody Rosen depicts the history of the bicycle, mixing the personal with the factual.

A legendary singer on faith, loss, and a family legacy.

A review of "Driving With Strangers: What Hitchhiking Tells Us About Humanity."

The rise of popular literature for children put a story, a role model, and a set of values in a young boy’s pocket.

E.T. was jello in a T-shirt. The Mummy was scratchy potpourri. For Foley artists, deception is an essential part of the enterprise.

It has taken decades for an appreciation of Stein’s crime fiction to really take hold.

Presley never wrote a memoir. Nor did he keep a diary. His music could have been a window into his inner life, but he didn’t even write his songs.

In his comprehensive study of the national anthem, a historian and musicologist examines our complicated relationship to a famously challenging song.

The Wire — both stylish and smart, follows unforgettable characters woven into a striking portrait of the depredations of capitalism in one US city.

Art historians, legislators, and activists have long decried themes of white supremacy in the art collection of the U.S. Capitol. Can this place be decolonized?

Like many patriotic songs of its time, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ was created by fitting a popular tune with topical new lyrics.