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Rewriting My Grandfather’s MLK Story

In excavating the story of King’s visit to Harlem Hospital, I uncovered my grandfather’s own fight for civil rights.

Writing Jewish History

Histories of the Jews reveal a lot about the times in which they were written.

How Portraiture Gave Rise to the Glamour of Guns

American portraiture with its visual allure and pictorial storytelling made gun ownership desirable.

The Unlikely Pulp Fiction Illustrations of Edward Hopper

When the iconic painter drew cowboys for the pulp-fiction magazine, 'Adventure.'
Willa Cather

Willa Cather, Pioneer

Willa Cather's life and work broke with the standards of her time.
Woman wearing a VR headset.

The Future of History Lessons is a VR Headset

A conversation with the creator of a virtual reality experience that takes you inside the protests leading up to MLK Jr.’s death.

Abraham Lincoln's Secret Visits to Slaves

Former slaves claimed the president came to plantations disguised as a beggar or a peddler, telling them they’d soon be free. 

White Americans Fail to Address Their Family Histories

There is a conversation about race that white families are just not having. This is mine. 

The Impossibility of Knowing Mark Twain

Even Twain's own autobiography cannot reveal the whole truth of the literary legend.

Writing History

On my transition from editor of terrible history books to a writer of mediocre ones.
Title page and verso of the first edition of "A Christmas Carol."

A Plea to Resurrect the Christmas Tradition of Telling Ghost Stories

Though the practice is now more associated with Halloween, spooking out your family is well within the Christmas spirit.

How to Measure Ghosts: Arthur C. Nielsen and the Invention of Big Data

How audience measurement became central to the creative and commercial development of television.
Banthe Bombers protest photograph by Richard Avedon.

Richard Avedon and James Baldwin’s Joint Examination of American Identity

Their 1964 collaboration, "Nothing Personal," brought together aspects of American life and culture through photographs and text.

Civil War Life in all its Day-to-Day Contrasts

In his latest work of history, Edward Ayers captures daily life along with the military and political moves.

The Amnesia Plot

How 1940s films reinvented the ways stories are told onscreen.

How Alexander Calder Became America's Most Beloved Sculptor

In an exclusive excerpt from his new book, 'Calder: The Conquest of Time,' Jed Perl reveals a hidden side of the artist.
Napalm explosion in Vietnam.

Episode-by-Episode Reviews: "The Vietnam War"

Watching Ken Burns' latest epic with a historian who has written extensively about the war.

History is Not There to be Liked: On Historical Memory, Real and Fake

Historians have the uncomfortable role of shattering people’s memories.
Picture of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the film, "Dirty Dancing."

The Back-Alley Abortion That Almost Didn't Make it into 'Dirty Dancing'

For the 30th anniversary of "Dirty Dancing," we spoke to the film's screenwriter about her revolutionary decision to include a depiction of an illegal abortion.

The Rage and Rebellion of the Detroit Riots, Captured in One Poem

50 years later, Philip Levine's poem, "They Feed They Lion," helps us remember and understand that time.

This Is Where the Word 'History' Comes From

The word 'history' evolved from an ancient Greek verb, but its definition has changed over the years
Billy McComiskey (right) performing Irish music at the Library of Congress with his sons Mikey McComiskey (left) and Patrick McComiskey (center) in 2016. Library of Congress photo by Shawn Miller.

A Few Examples of Dads’ Traditions

Stephanie Hall provides examples of folklore and storytelling within a fathers' relationship to music.
Family photo of a woman pulling a child on a sled down a snowy street.

My Grandmother's Desperate Choice

My questions about my grandmother's death – from a self-induced abortion – haven’t changed since I was 12. What feels new is the urgency of her story.
Guitar Shorty sitting on a bench outside of a house, and playing guitar while smoking a cigar.

Put on my Clothes and Look Like Somebody Else

The life of Guitar Shorty was a mixture of facts, lies and fantasy. He was a blues musician who lived far outside mainstream society.
Bob Dylan and The Band performing on stage

The Brotherhood of Rock

The story of how The Band, in Robbie Robertson's words, "acted out an ideal of democracy and equality."
Book cover with the title "Baby Boy Born Birthplace Blues" superimposed on a photo of a man lying down with his cheek on the ground.

Baby Boy Born Birthplace Blues

"The blues was born on a riverboat between Louisville and New Albany, along those docks, in the 1890s. I mean, the blues was born nowhere, of course. Or it was born many places."
A frog and a toad together on a tandem bicycle

“Frog and Toad”: An Amphibious Celebration of Same-Sex Love

A series of illustrated children’s books endures as a classic. Was it also the author’s attempt to come out?
An illustration of Weyer’s Cave from 1858.

The 19th Century ‘Show Caves’ That Became America’s First Tourist Traps

Novelists concocted elaborate fake histories for mysterious caves in Virginia.
Lyndon Johnson looking unimpressed with what Martin Luther King Jr. is saying.

Feeling Versus Fact: Reconciling Ava DuVernay’s Retelling of Selma

“There has never been an honest movie about the civil rights movement,” says civil rights leader Julian Bond.
Go on Monopoly board

The Twisted History of Your Favorite Board Game

An interview with Mary Pilon about her new book, ‘The Monopolists,’ which uncovers the real story about how Monopoly became the game it is today.

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