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What Kind of Questions Did 17th-Century Daters Have?
A 17th-century column shows that dating has always been an anxiety-riddled endeavor.
by
Sophia Stewart
via
The Atlantic
on
May 7, 2025
Is the Love Song Dying?
We categorized songs in the Billboard Top 10 to see if love songs are on the decline.
by
David Mora
,
Michelle Jia
via
The Pudding
on
November 11, 2024
In Love with a Daguerreotype
A nineteenth-century twist on love at first sight.
by
Julia Case-Levine
via
Lapham’s Quarterly
on
May 15, 2023
When Emily Dickinson Mailed It In
The supposed recluse constantly sent letters to friends, family, and lovers. What do they show us?
by
Kamran Javadizadeh
via
The New Yorker
on
August 21, 2024
What Mark Zuckerberg Should Learn From 19th-Century Telegraph Operators
No, really.
by
Megan Ward
via
Slate
on
May 27, 2024
Taylor Swift’s Homage to Clara Bow
The star of the 1920s silver screen who appears on Taylor Swift’s new album abruptly left Hollywood at the height of her success.
by
Deirdre Clemente
,
Annie Delgado
via
The Conversation
on
April 15, 2024
How Diamond Rings Became a Symbol of Love
While engagement or wedding rings are certainly not a new idea, the prevalence of diamonds is a more recent phenomenon.
by
Einav Rabinovitch-Fox
via
The Saturday Evening Post
on
February 13, 2024
Before Taylor and Travis, There Was Helen and John
She was an actress. He was a shortstop. What we can learn from the press parade around this 19th-century power couple.
by
Scott D. Peterson
via
Zócalo Public Square
on
January 11, 2024
How Thomas Lanier Williams Became Tennessee
A collection of previously unpublished stories offers a portrait of the playwright as a young artist.
by
Casey N. Cep
via
The New Yorker
on
July 3, 2023
A Century Before Trump’s Term, a President Paid a Mistress to Stay Silent
President Warren G. Harding paid not one, but two women to remain quiet about their affairs with him.
by
James D. Robenalt
via
Retropolis
on
April 2, 2023
Abraham Lincoln’s Love Letters Captivated America. They Were a Hoax.
The Atlantic Monthly reported on newly found love letters between Lincoln and Ann Rutledge, his supposed sweetheart. Even biographers fell for the hoax.
by
Randy Dotinga
via
Retropolis
on
February 20, 2023
The Spectacular Life of Octavia E. Butler
The story of the girl who grew up in Pasadena, took the bus, loved her mom and grandmother, and wrote herself into the world.
by
E. Alex Jung
via
Vulture
on
November 21, 2022
partner
The Women in Ben Franklin's Life Tell a Fuller Story of the Founder
Uncovering the fallacy of his iconic image as a man ruled by solely by reason and logic.
by
Nancy Rubin Stuart
via
HNN
on
March 27, 2022
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Close your eyes and imagine you’re married to Ernest Hemingway. Now, imagine it twice as bad, and you’ll be approaching the life story of Mary Welsh Hemingway.
by
Anne Margaret Daniel
via
The Spectator
on
February 20, 2022
Thoreau in Love
The writer had a deep bond with his mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson. But he also had a profound connection with Emerson’s wife.
by
James Marcus
via
The New Yorker
on
October 11, 2021
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
Bitchy Little Spinster
Emily Dickinson and the woman in her orbit.
by
Joanne O'Leary
via
London Review of Books
on
June 3, 2021
The Romance of American Clintonism
The politically complacent ’90s produced a surprisingly large number of mainstream American rom-coms about fighting the Man.
by
Meagan Day
via
Jacobin
on
October 21, 2020
Never Before Published Images of Men in Love Between 1850 and 1950
The authors of a new photography book explain how their project took shape.
by
Hugh Nini
,
Neal Treadwell
,
Dee Swann
via
Washington Post
on
September 28, 2020
Picasso Meets Polio
The unusual union of a renowned artist and the discoverer of the Polio vaccine.
by
Charlotte Decroes Jacobs
via
Nautilus
on
July 29, 2020
The First Movie Kiss
The public fascination was so intense that fans soon started demanding live reenactments.
by
Linda Williams
,
Kristin Hunt
via
JSTOR Daily
on
May 7, 2020
The Nation’s First Unemployment Check — $15 — and the Love Story that Led to It
During the Great Depression, the daughter of the first Jewish Supreme Court justice and the son of a prominent Christian theologian changed America.
by
Michael S. Rosenwald
via
Retropolis
on
April 18, 2020
Bad Romance
The afterlife of Vivian Gornick's "The Romance of American Communism" shows that we bear the weight of dead generations—and sometimes living ones, too.
by
Alyssa Battistoni
via
Dissent
on
April 13, 2020
I Am a Descendant of James Madison and His Slave
My whole life, my mother told me, ‘Always remember — you’re a Madison. You come from African slaves and a president.’
by
Bettye Kearse
via
Zora
on
March 17, 2020
Lovers Under an Apple Tree
Why did the priest and the choir singer die, and what was the nature of their love?
by
Audrey Clare Farley
via
Contingent
on
March 8, 2020
The History of O. Henry's 'The Gift of the Magi'
The beloved Christmas short story may have been dashed off on deadline but its core message has endured.
by
Patrick Sauer
via
Smithsonian
on
December 23, 2019
A Very Lost Cause Love Affair
Is it possible to write a good Civil War romance?
by
Sarah Handley-Cousins
via
Nursing Clio
on
December 5, 2019
The Civil Rights Activist So Close to Martin Luther King Jr. She Was Thought of as His ‘Other Wife'
According to the recent discoveries, civil rights activist, Dorothy Cotton, and King had a close romantic relationship.
by
Jason Miller
via
The Conversation
on
June 24, 2019
A Gay First Lady? Yes, We’ve Already Had One, and Here Are Her Love Letters.
Rose Cleveland declared her passion for the woman she had a relationship with spanning three decades in letter after letter.
by
Gillian Brockell
via
Retropolis
on
June 20, 2019
So What if Lincoln Was Gay?
Reflections from the author of a novel that does not shy away from the question of Lincoln's sexuality.
by
Louis Bayard
via
The Paris Review
on
April 16, 2019
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