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Sheeeeeeeee-it: The Secret History of the Politics in ‘The Wire’

An exclusive excerpt from the forthcoming oral history of HBO’s beloved drama.
Atticus Finch and children at the diningroom table in the film "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Prop and Property

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

The Real Refugees of Casablanca

When it came to gathering refugees, the waiting room of the US consulate was probably the closest thing to Rick’s Café Américain.
Charlie Chaplin and other actors in a silent film.

Curing (Silent) Movies of Deafness?

In many ways, silent film was an art form entirely different from the "talkies" we enjoy today.
Exhibit

Moving Pictures

Tracing the history of Americans' relationships with the silver screen, from film's earliest days to the cinematic creations of our own times.

Cinematic Airs

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

America’s Dangerously Shallow Understanding of the Holocaust

It’s treated as an all-purpose symbol of evil, not a series of historical events to be reckoned with.

The History of American Fear

An interview with horror historian David J. Skal.

Who Was the Most Prolific Black Filmmaker of the Silent Film Era?

Who was the most prolific African American filmmaker of the silent film era? That’s a question that has us asking, “were there any?”
Orson Welles

A Hundred Years of Orson Welles

He was said to have gone into decline, but his story is one of endurance—even of unlikely triumph.
Scene from Birth of a Nation.

“A Public Menace”

How the fight to ban "The Birth of a Nation" shaped the nascent civil rights movement.
Iron Eyes Cody meets Jimmy Carter, who is wearing a Native American headdress

Among the Tribe of the Wannabes

A closer look at non-Native Americans that appropriate, fabricate, and invent Native identities for themselves.
Gen. Lew Wallace, circa 1861.

The Incredible Life of Lew Wallace, Civil War General and Author of Ben-Hur

The incredible story of how a disgraced Civil War general became one of the best-selling novelists in American history.
Woody Guthrie.

This Land Is Our Land

The Popular Front and American culture.
Filmmaker William Greaves at a desk with turntables, film reels, and screens.
partner

The Black Filmmaker

A look at racism in movie-making.
Charlie Chaplin as a young man, circa 1916

Charlie Chaplin Invents Himself

The tramp picks up his bowler hat and cane for the first time.
Henry Fonda in The Best Man (1984).

President of the Nameless: Alexander Horwath on Henry Fonda for President

A documentary dissects Henry Fonda's character and his role in American cinema.
Graydon Carter sitting next to stacks of ornate, empty chairs.

Vanity Fair’s Heyday

I was once paid six figures to write an article—now what?
Actress moves away from a microphone held a red hand.

How the Red Scare Shaped American Television

The fear of communism silenced actors, writers and producers, altering the entertainment industry for decades.
African American boy watches a parade of white people from a distance.

The Great Resegregation

The Trump administration’s attacks on DEI are aimed at reversing the civil rights movement.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan smiling and waving at victory celebration.

Honey, I Forgot to Duck

Reagan’s capacity to inhabit and generate legend stemmed from his own impulse to substitute pleasing fictions for inconvenient facts.
Painting of Ancient Rome, by Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1757.
partner

All the World’s America’s Stage — Even Ancient Rome

Gladiator and Gladiator II have little to do with the Roman past. But they have a great deal to do with the American present.
Two drawn caricatures of Ronald Reagan's face.

I’m a Historian of the ’80s. I Cannot Tell You How Bizarre the New Ronald Reagan Movie Is.

There’s hagiography, then there’s...whatever this is.
Still from Midnight Cowboy of a man with a gun in Times Square.

How the Movies Captured Times Square’s Grimy Golden Age

Times Square’s decline can be dated to the Depression, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that the bottom fell out.
A freeze-frame of Eddie Murphy smiling at the camera in Beverly Hills Cop.

Bring Back the Freeze-Frame Ending!

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F spends its final moments on a thrilling cinematic trope of the ’80s, one that I would argue is due for a comeback.
A Caesar salad, the restaurant where it originated, a salad being prepared at a restaurant table, and a lettuce farm.

How the Caesar Salad Changed How We Eat

A look at this iconic salad’s origin story and its evolution into a cornerstone of accessible American cooking.
John Wayne plays Genghis Khan in "The Conqueror" (1956)

The John Wayne Flop Linked to High Cancer Rates

"The Conqueror" was filmed downwind of a nuclear test site. A new documentary tells the story of the fatal film set, and the community affected.
Four Black Marvel villains.

Marvel's Black Villain Era

The question of villainy has always been a complicated issue for African Americans in film.
A collage of photographs of the cast and crew of "The Real World" over the show's logo.

How “The Real World” Created Modern Reality TV

The rules governing everything from “Big Brother” to “The Real Housewives” started three decades ago, with a radical experiment on MTV.
A photograph of Bonnie Erickson posing with the Phillie Phanatic mascot.

Miss Piggy Has a Mother

Everyone’s heard of Jim Henson. It’s time to give Bonnie Erickson — creator of beloved Muppets and mascots including the Phillie Phanatic — her due.
Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert giving two thumbs up.

When the Movies Mattered

Siskel and Ebert and the heyday of popular movie criticism.

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