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The Return of American Fascism

How a legacy of violent nationalism haunts the republic in the age of Trump.
by Sarah Churchwell via New Statesman on September 2, 2020
From left, actors Bernnadette Stanis, John Amos and Ja'Net Dubois accept the Impact Award for “Good Times” at the 2006 TV Land Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
partner

Television Is Already Moving to Address Racism — But Will the Effort Last?

Past network efforts to address racism faded as uprisings stopped dominating headlines.
by Kate L. Flach via Made By History on June 11, 2020
A shot from behind of Rush Limbaugh giving a speech at a Make America Great Again rally.

The Right’s Reign on the Air Waves

How talk radio established the power of the modern Republican Party.
by Jake Bittle via The New Republic on June 1, 2020
Cartoon by Joey Perr; a man in a top hat and holding a monacle studies a sign broadcasting Ella Fitzgerald as music notes fill the air.

What’s Going On

The vexed history of "Night Life" in the New Yorker.
by Phillip Golub via The Drift on May 22, 2020
Lou Gehrig holding a baseball bat

How Baseball Players Became Celebrities

Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth transformed America’s pastime by becoming a new kind of star.
by Louis Menand via The New Yorker on May 21, 2020

The Thrill of the Chase

Why are Americans so obsessed with tornadoes? A brief tour of twister culture has the answer.
by Rebecca Onion via PBS on May 12, 2020

If You Think Quarantine Life Is Weird Today, Try Living It in 1918

From atomizer crazes to stranded actor troupes to school by phone, daily life during the flu pandemic was a trip.
by Michael Waters via Slate on April 17, 2020
Barricades marking a baseball field as closed.
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On What Should Have Been Opening Day, America Needs Baseball More Than Ever

When it's safe to return, baseball can play a big role in uniting Americans and providing comfort.
by Randy Roberts, Johnny Smith via Made By History on March 26, 2020
Stan and Mardi Timm show off Johnson Smith novelties they’ve collected. Stan wears X-Ray Spex and holds a Tark Electric Razor. Mardi wears a sailor’s hat that says “Kiss Me Honey I Won’t Bite” and holds a Little Gem Lung Tester and Bust Developer.

Fun Delivered: World’s Foremost Experts on Whoopee Cushions and Silly Putty Tell All

The Timms provide the history behind their collection of 20th century mail-order novelty items.
by Lisa Hix via Collectors Weekly on March 17, 2020
Minskoff Theatre entrance.

Shakespeare Wrote His Best Works During a Plague

The qualities for which live theater is celebrated—audiences responding with laughter, tears, gasps, and coughs—accelerate its danger.
by Daniel Pollack-Pelzner via The Atlantic on March 14, 2020

What Should a Slavery Epic Do?

If there’s anything the 2010s taught us, it’s that there is no getting these stories right, no honoring with grace the dead and ghosts.
by Lauren Michele Jackson via Vulture on December 26, 2019
Rush Limbaugh.

From Entertainment to Outrage: On the Rise of Rush Limbaugh and Conservative Talk Radio

How the alienated margins arrived at the center of American politics.
by Brian Rosenwald via Literary Hub on November 5, 2019

Who Was Tank Kee?

He wanted to be an ally of the Chinese immigrant. By pretending to be one himself.
by Christopher Decou via Contingent on October 28, 2019
Lost World movie poster

The 1925 Dinosaur Movie That Paved the Way for King Kong

During a slow day at work, a young marble cutter named Willis O’Brien began sculpting tiny T-Rex figurines.
by Kristin Hunt via JSTOR Daily on October 10, 2019

Selling Slashers to Teen Girls

The heroines of 1970s and 80s teen horror movies were traditionally feminine, tough, and sexually confident.
by Livia Gershon, Richard Nowell via JSTOR Daily on September 25, 2019
Rush Limbaugh sits next to Newt Gingrich during NBC's "Meet the Press" taping on Sunday Nov. 12, 1995.

They Just Wanted to Entertain

AM stations mainly wanted to keep listeners engaged—but ended up remaking the Republican Party.
by Brian Rosenwald via The Atlantic on August 21, 2019
Young men play a shooting video game in a French arcade (2009).
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Why We Scapegoat Video Games for Mass Violence and Why It’s a Mistake

It lets us avoid harder questions about our culture.
by Carly A. Kocurek via Made By History on August 9, 2019

Nashville Contra Jaws, 1975

In their time, “Jaws” and “Nashville” were regarded as Watergate films, and both were in production as the Watergate disaster played its final act.
by J. Hoberman via Longreads on August 7, 2019

The Life of Afong Moy, the First Chinese Woman in America

Contending with the orientalist fears and fantasies of a young nation.
by Nancy E. Davis via Literary Hub on August 2, 2019

What P.T. Barnum Understood About America

Barnum called himself the “Prince of Humbugs,” which left open the possibility that one day there would arise a king.
by Elizabeth Kolbert via The New Yorker on July 29, 2019

Candy Land Was Invented for Polio Wards

A schoolteacher created the popular board game, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, for quarantined children.
by Alexander B. Joy via The Atlantic on July 28, 2019

The Spectacular P. T. Barnum

The great showman taught us to love hyperbole, fake news, and a good hoax. A century and a half later, the show has escaped the tent.
by James Parker via The Atlantic on July 19, 2019

For 40 Years, Crashing Trains Was One of America’s Favorite Pastimes

From 1896 until the 1930s, showmen would travel the country staging wrecks at state fairs.
by Justin Franz via Atlas Obscura on July 1, 2019

Yes, Politicians Wore Blackface. It Used to be All-American ‘Fun.’

Minstrel shows were once so mainstream that even presidents watched them.
by Rhae Lynn Barnes via Washington Post on February 8, 2019
Anthony Scaramucci
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The Revolving Door Between Reality TV and the Trump Administration

Why Anthony Scaramucci’s turn on “Celebrity Big Brother” shouldn’t come as a surprise.
by Kathryn Cramer Brownell via Made By History on January 15, 2019
Lillie Western.

Lillie Western, Banjo Queen

The maleness of guitar culture stretches across decades and genres, but necessary corrections to the record are being made.
by Rachel Miller via Nursing Clio on January 10, 2019

How Mark Burnett Resurrected Donald Trump as an Icon of American Success

With “The Apprentice,” the TV producer mythologized Trump as the ultimate titan, paving his way to the Presidency.
by Patrick Radden Keefe via The New Yorker on December 27, 2018
Gettysburg cyclorama building.

Cycloramas: The Virtual Reality of the 19th Century

Immersive displays brought 19th century spectators to far-off places and distant battles. The way they portrayed history, however, was often inaccurate.
by Allison C. Meier, Charles G. Markantes, Michael Cunningham via JSTOR Daily on December 16, 2018
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.
by Claire Sewell via Nursing Clio on December 4, 2018
Poster for Barnum and Bailey circus.

The American Circus in All Its Glory

A new documentary tells the history of the big top.
by Joseph Bottum, Justin L. Blessinger via Humanities on October 19, 2018
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