Culture

Photographer Frank Schreider shows men from Timor island his camera in a 1962 issue of National Geographic.

National Geographic Has Always Depended on Exoticism

With its race issue, the magazine is trying a different direction. Can it escape its past?
by Rebecca Onion via Slate on March 14, 2018
George Sterling, Mary Austin, Jack London, and James Hopper sitting on a beach.

Bohemian Tragedy

The rise, fall, and afterlife of George Sterling’s California arts colony.
by Joy Lanzendorfer via Poetry Foundation on February 26, 2018
American novelist Willa Cather (1925).

Willa Cather, Pioneer

Willa Cather's life and work broke with the standards of her time.
by Jane Smiley via The Paris Review on February 27, 2018
Russ Oates fills out his 2018 NCAA March Madness bracket based on history departments.

The History Department Bracket Is Here and It Has Tenure

There isn’t much turnover with these selections.
by Russ Oates via SBNation.com on March 13, 2018
National Woman's Party activist Lucy Branham in prison costume, speaking at a prison special meeting, 1919.

The Raiment of Resistance

If women were going to be judged by their appearance, then the suffragists wanted to shape their own image.
by Elaine Weiss via Lenny Letter on March 13, 2018
Mural displayed at 5pointz, the Graffiti Mecca in Long Island City, New York (2011).

How a Group of Journalists Turned Hip-Hop Into a Literary Movement

Looking back at the golden era of rap writing.
by Dean Van Nguyen via Pitchfork on March 12, 2018
A scene from Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Same As It Ever Was: Orientalism Forty Years Later

On Edward Said, othering, and the depictions of Arabs in America.
by Philip Metres via Literary Hub on January 23, 2018
First lady Melania Trump arrives for the State of the Union address wearing a Dior pantsuit.

The 1968 Fashion Show, the History Lesson Melania Missed

What the First Lady could learn from the fashion show that was supposed to showcase America First fashion.
by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell via Politico Magazine on March 5, 2018
Prominent Jewish comedian Mort Sahl (1961).

What Makes Jewish Comedy Jewish?

In the latter half of the twentieth century, American comedy just was Jewish comedy, tamped down to appease audiences.
by David Baddiel via The Times Literary Supplement on February 28, 2018
William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal engage in a contentious debate during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

The Moment That Political Debates on TV Turned to Spectacle

A new documentary explores the infamous 1968 dispute between William Buckley and Gore Vidal.
by Nadine Ajaka via The Atlantic on September 27, 2016
Screenshot from the silent short film

The Silent Film Returns—on Social Media

Though we may still pop headphones in to watch a YouTube rant, social media has cultivated its own mute visual culture.
by Amanda Hess via New York Times on September 13, 2017
David Silver circa 1968 poses with an image from his TV show, “What’s Happening, Mr. Silver?”

Boston’s Most Radical TV Show Blew the Minds of a Stoned Generation in 1967

When a Tufts instructor launched the trippy TV show on WGBH, it was unlike anything viewers had ever seen.
by Ryan H. Walsh via Boston Globe on March 1, 2018