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Sesame Street

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Sonia Manzano and the Muppet Grover launch the Super Grover sandwich in honor of the 4,000th "Sesame Street" episode on Feb. 27, 2002, at a New York City deli.

I Was the First Latina on Sesame Street. Now I Have My Own Ideas About Bringing Representation to TV

"I thought, surely after the success of 'Sesame Street' and my contribution to it, all kinds of Latinx talent would flood the media. Not so."
by Sonia Manzano via HuffPost on June 4, 2023
Elin, a puppet character who uses a wheelchair on “Sesamstrasse,” the German version of “Sesame Street.” (Axel Heimken/AFP/Getty Images)
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Should Children’s Entertainment Be Tweaked to Reflect Today’s Norms?

Children’s entertainment always embodies local values.
by Helle Strandgaard Jensen via Made By History on April 11, 2023

How Lloyd Morrisett Built Sesame Street, From the Foundation Up

Sesame Street's most famous origin story centers on a 1966 dinner party. But the program was actually the culmination of a career that began much earlier.
by Kathryn Ostrofsky via HistPhil on February 15, 2023
Cast members of the television show "Sesame Street" circa 1969, pose on the set with some of the puppet characters. From left: Will Lee, Matt Robinson, Bob McGrath and Loretta Long, along with Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Grover, Ernie, Bert and Oscar the Grouch. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Mississippi Banned ‘Sesame Street’ for Showing Black and White Kids Playing

In 1970, an all-white state commission thought Mississippi was "not yet ready" to see a racially integration depicted on television. The backlash was swift.
by Kristin Hunt via Retropolis on February 5, 2023
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The Life of Song

What the surprising career of Bob McGrath teaches us about popular music.
by Kathryn Ostrofsky on December 14, 2022
A still from "Ulitza Sezam" with the cast and puppet characters sitting around a table.

When the Muppets Moved to Moscow

A new book details the tangled tale of "Ulitsa Sezam," a "Sesame Street" spinoff that aired until visions of Russia's democratic future faltered.
by Brigit Katz via Smithsonian on October 14, 2022
Emilio Delgado in 2021.

Emilio Delgado, ‘Luis’ for 44 Years on ‘Sesame Street,’ Dies at 81

On "Sesame Street," Delgado was able to build a character who challenged stereotypes. Luis was a business owner, a neighbor, and later a husband and father.
by Kathryn Ostrofsky via Current (public media) on March 14, 2022
Big Bird on the set of 'Sesame Street'

The Unmistakable Black Roots of 'Sesame Street'

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the beloved children’s television show was shaped by the African-American communities in Harlem and beyond.
by Bryan Greene via Smithsonian on November 7, 2019
Sesame Street cast

Psychiatry, Racism, and the Birth of ‘Sesame Street’

How a black psychiatrist helped design a groundbreaking television show as a radical therapeutic tool for minority preschoolers.
by Anne Harrington via UnDark on May 17, 2019
Representative Greg Casar, in front of a poster that says "Fire Elon, Save Elmo"

The Trump Administration’s Showdown with PBS and NPR

While Democrats waving a Big Bird doll around on the House floor saved public broadcast funding in the past, this strategy does not seem likely to work in 2025.
by Abby Whitaker via Clio and the Contemporary on May 1, 2025
Will Lee as Mr. Hooper

Spotlighting Communism & Hollywood in the Papers of Sesame Street’s Mr. Hooper

The actor who played the loveable grocer found his way to Sesame Street after being blacklisted during the Red Scare.
via American Heritage Center Blog on April 18, 2018

How Entertainment Mangled Public Discourse

Neil Postman’s jeremiad against TV seems rather quaint today—and not just because he was shouting into the wind and knew it.
by Katha Pollitt via The New Republic on November 20, 2024
The women of the Combahee River Collective.

“If Black Women Were Free”: An Oral History of the Combahee River Collective

“Here we are, a group of Black lesbian feminist anti-imperialist anti-capitalists trying to do the right thing.”
by Marian Moser Jones via The Nation on October 29, 2021
Actor Jim Boyd, dressed as a grumpy clown, looks in a mirror.

50 Years Ago, 'The Electric Company' Used Comedy to Boost Kids' Reading Skills

In October 1971, The Electric Company flipped a switch and hit the public TV airwaves, aiming to use sketch comedy and animated shorts to teach kids to read.
by Elizabeth Blair via NPR on October 25, 2021
Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface with flag during Apollo 11.

50 Years Ago in Photos: A Look Back at 1969

Looking back at the year of the moon landing, Woodstock, and more.
by Alan Taylor via The Atlantic on February 13, 2019

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