The Rise and Fall of the “Sellout”

The history of the epithet, from its rise among leftists and jazz critics and folkies to its recent fall from favor.

A New View of Grenada’s Revolution

The documentary, "The House on Coco Road" tells the little-known story of Grenada's revolution and subsequent U.S. invasion.

Asking the Tough Questions With an 18th-Century Debate Society

Is polygamy justifiable? Is it lawful to eat swine's flesh?

The Georgia Peach May Be Vanishing, but Its Mythology Is Alive and Well

It's been a tough year for the Georgia peach.

Trump Hasn’t Killed Comedy. He’s Killed Our Stupid Idea of Comedy.

You and I have grown up during a period in which comedy became strangely bound up with truth and virtue. Trump has cut the knot.
Two Papasan chairs

Tracing the Elusive History of Pier 1's Ubiquitous 'Papasan' Chair

The bowl-shaped seat's conflicted heritage incorporates the Vietnam War.

Wild Thing: A New Biography of Thoreau

Freeing Thoreau from layers of caricature that have long distorted his legacy.

What the "Crack Baby" Panic Reveals About The Opioid Epidemic

Journalism in two different eras of drug waves illustrates how strongly race factors into empathy and policy.

Combatting Stereotypes About Appalachian Dialects

Language variation is just as diverse within Appalachia as it is outside of the region.
Edythe Eyde

She Risked Jail to Create A Magazine for Lesbians

Decades before "The L Word," Edythe Eyde knew her magazine for lesbians — Vice Versa — was illegal.
A broken pencil lays on top of a standardized testing answer sheet
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What Today’s Education Reformers Can Learn From Henry David Thoreau

Snobbish elitism will hurt their cause.
Howard Coffin hosts President Calvin Coolidge on Sapelo Island, Georgia.

Black Gullah Culture Fascinated Americans Just As President Coolidge Visited

The culture on Sapelo Island, Georgia was unique.
Amelia Earhart and plane.
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Amelia Earhart Taught America to Fly

How Earhart and other women pilots of her day helped overcome Americans’ skepticism about flight.

The Craft Beer Explosion: Why Here? Why Now?

The crucial decade was the 1970s, when the industry’s increased consolidation and ever-blander product collided with key social and economic changes.

The Oral History of Lilith Fair, As Told By the Women Who Lived It

It was a time when promoters were telling women in music: “You can’t put two women on the same bill. People won’t come.”

How Spam Went from Canned Necessity to American Icon

Out-of-the-can branding helped transform World War II’s rations into a beloved household staple.

Closet Archive

A stuffed history of the closet, where the “past becomes space.”

Cinematic Airs

A pair of 1959 films brought "Smell-o-vision" into movies.
Henry Adams writing.

The Miseducation of Henry Adams

Henry Adams's classic autobiography speaks to concerns of privilege, failure, and progress in his rapidly changing world.

This Is Where the Word 'History' Comes From

The word 'history' evolved from an ancient Greek verb, but its definition has changed over the years

Prince's Epic 'Purple Rain' Tour: An Oral History

Members of the Revolution look back on Prince's massive, awe-inspiring 'Purple Rain' tour in our exclusive oral history.

How a Magazine Cover From the '70s Helped Wonder Woman Win Over Feminists

Nearly 45 years after they put the female superhero on the cover of Ms. magazine's first issue, the players behind the cover consider its impact.
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The Secret Gay Business Network of Midcentury America

In the 1940s and 50s, a life of business travel represented a sense of freedom for gay men that would have been impossible in earlier decades.
Katharine Hepburn, an iconic tomboy, cocking a gun in 1935.

Tomboys Were a Trend 100 Years Ago, but Mostly to Bring Up the Birth Rate for White Babies

Fear of diminishing broodstock got the gals going outdoors.

The Woman Whose Words Inflamed the American Revolution

Mercy Otis Warren used her wit to agitate for independence.

Chronicling “America’s African Instrument”

The banjo's history and its symbolism of community, slavery, resistance, and ultimately America itself.
The Miss Portland diner.
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The Making of the American Diner

Today's diners would surprise a 1940s patron. These restaurants were once vulgar boy’s clubs before becoming today's family-friendly establishments.
Billy McComiskey (right) performing Irish music at the Library of Congress with his sons Mikey McComiskey (left) and Patrick McComiskey (center) in 2016. Library of Congress photo by Shawn Miller.

A Few Examples of Dads’ Traditions

Stephanie Hall provides examples of folklore and storytelling within a fathers' relationship to music.

How The White Establishment Waged A 'War' On Chinese Restaurants In The U.S.

Chinese restaurants are now an American staple, but in the past some Americans tried to shut them down.
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How "This Land Is Your Land" Went From Protest Song to Singalong

Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” has lost a bit of its protest oomph—in part because of a decades-long denial of its later verses.