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Photo of three airplanes on a runway, one exploding.

D.B. Cooper, The Changing Nature of Hijackings and the Foundation For Today's Airport Security

Cooper’s hijacking-as-extortion plot captured the public’s imagination – and inspired a copycat crime wave.
by Janet Bednarek via The Conversation on July 11, 2022
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The Lesbian As Villain or Victim

In Oregon in the 1960s, the debate over capital punishment hinged on shifting interpretations of the gendered female body.
by Matthew Wills, Lauren Gutterman via JSTOR Daily on June 19, 2022
A 1921 card reading: For Safety's Sake, cross this way, not here, not this way. Quit Jay Walking

The Invention of “Jaywalking”

In the 1920s, the public hated cars. So the auto industry fought back — with language.
by Clive Thompson via Medium on March 29, 2022
Nimrod and His Companions Venerating Fire, by Rudolf von Ems, c. 1400.

Enjoy My Flames

On heavy metal’s fascination with Roman emperors.
by Jeremy Swist via Lapham’s Quarterly on March 23, 2022
Photo collage in green and pink patterns, with a photo of Barbara Ann Richards in the center.

In the 1940s, a Trans Pioneer Fought California for Legal Recognition. This Is How She Won.

Barbara Ann Richards designed—and then demanded—the life she deserved.
by Michael Waters via Slate on March 20, 2022
Lithograph of men and women drinking and dancing at an American Dance House.

The Influences of the Underworld: Nineteenth-Century Brothel Guides, Cards, and City Directories

Brothel guides tended to be small, making them easy to conceal. They also mimicked other publications to make it easier to hide the guides’ true purpose.
by Brittney Ingersoll via Commonplace on March 1, 2022
Patricia Hearst in front of SLA flag, 1974; CSU Archives/Everett Collection/Alamy Stock Photo.

American Captivity

The captivity narrative as creation myth.
by Ed Simon via The Hedgehog Review on March 1, 2022
Comic of a boy inside an atom structure while a man looks on.

The Surprising History of the Comic Book

Since their initial popularity during World War II, comic books have always been a medium for American counterculture and for nativism and empire. 
by J. Hoberman via The Nation on January 25, 2022
Professional wrestling ring surrounded by audience.

“You Know It’s Fake, Right?” Fandom and the Idea of Legitimacy in Professional Wrestling

Promoters and performers in pro wrestling began increasingly prizing entertainment value over maintaining the appearance of legitimate contests.
by Aaron D. Horton via Journal of the History of Ideas Blog on January 10, 2022
A bronze statue of Civil War soldiers on horseback, in front of the U.S. Capitol building.

How Twitter Explains the Civil War (and Vice Versa)

The proliferation of antebellum print is analogous to our own tectonic shifts in how people communicate and what they communicate about.
by Ariel Ron via The Strong Paw Of Reason on January 6, 2022
Paul Robeson and other members of the Civil Rights Congress submit a report on police brutality and systemic racism against Black people, accusing the U.S. of genocide, to the United Nations.

70 Years Ago Black Activists Accused the U.S. of Genocide. They Should Have Been Taken Seriously.

The charges, while provocative, offer a framework to reckon with systemic racial injustice — past and present.
by Alex Hinton via Politico Magazine on December 26, 2021
Colorful illustration of two groups of people in pink boxes. The people on the left have brown skin, and those on the right have lighter skin.

Inventing the “Model Minority”: A Critical Timeline and Reading List

The idea of Asian Americans as a “model minority” has a long and complicated history.
via Densho: Japanese American Incarceration and Japanese Internment on December 15, 2021
tintype portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln

The Insanity Trial of Mary Lincoln

How the self-proclaimed "First Widow" used her celebrity to influence public opinion.
by Alexis Coe via Study Marry Kill on November 23, 2021
Angela Davis speaking at the Birmingham Committee for Truth and Reconciliation event at the Boutwell Auditorium on Feb. 16, 2019 in Birmingham, Ala. (Andi(cq)Rice/The Washington Post)
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Thanks to Conservative Politicans and the Media, the Education Wars Echo the 1960s

The debate once again centers on — and stokes — White parents’ anxieties.
by Kate L. Flach via Made By History on November 19, 2021
Thomas Paine

Reframing the Story of Harvard’s Humanist Chaplaincy

The time when Harvard made an atheist their head chaplain.
by Leigh Eric Schmidt via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on November 2, 2021
Collage: a pair of arms wraps around collections of newspapers reporting on AIDS and plays guitar strings.

An AIDS Activist's Archive

June Holmes was in her late twenties, working as a social worker on Long Island, when she first heard about “this thing called AIDS.”
by Scott W. Stern via New York Review of Books on October 29, 2021
Clay Shaw and two aides, holding up the newspaper announcing his acquittal. Copyright AP 1969.

The Homophobic Backdrop to Garrison’s Persecution of Clay Shaw

A review of "Cruising for Conspirators: How a New Orleans DA Prosecuted the Kennedy Assassination as a Sex Crime."
by Martin J. Kelly via Washington Decoded on October 11, 2021
The 1906 Atlanta massacre, as depicted on the front page of the newspaper Le Petit Journal in 1906.

The 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre: How Fearmongering Led to Violence

As African Americans achieved economic success in Atlanta in the early 1900s, the city simmered with racial strife that was further spread by yellow journalism.
by Nadra Kareem Little via HISTORY on September 14, 2021
Book cover of "Kathy Fiscus: A Tragedy That Transfixed the Nation"

Wellspring

The classic story of the child down the well played out in Southern California at the dawn of television.
by Jeffrey Burbank via Los Angeles Review of Books on September 13, 2021
Photos of victims in the 9/11 museum

The 9/11 Museum and Its Discontents

A new documentary goes inside the battles that have riven the institution and shaped the historical legacy of the attack.
by David Klion via Intelligencer on August 26, 2021
Lithograph of people fleeing the Great Fire of Peshtigo on horseback and on foot.

Why America's Deadliest Wildfire Was Largely Forgotten

In 1871, the Wisconsin town Peshtigo burned to the ground, killing up to 2,500. But due to another event at the time, many have never heard about the disaster.
by Erin Blakemore via HISTORY on July 29, 2021
Illustration of 1844 Philadelphia riots

When Philadelphia Became a Battlefield, Its Surgeons Bore Witness

The surgeons’ observations survive thanks to a remarkable document: an eleven-page published report presented to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
by Zachary M. Schrag via Nursing Clio on June 22, 2021
Cover of "Little Lindy is Kidnapped"

We Had Witnessed an Exhibition

A new book about the Lindbergh baby kidnapping focuses on the role played by the media.
by Chris Yogerst via Los Angeles Review of Books on September 24, 2020
Abraham Lincoln

Why We Keep Reinventing Abraham Lincoln

Revisionist biographers have given us countless perspectives, from Honest Abe to Killer Lincoln. Is there a version that’s true to his time and attuned to ours?
by Adam Gopnik via The New Yorker on September 21, 2020
Great white shark
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Sharks Before and After "Jaws"

The blockbuster "Jaws" (1975) provoked fear by portraying sharks as "mindless eating machines." But what did people think of sharks before then?
by Jess Romeo, Beryl Francis, Jennifer A. Martin via JSTOR Daily on August 14, 2020
An image of President Donald Trump holding a Bible in front of a church.

The Dangerous Power of the Photo Op

American photojournalism has always been entangled with race and religion.
by Rachel McBride Lindsey via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on June 9, 2020
A shot from behind of Rush Limbaugh giving a speech at a Make America Great Again rally.

The Right’s Reign on the Air Waves

How talk radio established the power of the modern Republican Party.
by Jake Bittle via The New Republic on June 1, 2020

Pandemics Go Hand in Hand with Conspiracy Theories

From the Illuminati to “COVID-19 is a lie,” how pandemics have produced contagions of fear.
by Frederick Kaufman via The New Yorker on May 13, 2020
The cover of Cynthia A. Kierner's "Inventing Disaster," which depicts a shipwreck during a storm.

On Inventing Disaster

The culture of calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood.
by Cynthia Kierner, Anna Faison via UNC Press Blog on November 20, 2019
Cup of McDonald's coffee
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The Misunderstood McDonald's Hot Coffee Lawsuit

Stella Liebeck was vilified when she was awarded millions after spilling McDonald's coffee in her lap. But the facts told another story.
via Retro Report on October 28, 2019
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