reading — Bunk History

We Used to Read Things in This Country

Technology changes us—and it is currently changing us for the worse.

by Noah McCormack via The Baffler on October 27, 2025

The Dawn of the Post-Literate Society

And the end of civilisation.

by James Marriott via Cultural Capital on September 19, 2025

Scenes of Reading on the Early Portrait Postcard

When picture postcards began circulating with a frenzy at the turn of the 20th century, a certain motif proved popular: photographs of people posed with books.

by Melina Moe, Victoria Nebolsin via The Public Domain Review on July 31, 2024

Interior of a Kitchen, by Eliphalet Fraser Andrews.

Mastering the Art of Reading an Old Recipe

For every moment of historical significance, there is a figure — often hidden — who fed the figures we do remember.

by Avery Blankenship via HNN on July 9, 2024

Mary Cassatt painting of a nurse reading to a little girl.

Reading About Reading

Read up on the history of books.

Longshoremen on their lunch hour at the San Francisco docks.

Jack London, "Martin Eden" and The Liberal Education in US life

In Jack London’s novel, Martin Eden personifies debates still raging over the role and purpose of education in American life.

by Nick Romeo via Aeon on May 3, 2024

Portrait of James G. Birney.

The Power of Pamphlets in the Anti-Slavery Movement

Black-authored print was central to James G. Birney’s conversion from enslaver to abolitionist and presidential candidate.

by Marcy J. Dinius via JSTOR Daily on March 25, 2024

Television with LeVar Burton holding book and surrounded by rainbows.

How An Untested, Cash-Strapped TV Show About Books Became An American Classic

Despite facing political headwinds and raising 'suspicion' among publishers, 'Reading Rainbow' introduced generations of American kids to books.

by Jonathan Taylor via Los Angeles Times on July 11, 2023

Books from the 1990s.

What Literature Do We Study From the 1990s?

The turn-of-the-century literary canon, using data from college syllabi.

by Matthew Daniels via The Pudding on January 11, 2023

Newspaper article titled 'Novel-reading a cause of female depravity'

Why Novels Will Destroy Your Mind

Back in the 18th and 19th centuries, novels were regarded as the video games or TikTok of their age — shallow, addictive, and dangerous.

by Clive Thompson via Medium on September 9, 2021

"Dear America" books with Black girls on the covers.

How the Dear America Series Taught Young Girls They Had a Place In History

History classes made it seem like young girls wouldn't ever change the course of the world. These books taught them that they could.

by Angela Lashbrook via Refinery29 on July 19, 2021

Thomas Edison exhibiting the phonograph to visitors at his laboratory

Bottled Authors

The predigital dream of the audiobook.

by Matthew Rubery via Cabinet on March 16, 2021

A portrait of David Ruggles, who opened the first black-owned bookstore in America, between two white men.

The First Black-Owned Bookstore and the Fight for Freedom

Black abolitionist David Ruggles opened the first Black-owned bookstore in 1834, pointing the way to freedom—in more ways than one.

by Vickie Cox Edmondson, Dorothy B. Porter, Ashawnta Jackson, Archie B. Caroll via JSTOR Daily on July 10, 2020

Should Walt Whitman Be #Cancelled?

Black America talks back to "The Good Gray Poet" at 200.

by Lavelle Porter via JSTOR Daily on April 17, 2019

Illlustration: Mrs. Auld teaches fredrick Douglass to read

A Frederick Douglass Reading List

Reading recommendations from a lifelong education.

by Jaime Fuller via Lapham’s Quarterly on February 21, 2019

Book shelves full of books

Book Culture and the Rise of Liberal Religion

The rise of liberal religion in the United States.

by Matthew S. Hedstrom via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on January 29, 2013

Atlantic Monthly title page from the 1850s.

Doomscrolling in the 1850s

"The Atlantic" was born in an era of information overload.

by Jake Lundberg via The Atlantic on November 13, 2025

Trees starting to turn colors, in front of mountains and a blue cloudy sky.

My Side of the Mountain

On Jean Craighead George’s most famous book, Walden’s legacy, and the dream of togetherness.

by Jennifer Kabat via Orion Magazine on July 30, 2025

Not Just the Dog-Eared Pages

Considering a novel as a whole, rather than as the sum of its parts, was an approach favored by mid-20th-century literary critics. It was also useful for fighting book bans.

by Anthony Aycock via HNN on June 3, 2025

Karl Marx gazing off into the distance while surrounded by books

Karl Marx’s Legacy in the United States

For two centuries, Karl Marx’s thoughts have significantly impacted US politics. In turn, his close study of the US informed the development of his ideas.

by Andrew Hartman, Cal Turner, Sara Van Horn via Jacobin on May 18, 2025

Illustration of characters from "The Great Gatsby."

How “The Great Gatsby” Took Over High School

The classroom staple turns a hundred.

by Alexander Manshel via The New Yorker on April 29, 2025

Green light in a dark sky.

On My Grandfather’s Novel: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby" at 100

Reflections on the literary legacy of a timeless American novel.

by Eleanor Lanahan via Literary Hub on April 7, 2025

A photograph of Frederick Douglass imposed on the cover of The Columbian Orator by Caleb Bingham.

The Columbian Orator Taught Nineteenth-Century Americans How to Speak

For strivers like Lincoln, guides to rhetoric had a special currency in the nineteenth century.

by Danny Heitman via Humanities on April 2, 2025

A portrait of Edgar Allen Poe.

The Most Overrated Writer in America

Do people really like Edgar Allen Poe?

by Naomi Kanakia via Woman of Letters on March 18, 2025

Zora Neale Hurston’s Rediscovered Novel

A new publication obscures the canonical writer.

by Tiana Reid via The Yale Review on March 11, 2025

A book ladder stretching into a cloudy sky.

Every Book Lover Dreams of It. Few Ever Get It.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man of letters, in possession of a goodly number of books, must be in need of a ladder.

by Chason Gordon via Slate on February 22, 2025

A New Discovery Sheds Light on Malcolm X’s Journey to Islam

The civil rights leader’s lone poem, written from prison, reveals his love of language — and his quest for truth.

by Patrick Parr via New Lines on February 21, 2025

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.

by Daniel Immerwahr via The New Yorker on January 20, 2025

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman: The Original Substacker

Publishing needs his democratic spirit.

by Sam Kahn via UnHerd on December 13, 2024

Burgundy leather book cover with "Published By The Author" written in gold.

Self-Publishing and the Black American Narrative

"Published by the Author" explores the resourcefulness of Black writers of the nineteenth century.

by Tim Brinkhof, Bryan Sinche via JSTOR Daily on December 11, 2024

Black and white photograph of the Opening of the New York City Subway, 1904.

Advertising Etiquette: On Shaping the New York City Subway

NYC subway etiquette reflects socio-economic divides.

by Simone Blandford via Journal of the History of Ideas Blog on November 21, 2024

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