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Lithograph of the 1870 Great Mississippi Steamboat Race.

When Deadly Steamboat Races Enthralled America

Already prone to boiler explosions that regularly killed scores of passengers, steamboats were pushed to their limits in races that valued speed over safety.
by Greg Daugherty via Smithsonian on April 26, 2023
Painting called "Hudibras’ Discomfiture at the Hands of the Skimmington," by Francis Le Piper, seventeenth century.

American Charivari

The history and context of the made-up aesthetics of the early Ku Klux Klan.
by Devin Thomas O’Shea via Lapham’s Quarterly on April 24, 2023
A painting of a Victorian-style room with an ornate bookshelf and books sitting on a table.

A Degenerate Assemblage

How Charles Lamb and his collection of well-loved books inspired a generation of American collectors.
by Anthony Grafton via London Review of Books on April 13, 2023
Drawing of performers and different audio technologies.

The End of the Music Business

A century of recorded music has culminated in the infinite archive of streaming platforms. But is it really better for listeners?
by Ethan Iverson via The Nation on April 10, 2023
Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo with his wife Cleo at the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings in 1947. Bertoldt Brecht can be seen in the background.

Monopolywood: Why the Paramount Accords Should Not Be Repealed

If studios can again harness the income from exhibition, we may see a return of traditional vertical integration.
by Vaughn Joy via Red Pepper on March 13, 2023
Patrick ‘Ace’ Ntsoelengoe in action for the Toronto Blizzard.

How Apartheid, European Racism and Pelé Helped Cultivate a Culture of Diversity in US Soccer

Major League Soccer – which starts the 2023 season on Feb. 25 – is deemed the most diverse league in the US. Its predecessor, the NASL, led the way.
by John M. Sloop via The Conversation on February 21, 2023
German observation balloon launched near the Somme, September 1916.
partner

Why a Spy Balloon Inspires Such Fear and Fascination

When it comes to protecting our personal privacy, we’re not in Kansas anymore.
by Alison Byerly via HNN on February 19, 2023
Harold "Red" Grange, one of the biggest stars of the early NFL.

NFL Television Broadcasting and the Federal Courts

The NFL's control over entertainment.
by Jake Kobrick via Federal Judicial Center on January 24, 2023
Looney Tunes "That's all Folks" on a TV screen.

HBO Max’s Great Looney Tunes Purge

Hundreds of classic cartoons vanished without warning. How can you raise your kids on favorites you can’t access anymore?
by Sam Thielman via Slate on January 11, 2023
An advertisement for Melbourne the "Ohio Rain Wizard."
partner

Wanting to Believe In Rainmakers

A form of entertainment and outgrowth of desperation, self-styled rainmakers allowed the powerless people of the Great Plains to seemingly take action.
by Matthew Wills, Julie Courtwright via JSTOR Daily on December 18, 2022
Collage of eyes.

Who’s Watching

The evolution of the right to privacy.
by Marina Manoukian via The Baffler on December 1, 2022
Johnny Cash.
partner

Far From Folsom Prison: More to Music Inside

Johnny Cash wasn't the only superstar to play in prisons. Music, initially allowed as worship, came to be seen as a rockin' tool of rehabilitation.
by Morgan Godvin via JSTOR Daily on November 29, 2022
Woman standing on a wall of books, holding a megaphone, 1919.

Choice Reading

Nineteenth-century New York City was filled with books, bibliophilia, and marginalia.
by Denise Gigante via Lapham’s Quarterly on November 21, 2022
Illustration of fantasy elements including a maze and a crystal ball from a "choose-your-own-adventure" scene from a book.

The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books

How a best-selling series gave young readers a new sense of agency.
by Leslie Jamison via The New Yorker on September 12, 2022
Map of Phillips Radio by Walter Eckhard (1935).

The Spirit of Radio

Explore some new and old radio maps in our collection, and learn a bit about the history of radio communications.
by Rachel Sharer via Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center on September 2, 2022
Lithograph of a a band playing and upper-class people dancing in a park.

The Scandalous Roots of the Amusement Park

The "Pleasure Gardens" of the 18th Century captivated the public with a heady mix of fantasy and vice.
by Cath Pound via BBC News on August 21, 2022
A juke joint on the circuit in Clarksdale, Mississippi, 1939

Inside the ‘Chitlin Circuit,’ a Jim Crow-Era Safe Space for Black Performers

It's where legends like Tina Turner and Ray Charles launched their careers.
by Adrian Miller via Atlas Obscura on June 28, 2022
Illustration with a 1950 Raleigh bicycle

Cycles of History: On Jody Rosen’s “Two Wheels Good”

A review of how author Jody Rosen depicts the history of the bicycle, mixing the personal with the factual.
by Jonathan Liebson via Los Angeles Review of Books on June 26, 2022
A parrot and a monkey superimposed over a map of Northern California. Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz.

The Monkeys and Parrots Caught Up in the California Gold Rush

Researchers combed through 19th-century records and found evidence of the species, which joined a menagerie that included Galapagos tortoises and kangaroos.
by Bridget Alex via Smithsonian on June 16, 2022
The icons for mobile phone apps Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
partner

‘Keeping it Real’ Has Lost its True Meaning

How a phrase tied to authenticity and resistance sometimes just dishes out entertainment.
by Megan Ward via Made By History on June 8, 2022
A horse and jockey race by the crowd at the Kentucky Derby.

The Complicated Story Behind The Kentucky Derby’s Opening Song

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.
by Rebecca Gayle Howell via Washington Post on May 3, 2022
Photo of Danyel Smith.

Danyel Smith Tells the History of Black Women in Pop Music

The author discusses Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight, racism in magazines, and why she’s so hopeful for the future of music and writing.
by Emily J. Lordi, Danyel Smith via The New Yorker on April 17, 2022
Women deejays at Shyvers Multiphone studio in the Seattle-Tacoma area.

The First Music Streaming Service

In the 1930s, a Seattle entrepreneur created a successful analog streaming platform—and ran it out of a drugstore.
by Ted Gioia via The Honest Broker on April 4, 2022
Enemy monsters in first-person shooter game

A History of 'Hup,' The Jump Sound in Every Video Game

You can hear it in your head: the grunt your character makes when hopping a fence or leaping into battle. Its sonic roots trace all the way back to 1973.
by Bryan Menegus via Wired on March 26, 2022
1950s American family watching TV.

How American Culture Ate the World

A new book explains why Americans know so little about other countries.
by Dexter Fergie via The New Republic on March 24, 2022
Silver medalists Karen Chen and Nathan Chen pose for a photo after the team event in the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing.
partner

The ‘Miracle on Ice’ Shaped the Olympics Coverage We’re Seeing Every Night

How rooting for American athletes became part of Olympic TV coverage.
by Bruce Berglund via Made By History on February 9, 2022
Screen frame from the television program Home Improvement, depicting parents chastising their teenage son.

In the ‘90s the U.S. Government Paid TV Networks to Weave “Anti-Drug” Messaging Into Their Plot Lines

These storylines portrayed those addicted to drugs and alcohol as lunatics whose only cure can come from punitive measures, abstinence, and “tough love.”
by Gabe Levine-Drizin via The Column on December 27, 2021
People sitting on a hill overlooking a harbor

How We Became Weekly

The week is the most artificial and recent of our time counts yet it’s impossible to imagine our shared lives without it.
by David Hinkin via Aeon on November 30, 2021
Woman sitting on her living room sofa, 1920s; the room also includes a coffee table, a chair, lamps, paintings, and a houseplant.

Vintage Photos Show What Living Rooms Looked Like Before TV

Photos reveal how people structured their living rooms before the television became widespread.
via Vintage Everyday on November 23, 2021
Action shot of the Detroit Lions playing the Chicago Bears in 1934.

How the NFL Popularized Thanksgiving Day Football

The NFL holiday tradition took off in 1934, when the Detroit Lions hosted the unbeaten Chicago Bears in a game broadcast nationally on radio.
by Chris Mueller via HISTORY on November 10, 2021
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