iPhone — Bunk History

The Secret Origin Story of the iPhone

An exclusive excerpt from "The One Device" about the engineering fight that created the iPhone as you know it.

by Brian Merchant via The Verge on June 13, 2017

Steve Jobs with Apple II computer.

The Birth of the Personal Computer

A new history of the Apple II charts how computers became unavoidable fixtures of our daily lives.

by Kyle Chayka via The New Yorker on May 18, 2023

Designers On Acid: The Tripping Californians Who Paved The Way To Our Touchscreen World

Ever wondered why email, trash cans, Google Docs and desktops look the way they do? The answer lies in 1960s hippie culture.

by Oliver Wainwright via The Guardian on May 11, 2017

Typewriter

The QWERTY Keyboard Will Never Die. Where Did the 150-Year-Old Design Come From?

The invention’s true origin story has long been the subject of debate.

by Jimmy Stamp, Ellen Wexler via Smithsonian on February 25, 2025

Collage of a hand raised up toward major conservative Christian figures throughout American history.

The Evangelical Question in the History of American Religion

The disturbing conclusion might just be that evangelicalism does not exist.

by Kirsten Sanders via The Hedgehog Review on July 23, 2022

“Linen” postcard, depicting cars parked along a city street, in front of "Chop Suey" building, where people are standing outside.

Street Views

Photographs of empty city streets went out of fashion, but lately are coming back again. What's lost in these images of vacant streets?

by Kim Beil via Cabinet on October 14, 2021

A walkman and a headphone set

The Walkman, Forty Years On

The gadget that taught the world to socially distance.

by Matt Alt via The New Yorker on June 29, 2020

When Televisions Were Radioactive

Anxieties about the effects of screens on human health are hardly new, but the way the public addresses the problems has changed.

by Susan Murray via The Atlantic on September 23, 2018

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