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A depiction of the female reproduction system in an early sex ed film.

Slut-Shaming, Eugenics, and Donald Duck

The scandalous history of sex-ed movies.

Winsor McCay Animates the Sinking of the Lusitania in a Beautiful Propaganda Film

Animation pioneer Winsor McCay also innovated animated propaganda.
Old abandoned cabin in field.
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Creaky Boards and Cobwebs

The history of haunted houses in the movies.
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.
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.

A frame from Zapruder's film.

The Other Shooter: The Saddest and Most Expensive 26 Seconds of Amateur Film Ever Made

For many of us, especially those who weren’t alive when it happened, we’re all watching that event through Zapruder’s lens.

How Barry Levinson’s Diner Changed Cinema, 30 Years Later

With Diner, Barry Levinson turned a film about nothing into a male-bonding classic, launched careers, and spawned hits from Seinfeld to The Office.
Woody Guthrie.

This Land Is Our Land

The Popular Front and American culture.

The Good War on Terror

To fully understand what has gone wrong since 9/11, it is necessary to rewind the tape to that moment just before.
Harper Lee

Harper Lee's Only Recorded Interview About 'To Kill A Mockingbird' [AUDIO]

In 1964, Harper Lee talked with WQXR host Roy Newquist for an interview in New York.
Blue and yellow photo of a woman holding up a sign with the word "Union" on it

Unspooling Norma Rae

The story of Norma Rae, based on the union organizer Crystal Lee Sutton.
Charlie Chaplin stands fearfully in a hall of mirrors.

No Way Out

In broadcasting, the Red Scare turned into a stupid hall of mirrors.
A portrait of Davy Crockett in formal attire is imposed next to an actor in a Davy Crockett costume surrounded by raccoons.

How Davy Crockett, the Rugged Frontiersman Killed at the Alamo, Became an Unlikely American Hero

During his lifetime, Crockett—who went by David, not Davy—shaped his own myth. In the 20th century, his legacy got a boost from none other than Walt Disney.
Billboards advertising the new Superman film in Times Square.

Superman Was Always a Social Justice Warrior

A closer look at the character’s history shows that the latest movie is true to his past.
The shark approaches the boat in a scene from the film Jaws.

The Undeniable Greatness of Jaws

Jaws is a landmark hit, but also a sharp 1970s film shaped by political ire, social critique, and realist cinema’s lasting influence.
Leslie Groves and J. Robert Oppenheimer at Los Alamos in 1942.

General Groves Invented the Atomic Bomb, Not Oppenheimer

Gen. Leslie Groves promoted Oppenheimer as the atomic bomb's inventor to craft a propaganda narrative, obscuring the true creators and moral implications.
John Travolta on the dance floor in the film Saturday Night Fever, 1977.
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Disco and Classical Music: A Copacetic Couple

Despite seeming like strange dance partners, disco and classical make the best music—together.
Still frame from the film Inherit the Wind depicts a legal team sitting in a packed courtroom.
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How Theater Helps Us Remember the Scopes Trial 100 Years Later

'Inherit the Wind' changed how people understand, and remember, the legendary Scopes trial.
A naked woman bathes.

How the Hays Code Took the Sex Out of Hollywood

A group of early 20th-century Catholics sought to impose their standards of morality onto the growing and scandal-ridden Hollywood film industry.
Magazine ad for a shower radio, showing a man happily singing while he bathes.

The Wet History of Media in the Bathroom

How media technologies made themselves at home in one of the most private spaces of modern life.
View of a cast member sitting nude on scaffolding during a performance.

The Sixties Come Back to Life in “Everything Is Now”

J. Hoberman’s teeming history of New York’s avant-garde scene is a fascinating trove of research and a thrilling clamor of voices.
Diagram of a movement experiment studying abnormalities in walking

The Making of the American Culture of Work

Building the assumption of work’s meaningfulness happened across many different institutions and types of media.
Filmmaker Oliver Stone speaks to journalists following a hearing with the House Oversight Committee at the US Capitol on April 1, 2025, in Washington, DC.

Oliver Stone Goes to Washington

Legendary filmmaker Oliver Stone says we’re closer than ever to finally piecing together the mystery of November 22, 1963.
Newspaper clips depicting opinions on recorded music

When Hollywood Union Members Embraced Artificial Music

In 1929, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) railed against the growing trend of recorded music in movie theaters instead of live musicians.
Painting from 1784 of Romans doing a straight-armed salute.

The Revisionist History of the Nazi Salute

Elon Musk’s defenders were quick to claim that his hand motion was actually an ancient “Roman salute” — but that gesture never existed.
A drawing of a person staring at two different smartphones, with robotic arms holding their head in place.

What If the Attention Crisis Is All a Distraction?

From the pianoforte to the smartphone, each wave of tech has sparked fears of brain rot. But the problem isn’t our ability to focus—it’s what we’re focusing on.
Leonardo Dicaprio in "Titanic."

Which Celebrities Popularized (or Tarnished) Baby Names? A Statistical Analysis

Which public figures impacted baby naming trends?
Depictions of possible causes of apocalypse through war, disaster, and climate change.

Apocalypse, Constantly

Humans love to imagine their own demise.
James Baldwin at work on his novel “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone," and smoking.

Refinding James Baldwin

A fascinating new exhibit focuses on Baldwin’s years in Turkey, the country that, in his words, saved his life.
Bob Dylan playing the electric guitar in 1965.
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'A Complete Unknown' Misses a Key Part of 1960s History

The Bob Dylan film forefronts a conflict between acoustic and electric music, while ignoring how the Vietnam War divided folk musicians.
Rep. Stephen Horn, examines a chart showing his grades for each agency's progress on the Y2K computer problem.
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What to Know About Y2K, Before You Watch 'Y2K'

The Year 2000 computer problem continues to nag at us 25 years later.

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