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activities, experiences, or artistic products that pervade society in a particular time

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Collage of popular culture references from 2008 onward.

That Feeling You Recognize? Obamacore.

The 2008 election sparked an outburst of brightness and positivity across pop culture. Now hindsight — and cringe — is setting in.
by Nate Jones via Vulture on August 20, 2024
Leonard Bernstein smoking a cigarette

The Bernstein Enigma

In narrowly focusing on Leonard Bernstein’s tortured personal life, "Maestro" fails to explore his tortured artistic life.
by Philip Clark via New York Review of Books on January 17, 2024
Tom Wolfe in profile against the New York City skyline.

The Electric Kool-Aid Conservative

Tom Wolfe was no radical.
by Osita Nwanevu via The New Republic on January 5, 2024
Woman leading a group of twelve other women in floor exercises.

Fit Nation

A conversation about "the gains and pains of America’s exercise obsession."
by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Lara Freidenfelds via Nursing Clio on September 27, 2023
Image of the "I Voted" sticker.

A Brief History of the "I Voted" Sticker

Who designed the first sticker? And does anyone care about it anymore?
by Rhea Nayyar via Hyperallergic on November 7, 2022
Rob McKuen infront of a background composed of spines of his books.

Fifty Years Ago, He Was America’s Most Famous Writer. Why Haven’t You Ever Heard of Him?

He sold 60 million books and 100 million records. Then he disappeared.
by Dan Kois via Slate on October 10, 2022
1950s American family watching TV.

How American Culture Ate the World

A new book explains why Americans know so little about other countries.
by Dexter Fergie via The New Republic on March 24, 2022
Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln’s Rowdy America

A new biography details the cultural jumble of literature, dirty jokes, and everything in between that went into the making of the foremost self-made American.
by David S. Reynolds, Sean Wilentz via New York Review of Books on April 29, 2021
Vincent Price.

The Strange Undeath of Middlebrow

Everything that was once considered lowbrow is now triumphant.
by Phil Christman via The Hedgehog Review on March 25, 2021

Serial Killers: A New Breed of Celebrity

Pop culture's surreal embrace of the serial killer.
by Julia Ingalls via CrimeReads on April 24, 2018
Collage by pop artist Tom Wesselmann depicting a kitchen table with food

Pop Art in the US

A primary source set and teaching guide created by educators.
by Virginia B. Spivey via Digital Public Library of America on September 29, 2017
Noam Chomsky illustration by Joe Ciardiello.

The Worlds of Noam Chomsky

If ordinary Americans know one critic of the American Empire, it’s almost certainly Chomsky.
by Daniel Bessner via The Nation on January 13, 2025
Kendrick Lamar in the spotlight performing a concert.

Bad Beef

Rap beef is form of capitalist accumulation that enriches artists—and, most of all, the corporate suits that run their record labels.
by Austin McCoy via Public Books on January 9, 2025
Leonardo Dicaprio in "Titanic."

Which Celebrities Popularized (or Tarnished) Baby Names? A Statistical Analysis

Which public figures impacted baby naming trends?
by Daniel Parris via Stat Significant on January 8, 2025
Man wearing a Ramones t-shirt.

Name Three Songs: How Band Tees Became Cultural Symbols

When Barney's is selling Black Sabbath shirts for $175, does it change the cultural credibility of your favorite vintage band tee?
by Grace Yanucci via The Saturday Evening Post on December 31, 2024
Spock and Kirk in a scene from Star Trek.

Star Trek’s Cold War

While America was fighting on the ground, the Federation was fighting in space.
by Tom Nichols via The Atlantic on December 26, 2024
Rep. Stephen Horn, examines a chart showing his grades for each agency's progress on the Y2K computer problem.
partner

What to Know About Y2K, Before You Watch 'Y2K'

The Year 2000 computer problem continues to nag at us 25 years later.
by Zachary Loeb via Made By History on December 18, 2024
Painting of the archangel Michael, holding shield, defeating Satan and other angels.

Extremist Pop Culture and the American Evangelical Right

Jack Chick and the origins of the 1980s “Satanic Panic."
by Sean Goodman via Journal of the History of Ideas Blog on December 16, 2024

How Jukeboxes Made Memphis Music

When R.E. Buster Williams ruled jukeboxes and jukeboxes ruled music.
by Robert Gordon via Oxford American on December 10, 2024

The World of Tomorrow

When the future arrived, it felt…ordinary. What happened to the glamour of tomorrow?
by Virginia Postrel via Works In Progress on December 5, 2024
Richard Pryor.

Understanding Richard Pryor's Use of the N-Word

Pryor's use of the word represented something valiant.
by Mark Anthony Neal via NewBlackMan (in Exile) on December 1, 2024
"REM" musicians pose in front of a mirror.

How R.E.M. Created Alternative Music

In the cultural wasteland of the Reagan era, they showed that a band could have mass appeal without being cheesy, or nostalgic, or playing hair metal.
by Mark Krotov via The New Yorker on November 13, 2024
Scene from "Smokey and the Bandit" of Burt Reynolds talking on a CB radio.

"A Long Way to Go and a Short Time to Get There"

In the 1970s, trucker films like "Smokey and the Bandit" celebrated rebellious, working-class solidarity and freedom, with complex politics at play.
by Adrian Daub via Dreams in the Which House on November 3, 2024
Leatherface swinging a chainsaw branded with the American flag.

It Might Be the Scariest Movie Ever Made. There’s Never Been a Better Time to Watch It.

The vibes right now are very "Texas Chain Saw Massacre."
by Emily C. Hughes via Slate on October 29, 2024
Portrait of Jenny Lind by George Healy.

Jenny Lind, Taylor Swift, and Another Era's Tour

How the Taylor Swift of her age captivated New Orleans.
by Craig Fuchs via The Historic New Orleans Collection on October 24, 2024
1937 ad showing three women in underwear.

From Torpedo Bras to Whale Tails: A Brief History of Women’s Underwear

The popular reception of thongs, bras, boy shorts and other intimate items.
by Nina Edwards via Literary Hub on October 24, 2024
Taylor Swift's Instagram post endorsing Kamala Harris. Swift is holding a cat and facing the camera, dressed in black.

Taylor Swift and the History of the Celebrity Endorsement

Do pop culture interventions in presidential elections make a difference?
by Addie Mahmassani via New Lines Magazine on October 23, 2024
A car in a dark night on an empty road with a ghostly apparition.

The Vanishing Hitchhiker Legend Is an Ancient Tale That Keeps Evolving

The classic creepy story—a driver offers a lift to a stranger who is not of this world—has deep roots and a long reach.
by Mark Hay via Atlas Obscura on October 10, 2024
Cover of American Scary by Jeremy Dauber.

The Historical Seeds of Horror in "American Scary"

Jeremy Dauber's new book explores the themes and origins of the American horror genre.
by Gianni Washington via Chicago Review Of Books on October 7, 2024
Bruce Springsteen on July 19, 1988 at his concert in East Berlin on the cycle track Weissensee.

Can the 1980s Explain 2024?

The yuppies embodied the winning side of America’s deepening economic divide. Bruce Springsteen spoke for those left behind.
by Nicholas Lemann via Washington Monthly on August 25, 2024
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