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Mount Rushmore

On Myths and Monuments

Mount Rushmore and storytelling at America’s national parks.
by Stephen R. Hausmann via Perspectives on History on July 9, 2025
An eye in the shape of the United States.

The Weaponization of Storytelling

The American public is more susceptible than ever to skewed narratives.
by Colin Dickey via The New Republic on June 27, 2024
Book cover that reads: "The Next Great American Novel," with the American flag in the background

"James" Is a Retelling of "Huckleberry Finn" that America Desperately Needs

It puts the people in the most peril in the center of the story: the people being systematically exploited, chained, whipped and raped.
by Jarvis Deberry via MSNBC on March 19, 2024
1970 Map of the United States Interstate Highway Plan

How Black Activists Have Long Used Mapmaking to Document Culture and Racism in the U.S.

The neglected history of Black mapmaking in America and the creative ways in which Black people have historically used mapping to tell stories.
by Derek H. Alderman, Joshua F. J. Inwood via PBS NewsHour on February 17, 2024
Collage of African Americans' faces.

Specters of the Mythic South

How plantation fiction fixed ghost stories to Black Americans.
by Alena Pirok via Southern Cultures on January 24, 2024
Kris Kringle with children from the film 'Santa Claus is Comin' to Town.'
partner

A Classic Christmas Movie Offers a Lesson About Antisemitism

Nazis play a key role as villain in American collective consciousness—but without broad understanding of antisemitism.
by Rebecca Brenner Graham via Made By History on December 21, 2023
George C. Wolfe.

George C. Wolfe Would Not Be Dismissed

A conversation with the longtime director about “Rustin,” growing up in Kentucky, and putting on a show.
by Vinson Cunningham, George C. Wolfe via The New Yorker on November 5, 2023
Women with blankets and fans, in a scene from Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

The Missing Politics of Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’

Blaming corrupt individuals rather than federal Indian policy for the violence and exploitation perpetrated against the Osage Nation misses the mark.
by Robert Allen Warrior via New Lines on October 20, 2023
Portrait of an elderly Harriot Jacobs.

I Was Determined to Remember: Harriet Jacobs and the Corporeality of Slavery’s Legacies

How a folklorist encourages people to experience the past and present of a place.
by Koritha Mitchell via Los Angeles Review of Books on May 30, 2023
A hand hovers over a projection of a map of Texas counties sewn on to fabric.

‘Underground Railroad’ Quilt Weaves Black Liberation History

African American fiber artists in San Antonio are challenging revisionist histories through artful storytelling.
by Briana Blueitt via Texas Observer on December 7, 2022
Illustration of fantasy elements including a maze and a crystal ball from a "choose-your-own-adventure" scene from a book.

The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books

How a best-selling series gave young readers a new sense of agency.
by Leslie Jamison via The New Yorker on September 12, 2022
Still from The Wire (HBO): two detectives, McNulty and Bunk.

20 Years Later, "The Wire" Is Still a Cutting Critique of American Capitalism

The Wire — both stylish and smart, follows unforgettable characters woven into a striking portrait of the depredations of capitalism in one US city.
by Helena Sheehan, Sheamus Sweeney via Jacobin on June 14, 2022
Arlen Parsa's Painting, Declaration of Independence Revisited (2019), the famous painting of the signing but with red dots over the faces of slaveholders.

How to Decolonize the Capitol

Art historians, legislators, and activists have long decried themes of white supremacy in the art collection of the U.S. Capitol. Can this place be decolonized?
by Marisa Angell Brown via Places Journal on June 14, 2022
The first two panels of "Nazi Death Parade," a six-panel comic depicting the mass murder of Jews at a Nazi concentration camp August Maria Froehlich / Arco Publishing Company.

The Holocaust-Era Comic That Brought Americans Into the Nazi Gas Chambers

In early 1945, a six-panel comic in a U.S. pamphlet offered a visceral depiction of the Third Reich's killing machine.
by Esther Bergdahl via Smithsonian on May 24, 2022
The cover of the book Her Stories by Elana Levine

Guiding Lights: On “Her Stories: Daytime Soap Opera and US Television History”

Annie Berke reviews Elana Levine's book on a pivotal genre and its diverse fandom.
by Annie Berke via Los Angeles Review of Books on October 19, 2021
The writer (seen here in a picture from the eighteen-eighties) hid his own life story.

Are All Short Stories O. Henry Stories?

The writer’s signature style of ending—a final, thrilling note—has the touch of magic that distinguishes the form at its best.
by Louis Menand via The New Yorker on June 28, 2021
original

Podcasting the Past

Why historians should stop worrying and embrace the rise of history podcasts by non-scholars.
by Benjamin Breen on August 20, 2018
Black and white photo of John Muir sitting on a rock

John Muir's Literary Science

The writings of the Scottish-born American naturalist John Muir are known for their scientific acumen as well as for their rhapsodic flights.
by Terry Gifford via The Public Domain Review on June 9, 2011
The Pirates’ Ruse, early 19th century engraving, depicting people standing on deck in view of another ship pretend everything is normal, while armed pirates hide out of view of a nearby American vessel.

The Poetics of History from Below

All good storytellers tell a big story within a little story, and so do all good historians.
by Marcus Rediker via Perspectives on History on September 1, 2010
Movie poster for Warfare, 2025.
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War Stories Without the History

Films about the Iraq War prize “truth-telling,” but don’t offer many insights about the war itself.
by Jake Pitre via HNN on July 1, 2025
Irving Thalberg and his wife, with Louis Mayer.

The Wizard Behind Hollywood’s Golden Age

How Irving Thalberg helped turn M-G-M into the world’s most famous movie studio—and gave the film business a new sense of artistry and scale.
by Adam Gopnik via The New Yorker on June 9, 2025
Painting of the muse of history.
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So Ductile Is History in the Hands of Man!

The past and present of counterfactual history, from antiquity to the Napoleonic Wars to a few very active subreddits.
by Madeline Grimm via HNN on May 13, 2025
Mark Twain

Mark Twain and the Limits of Biography

The great American writer witnessed the forging of his nation – but Ron Chernow’s portrait cannot see beyond its subject.
by Erica Wagner via New Statesman on May 12, 2025
Beyonce concert.

Why Beyoncé Is Carving a Route Along the ‘Chitlin' Circuit’

From Jim Crow-era performance to contemporary gospel musicals, entertainers have shaped the Black public sphere.
by Rashida Z. Shaw McMahon via Zócalo Public Square on May 5, 2025
Floyd’s rowboat used for gathering passengers offshore at Jaffa. Barque et Bateliers de Jaffa.

An American Dragoman in Palestine—and in Print

Floyd’s unusual visibility gives rare insight into how the largely-invisible dragomen shaped travelers’ understandings of the Bible and the Holy Land.
by Walker Robins via Commonplace on March 5, 2025
Historian Martha S. Jones and photos of her relatives.

How a Leading Black Historian Uncovered Her Own Family’s Painful Past

Martha S. Jones’ new memoir draws on genealogical research and memories shared by relatives.
by Martha S. Jones, Sara Georgini via Smithsonian on March 5, 2025
Arthur Morgan from video game Red Dead Redemption 2 sporting a gun and cowboy hat.

Cult of the Cowboy: Inside the Toxic Adoration of an All-American Obsession

Video games, violence and the enduring allure of the vigilante hero.
by Rachel Wagner via Literary Hub on February 26, 2025
Rod Serling giving his opening monologue on "The Twilight Zone."

Rod Serling on Doomsday

Marking the centenary of the creator of “The Twilight Zone,” who knew that dystopia was always over the nearest ridge.
by Carly Mattox via Mubi on December 25, 2024
Blair LM Kelley

Talking Black Joy and Black Freedom with Blair LM Kelley

“The world didn’t give It, but the world can’t take It away.”
by Regina Bradley, Blair LM Kelley via Public Books on December 16, 2024

"It's the Economy, Stupid" is Never Just About the Economy

Can the Clinton campaign slogan chart a path forward for Democrats? Its history tells another story.
by Jacob Rosenberg via Mother Jones on December 12, 2024
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