Culture

The Courage and Comic Genius of Groundbreaking Female Stand-Ups

A biography of Stevie Nicks does little to dispel the magic.

Retracing the 1947 journey that John Steinbeck and Robert Capa took to introduce America to Soviet life.

For every amusingly wrong prediction in “Toward the Year 2018,” there’s one unnervingly close to the mark.

Beyond three strands of hair interlocked around each other, there's a complicated story.

Women have long borrowed from men’s dress to claim the authority associated with it. It hasn’t always worked.

How I learned to fiddle my way through America's deeply troubling history.

But maybe those midcentury classics weren't really Christmas songs at all.

How Charles Dickens' unpleasant trip to Boston led to "A Christmas Carol."

Rosie the Riveter wasn’t the only woman who pitched in on the homefront.

Though the practice is now more associated with Halloween, spooking out your family is well within the Christmas spirit.

Fact-checking the lyrics of Miranda's new song.

Looking at the reporter’s life through five houses in Baltimore.

The dark origins of the first mascots.

For decades, the NFL has used patriotism to advance its interests. Now fans expect it to be something it never was.

The legacy of the talented singer, songwriter, and producer who died at age twenty-six.

Co-writer Steve Cropper and other collaborators take a new look back at the legendary song, recorded just weeks before the singer’s tragic 1967 death.

The difficult-to-wear skirt helped to break down class barriers.

The history of Time's 'Person of the Year' exemplifies the problem that led to this year's winner.

Advertisements for the soft drink presented it as a soda revolution.

The house in American cinema, from the plantation to Chavez Ravine.

The very weird tale of how American board games used to teach you how to get to heaven, and later, how to make bank.

In his later years, the famous writer surrounded himself with a bevy of adoring adolescents.

When it came to gathering refugees, the waiting room of the US consulate was probably the closest thing to Rick’s Café Américain.

How a beloved song with origins in 16th-century Europe captures both a holiday's spirit of unity and a country's legacy of exclusion.

An enigmatic 1898 work about the progress of man.

The first frozen Tofurky meal was a hard sell with retailers and a mad success with the customers who managed to find it.

In the 19th century, puddings were as popular and widespread as pasta dishes are today.

One obvious change occurred at around the turn of the 19th century, when the rapid expansion of the canning industry brought canned pumpkin to every market.

One film fan's struggle to reconcile the things she loves with the things she knows to be true.