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Foolish Questions
Screwball comics wage a gleeful war on civilization and its discontents—armed mostly with water-pistols, stink bombs, and laughing gas.
by
Art Spiegelman
via
New York Review of Books
on
February 25, 2020
When Dorothy Parker Got Fired from Vanity Fair
Jonathan Goldman explores the beginnings of the Algonquin Round Table and how Parker's determination to speak her mind gave her pride of place within it.
by
Jonathan Goldman
via
The Public Domain Review
on
February 6, 2020
To Be Mary MacLane
In the early twentieth century, Mary MacLane’s genre-defying books earned the scorn of critics and the adoration of readers across the nation.
by
Penelope Rosemont
via
The Paris Review
on
December 5, 2019
When W.E.B. Du Bois Made a Laughing Stock of a White Supremacist
Why the Jim Crow-era debate between the African-American leader and a ridiculous, Nazi-loving racist isn’t as famous as Lincoln-Douglas.
by
Ian Frazier
via
The New Yorker
on
August 19, 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
partner
The Faces of Racism
A history of blackface and minstrelsy in American culture.
via
BackStory
on
February 8, 2019
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
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.
by
Reba A. Wissner
via
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
on
August 13, 2018
How Many Liquor Bottles Can You Find in This 1931 Map of Chicago?
The "Gangland Map" features drunken fish and goofy jokes alongside descriptions of brutal murders.
by
Cara Giaimo
via
Atlas Obscura
on
June 4, 2018
Remembering Philip Roth
Philip Roth's work could only have been written by someone who came of age during the peak of postwar liberalism.
by
Laura Tanenbaum
via
Jacobin
on
May 26, 2018
Joking Aside, Rube Goldberg Got Tech Right
Goldberg's ridiculous contraptions demonstrated his canny understanding of the limits of invention.
by
Ben Marks
via
Collectors Weekly
on
March 30, 2018
The History Department Bracket Is Here and It Has Tenure
There isn’t much turnover with these selections.
by
Russ Oates
via
SBNation.com
on
March 13, 2018
The ‘SNL’ Sketch That Predicted Our Nerd Overlords
In 1986, William Shatner told a roomful of spoof Trekkies to "get a life."
by
Alan Siegel
via
The Ringer
on
January 31, 2018
A Productive-Ass Suffix
An early use of the spoonerism "bass-ackwards" turns up in an 1840s letter by a young Abraham Lincoln.
by
Ben Zimmer
via
Language Log
on
January 29, 2018
Want to Hear a Dirty Joke? Get a Woman to Tell It
The Courage and Comic Genius of Groundbreaking Female Stand-Ups
by
Eileen Pollack
via
Literary Hub
on
January 4, 2018
The Origin of Silicon Valley's Dysfunctional Attitude Toward Hate Speech
Today, Silicon Valley is still arguing Stanford's 1989 debate over hate speech.
by
Noam Cohen
via
The New Yorker
on
November 28, 2017
Confederacy: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
John Oliver reflects on the history of Confederate monuments.
by
John Oliver
via
Last Week Tonight
on
October 8, 2017
Jump-Rope Songs Were Once a Cornerstone of American Folklore. Now It’s Memes.
The Library of Congress is turning to the internet for a new generation of shared culture.
by
Jacob Brogan
via
Slate
on
September 4, 2017
Spectacle of Hate
From cross-dressing to white robes to Tiki torches, what we can learn from white supremacists’ long history of carefully cultivating their own aesthetic.
by
Rebecca Onion
via
Slate
on
August 17, 2017
Donald Trump Bullsh*ts His Way Through Civil War History
"Why could that one not have been worked out?"
via
Funny Or Die
on
May 1, 2017
How 19th Century Techno-Skeptics Ridiculed Thomas Edison
At his peak, newspapers loved to tease the inventor. They also feared him.
by
Cara Giaimo
via
Atlas Obscura
on
February 28, 2017
The Complicated Relevance of Dr. Seuss's Political Cartoons
The children’s author’s early works have been finding a new audience among those opposed to the "America First" policies of President Trump.
by
Sophie Gilbert
via
The Atlantic
on
January 31, 2017
Strummin’ on the Old Banjo
How an African instrument got a racist reinvention.
by
Ben Marks
via
Collectors Weekly
on
October 4, 2016
Pretty Garrotte: Why We Need Dorothy Parker
While she always insisted that she wasn’t a ‘real’ critic, Dorothy Parker is more astute than most on matters of style.
by
Kasia Boddy
via
London Review of Books
on
September 3, 2025
Why Do Fascists Dream Of Alligators?
Long before the new detention facility in Florida, the reptile has featured in the fantasies of Southern racists.
by
Asher Elbein
via
Defector
on
July 9, 2025
The History of Advice Columns Is a History of Eavesdropping and Judging
How an Ovid-quoting London broadsheet from the late seventeenth century spawned “Dear Abby,” Dan Savage, and Reddit’s Am I the Asshole.
by
Merve Emre
via
The New Yorker
on
June 16, 2025
Justice David Souter Was the Antithesis of the Present
His jurisprudence has been overshadowed by that of his showier colleagues but was a model of principled restraint.
by
Jeannie Suk Gersen
via
The New Yorker
on
May 15, 2025
The Late, Great American Newspaper Columnist
The life and career of Murray Kempton attest to the disappearing ideals of a dying industry. But his example suggests those ideals are not beyond resurrection.
by
Roz Milner
via
The Bulwark
on
May 9, 2025
The Pen Is Mightier
Eight ways to understand the literary-political impact of William F. Buckley Jr.
by
Steven Hayward
via
Political Questions
on
April 15, 2025
Right Here, Right Now: Jesus Jones and the Post-Cold War Moment
For a brief window at the end of the Cold War, British alt-rock band Jesus Jones tapped into global feelings of optimism and hope.
by
Dion Georgiou
via
The Saturday Evening Post
on
December 24, 2024
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