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popular culture

activities, experiences, or artistic products that pervade society in a particular time

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The 1960s Photographer Who Documented the Peace Sign as a Political Symbol

Jim Marshall photographed the spread of the peace sign between 1961 and 1968, with his images now published for the first time by Reel Art Press.
by Allison C. Meier via Hyperallergic on October 20, 2017

Is Ron Chernow's Ulysses S. Grant biography "OK"?

On October 15th, a tweet by Bunk contributing editor Kevin Levin touched off this fascinating exchange between several historians on the subject of popular history. Among the topics it covered were novelty, craft, context... and the musical Hamilton.
by William Hogeland, Kevin M. Levin, Megan Kate Nelson, T. J. Stiles, Josh Feigenbaum, Meghan Roberts, Brooks Simpson via Twitter on October 16, 2017

40 Years Ago: A Look Back at 1977

A visual trip back in time to 1977.
by Alan Taylor via The Atlantic on October 16, 2017

When Cardigans Were Battle Attire

Your favorite light sweater was worn to war, before getting picked up by academics, Mr. Rogers, and Kurt Cobain.
by Jennifer Le Zotte via Racked on October 3, 2017
Otis Redding

Five Magnificent Years

A recent Otis Redding biography examines what was and what could have been, 50 years after tragedy struck.
by Geoffrey O'Brien via New York Review of Books on September 10, 2017
Lithograph book illustration of pirates of America.

A Treasure Trove of Trials

This collection of piracy trials comprises documents that were published before 1923 and that are part of the holdings of the Law Library of Congress.
by Francisco Macías via Library of Congress on September 5, 2017
Lin Manuel Miranda and fellow actor dressed in colonial era clothing

How to Love Problematic Pop Culture

Revisiting the contradictions in "Hamilton" – and in the pushback to criticisms of the beloved musical.
by Lyra Monteiro via Medium on August 27, 2017

How a Recording-Studio Mishap Shaped '80s Music

You know that punchy percussive sound popularized by Phil Collins and Prince? This is where it came from.
by Estelle Caswell via Vox Earworm on August 18, 2017
Lizzie Borden.

Why We’re So Obsessed With Lizzie Borden’s 40 Whacks

Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother were brutally murdered, possibly by Lizzie herself, in August 1892. Why are we still dissecting the crime?
by Erin Blakemore, Ann Schofield via JSTOR Daily on August 4, 2017

Combatting Stereotypes About Appalachian Dialects

Language variation is just as diverse within Appalachia as it is outside of the region.
by Kirk Hazen via The Conversation on July 13, 2017

Looking Back to Lincoln

During the Great Depression, Americans found solace in history.
by Fishko Files via WNYC on May 11, 2017
Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield

The Story of Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, America's First Black Pop Star

The 19th century singer forced critics and audiences to reconcile their ears with their racism.
by Adam Gustafson via The Conversation on February 7, 2017

A Short History of the Tomboy

With roots in race and gender discord, has the “tomboy” label worn out its welcome?
by Elizabeth King via The Atlantic on January 5, 2017
Cartoon drawing of Francis Pharcellus Church.

The Journalist Who Understood The True Meaning Of Christmas

“Yes, Virginia” is the most reprinted newspaper piece in American history, and this guy wrote it.
by Ilana Gordon via OMGFacts on December 16, 2016
Search bar for "Green's Dictionary of Slang; Five hundred years of the vulgar tongue"

Green’s Dictionary of Slang

A web dictionary devoted to historical English slang—five hundred years of the vulgar tongue.
by Jonathon Green on October 12, 2016
Portrait of Alexander Hamilton

The Hamilton Cult

Has the celebrated musical eclipsed the man himself?
by Robert Sullivan via Harper’s on October 1, 2016

Inventing the Beach: The Unnatural History of a Natural Place

The seashore used to be a scary place, then it became a place of respite and vacation. What happened?
by Daniela Blei via Smithsonian on June 23, 2016

What Gun Control Advocates Can Learn From Abolitionists

Slave ownership was once as entrenched in American life as gun ownership.
by Rebecca Onion, Manisha Sinha via Slate on June 14, 2016
Valium pills
partner

Mother's Little Helper

How feminists transformed Valium from a wonder drug to a symbol of medical sexism.
via BackStory on May 20, 2016
Smiling porcelain salt and pepper shaker figures called "the Pilgrim Pair," and their children, "Lilgrims," atop two academic books about Puritan history entitled "The Barbarous Years" and "Seasons of Misery."

Come On, Lilgrim

The gap between academic and popular understandings of early American topics is an enduring challenge for early Americanists.
by Jonathan Beecher Field via Commonplace on December 16, 2015
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.
by Alex Ross via The New Yorker on November 30, 2015

By Which Melancholy Occurrence: The Disaster Prints of Nathaniel Currier, 1835–1840

Why Americans living in uncertain times bought so many sensational images of shipwrecks and fires.
by Genoa Shepley via Panorama on October 14, 2015
partner

How a Standoff with the Black Panthers Fueled the Rise of SWAT

SWAT teams were created in the 1960s to combat violent events. Since then, the specialized teams have morphed into something very different.
via Retro Report on August 5, 2015
A collage of processed food, including Tang, a frozen dinner, Spam, and Jello, over an image of Spaghettios.

SpaghettiOs and the Age of Processed Foods

After World War II, canned foods became more and more common, along with a smorgasbord of pre-prepared, processed foods such as SpaghettiOs.
by Aaron George via Origins on May 12, 2015
Go on Monopoly board

The Twisted History of Your Favorite Board Game

An interview with Mary Pilon about her new book, ‘The Monopolists,’ which uncovers the real story about how Monopoly became the game it is today.
by Mary Pilon, Jessica Gross via Longreads on March 1, 2015

So You Think You Know the Banjo?

If you think that the banjo can teach us nothing about American history, Southern culture and modern race relations, then you certainly don't know the banjo.
by Jenna Strucko via The Bitter Southerner on January 20, 2015
A bearded man dressed as a lumberjack with an axe resting on his shoulder.

Lumbersexuality and Its Discontents

One hundred years ago, a crisis in urban masculinity created the lumberjack aesthetic. Now it's making a comeback.
by Willa Brown via The Atlantic on December 10, 2014

How Watermelons Became a Racist Trope

Before its subversion in the Jim Crow era, the fruit symbolized black self-sufficiency.
by Bill Black via The Atlantic on December 8, 2014
President John F. Kennedy, his wife, Jackie, and their son John Jr. on his Christening day, Dec. 8, 1960.

Snapshots of History

Wildly popular accounts like @HistoryInPics are bad for history, bad for Twitter, and bad for you.
by Rebecca Onion via Slate on February 5, 2014
Computer keys 'Control," "Alt," and "Delete."

The History of CTRL + ALT + DELETE

It started as a trade secret. Then it became an icon.
by Virginia Hughes via Mental Floss on July 12, 2013
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