Culture

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.

Bohemian Greenwich Village and the secret club that sparked modern feminism.

White racial victimhood was a primary source of power for settlers who served as shock troops for the nation.

Tales of the treasured South American-born, Southern-bred vegetable (yes, vegetable).

How a phrase tied to authenticity and resistance sometimes just dishes out entertainment.

Before she met John Lennon, she was a significant figure in avant-garde circles and had created masterpieces. Did celebrity deprive her of her due as an artist?

A confluence of cross-cultural foodways fed a series of Colorado’s mining booms, and can still be tasted across the state today.

For the Pentagon, films like "Top Gun: Maverick" are more than just a movie.

From the light-bulb dress to galvanic belts, electrified clothing offered a way to experience and conquer a mysterious and vigorous force.

An interactive visualization of the remarkable diversity of African American music, with essays on the characteristics of each genre and style.

Kim Stanley Robinson on how the High Sierra has influenced his science fiction.

As more women embraced music as a profession, more men became worried that the world of the orchestra was losing its masculinity.

An intimate look at the creation of an iconic album.

The less known story of Richard Nixon and his genuine love and care for his hometown team, the New York Mets.

Biking innovations brought riders freedom. But in a world built for cars, life behind handlebars is both charmed and dangerous.

The strange past and even stranger future of the stationary bicycle.

Who drew that winking chef on your pizza box?

Emily Bingham’s new book explores the roots of the Kentucky Derby’s anthem. It may not be pretty, but it’s important to know.

La Choy cans are a familiar sight in American grocery stores, but behind this 100-year-old brand is a story fit for Hollywood.

For centuries, sleeping outside has been embraced or condemned, depending on who’s doing it.

What honor required of men.

In the early twentieth century, dance marathons were an entire industry—and a surprisingly hazardous business.

Previous generations of dancers arranged their steps into tidy, regular phrases; John Bubbles enjambed over bar lines, multiplying, twisting, tilting, turning.

“I am one who tells the truth and exposes evil and seeks with Beauty and for Beauty to set the world right,” W.E.B. Du Bois said in his June 1926 lecture.

Something unusual happened in New Orleans music around 1895. Was it the birth of the blues?

The iconic songwriter has transcended time and place for 60 years. What should that mean for the rest of us?

The author discusses Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight, racism in magazines, and why she’s so hopeful for the future of music and writing.