Told

Samuel Roth was the sort of bookseller whose wares came wrapped in brown paper.

Charting the history of a TV phenomenon.

The American public is more susceptible than ever to skewed narratives.

The latest biography of the great transcendentalist captures the paradoxes of his Yankee mind.

A pre-history of the sentence diagrams that were once commonplace in the American classroom.

"To believe that the richness of Black identity can be understood through a temporary costume trivializes the lifelong trauma of racism. It turns the complexity of Black life into a stunt."

Naked runners used to disrupt events seemingly all the time. Why’d they stop?

For more than two decades, a community of committed internet users has been chewing over the famous Londoner’s diary.

How do fandoms gain their names?

Judith Jones edited culinary greats such as Julia Child and Edna Lewis—and identified the pleasure at the core of traditional “women’s work.”

No, really.

The end of the big-city columnist.

More importantly, our misappropriation of “puritan” has allowed scholars to ignore and the public to misunderstand religion.

Advertising went from being an embarrassing activity to a legitimate part of every company’s business plans—despite scant evidence that it worked.

Marty Peretz and the travails of American liberalism.

A brief history of the textfile, and the production of conspiracy theories on the internet.

In Indiana, “hoosier” is a badge of honor. In St Louis, it’s the nastiest insult around. The difference reveals the prejudice that breaks worker solidarity.

Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language declared Americans free from the tyranny of British institutions and their vocabularies.

A new PBS documentary whitewashes the conservative founder of National Review.

For half a century, viewers scorned the laugh track while adoring shows that used it. Now it has all but disappeared.

What's in a name? According to the "Dictionary of American Family Names," it depends.

How lesbian teenagers forged community bonds and found connection through magazines.

One of the country’s greatest rhetorical traditions still has the power to remind us of our founding principles.

"Late Night with the Devil," a “found footage” horror film, perfectly captures the mood and style that surrounded media depictions of the occult in the 1970s.

Romano’s book is a vital, comprehensive piece of media scholarship about one of the most influential outlets of the last century. It’s also fun as hell to read.

The feminist history of the crossword puzzle: some of the form's early champions were women working for little to no pay.

On the suppression of sign language.

On the Irish writer’s grand tour of the Gilded Age United States.

The story of the Los Angeles Municipal News, and the hope — and limitations — of publicly owned newsrooms.

As the fear of communist subversion spread throughout America, McCarthy launched hearings that were based on scant evidence and overblown charges.