Culture

A new British television series, Jamestown, set off a minor public debate about just how rebellious women could be in the past.

On the witch craze of early modern Europe, and how the concurrent rise of the mass-produced woodcut helped forge the archetype of the broom-riding crone.

How Americans went from adventurous eaters to plain janes—and then back again.

Benjamin Franklin even wrote an ode to a fallen one.

The founder of a popular South Carolina barbecue restaurant was a white supremacist.

“Mississippi Goddam” was an angry response to tragedy, in show tune form.

And how the term came to be code for pot-smoking in the first place.

The life of Guitar Shorty was a mixture of facts, lies and fantasy. He was a blues musician who lived far outside mainstream society.

Until the 1940s, Jews in America were considered a separate race. Their journey to whiteness has important lessons.

A new book argues that Darwin failed to capture the American imagination because of the untimely death of Henry David Thoreau.

A look at the first year of the band originally known as Mookie Blaylock.

The beloved board game's long-hidden origin story debunks the myth of a male lone genius.

Should white artists be allowed to depict black suffering?

Two political pioneers staged a "Pantsuit Revolution."

Popularized images of female hula dancers have deviated far from their origins and perpetuated stereotypes.

How a lurid 19th-century memoir of sexual abuse produced one of the ugliest features of American politics.

The origins of rock and roll are unknown, but no one can deny the role Chuck Berry played.

How the “Greatest Show on Earth” enthralled small-town crowds and inspired shopping malls

America's founders have never enjoyed more sex appeal, but the hit Musical cheats audiences by making democracy look easy

The cabaret law—and its prejudicial history—is one of the city's darkest secrets.

"Get Off the Track!" borrowed the melody of a racist hit song and helped give a public voice to the abolitionist movement.

Cedric Robinson has a great deal to teach us about Trumpism and the significance of resistance in determining the future.

The story of how The Band, in Robbie Robertson's words, "acted out an ideal of democracy and equality."

The national dish is really a fusion of immigrant fare.

Every single New York Times front page since 1852 in under a minute. Hint: Pay attention to the images!

"Deletionists" are rapidly removing content from Wikiedpia; often, the lost material is created by those who struggle to be heard.

The history of immigrants in the U.S. teaches that no amount of assimilation will protect you when an alien requires conjuring.

"Big Mama" does what all blues greats do: she telegraphs endurance and force to whomever out there in TV land might need it. This is blues perfection.

The 19th century singer forced critics and audiences to reconcile their ears with their racism.

An analysis of the Carnegie Commission's 1967 report shows that public broadcasting has always been a politically fraught issue.