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A photo of murder victim Etan Patz.

How the Disappearance of Etan Patz Changed the Face of New York City Forever

Stranger danger and the specter of childhood.

Rumor Mill

Watching fake news spread in 1942.

“Victory Gardens” Are Back in Vogue. But What Are We Fighting This Time?

“Growing your own vegetables is great; beating Nazis is great. I think we’re all nostalgic for a time when anything was that simple.”

The Revolution Is Only Getting Started

Far from making Americans crave stability, the pandemic underscores how everything is up for grabs.

How the 1918 Pandemic Frayed Social Bonds

The influenza pandemic did long-lasting damage to relationships in some American communities. Could the mistrust have been prevented?

The History of Loneliness

Until a century or so ago, almost no one lived alone; now many endure shutdowns and lockdowns on their own. How did modern life get so lonely?
Girls and boys in a 19th century classroom.

The End of Men, in 1870

In 1790, U.S. men were about twice as likely as U.S. women to be literate. But by 1870, girls were surpassing boys in public schools.

Zombie Flu: How the 1919 Influenza Pandemic Fueled the Rise of the Living Dead

Did mass graves in the influenza pandemic help give rise to the living dead?

The Long History of Parents Complaining About Their Kids’ Homework

“The child is made to study far, far beyond his physical strength.”
Protester at an "America First" rally.

The Great-Granddaddy of White Nationalism

Thomas Dixon’s racist discourse lurks in American politics and society even today.

Why Were the 1970s So… Weird?

When the counterculture optimism receded, things got ugly.

America Is Not Rome. It Just Thinks It Is

Anxieties about Trump’s presidency are the expression of a tradition as venerable as the United States itself.

The False Narratives of the Fall of Rome Mapped Onto America

Gravely inaccurate 19th-century depictions of the destruction of Rome are used to illustrate parallels between Rome and the U.S.
Dr. Strange Love, from the Stanley Kubrick film of the same name

Watching the End of the World

The Doomsday Clock is set to two minutes to midnight. So why don't we make movies about nuclear war anymore?
Daveed Diggs and Lin Manuel Miranda on stage in the musical Hamilton.

Notes Toward an Essay on Imagining Thomas Jefferson Watching a Performance of the Musical "Hamilton"

"But he'd have to acknowledge that the soul of his country is southern; the soul of his country is black."

The Bitter Origins of the Fight Over Big Government

What the battle between Herbert Hoover and FDR can teach us.
Still from the Golden Girls.

Deconstructing HIV and AIDS on The Golden Girls

In 1990, one of America's most beloved sitcoms took on the HIV epidemic with humor and sensitivity.

What War of the Worlds Did

The uncanny realism of Orson Welles’s radio play crystallised a fear of communication technology that haunts us today.
A man alone among the rubble of a city

TV and the Bomb

During the Cold War, nuclear weapons were a frequent plot point on television shows. Fearful depictions in the 1950's became more darkly comedic in the 1960s.
Trump greeting supporters.

White Tribe Rising

What accounts for white tribalism?

New York City, the Perfect Setting for a Fictional Cold War Strike

On Collier’s 1950 cover story, “Hiroshima, USA: Can Anything Be Done About It?”
Parents with four daughters.

Parenting for the “Rough Places” in Antebellum America

Jane Sedgwick’s evolving ideas about her children’s natures and her ability to shape them reflected an emerging American skepticism of the perfectibility.
Nixon campaign button with the slogan "Now more than ever."

Now Less Than Never

A smooth forehead suggests a hard heart.
A political cartoon showing two figures leading donkeys in opposite directions. The donkeys are depicted with the faces of Zachary Taylor and Henry Clay.

Prospects for Partisan Realignment: Lessons from the Demise of the Whigs

What America’s last major party crack-up in the 1850s tells us about the 2010s.
Portrait of justice Samuel Sewall

Affable, He Convicted Salem Innocents

In a novelized biography of Samuel Sewell, a greater mystery than what bedeviled the girls is what motivated a righteous man to condemn them for witchcraft.
Italian Americans looking up, one with a hand over heart, another saluting, in front of a building decorated with American flag bunting.

During World War II, the U.S. Saw Italian-Americans as a Threat to Homeland Security

The executive order that forced Japanese-Americans from their homes also put immigrants from Italy under surveillance.

The History of American Fear

An interview with horror historian David J. Skal.

A Century of Highway Zombies

Since the 1920s, “highway hypnosis” has lulled drivers to disaster.
Aerial view of identical-looking houses in suburbs

Welcome to Disturbia

Why midcentury Americans believed the suburbs were making them sick.

Donald Trump: Rizzo Reborn

Wild talk, elite confusion, working-class cheers — Donald Trump’s divisive presidential campaign comes straight from the master’s playbook.

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