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The Conversation

Black and white photo of people laughing and sitting in wooden folding chairs.

Grantland Rice, the Four Horsemen and the blowout that never was

Stephen Brauer, University of Richmond

A blurry image of amorphous figures in motion.

Blurry, morphing and surreal – a new AI aesthetic is emerging in film

Holly Willis, University of Southern California

Dorothy Allison was an authentic voice for the poor, capturing the beauty, humor and pain of working-class life in America

Lennard J. Davis, University of Illinois Chicago

Middle aged woman with long red hair stands on a sidewalk holding a pair of eyeglasses.
‘For the very first time I really enjoyed sex!’ − how lesbian escort agencies became a form of self-care in Japan

Marta Fanasca, Università di Bologna

Intertangled feet of two women peek out from a duvet cover.
An 83-year-old short story by Borges portends a bleak future for the internet

Roger J. Kreuz, University of Memphis

Black and white portrait of elderly man wearing suit and sitting in chair while clasping a cane with both hands.
Compassion amid chaos − how one of America’s greatest poets became a lifeline for wounded soldiers

Richard Gunderman, Indiana University

Black and white photo of large room with American flags hanging from the ceiling and beds with wounded troops in them.
Read our latest Arts and Culture articles

Sports

Caitlin Clark, Christine Brennan and how racial stereotypes persist in the media’s WNBA coverage

Molly Yanity, University of Rhode Island

Two young women in basketball jerseys on their stomachs fighting for a basketball.
Up against Hank Greenberg, baseball’s first Jewish superstar, antisemitism struck out

Robert Gudmestad, Colorado State University

With the crowd in the background, a baseball player at the plate swings at the ball.
What White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf can learn from the last team to lose 120 games

Nick Hirshon, William Paterson University

Black and white photo of baseball manager and one of his players sitting in the dugout.
50 years after the first procedure, Tommy John surgery is more common than ever − especially for young athletes

Ted Spiker, University of Florida and Kevin W. Farmer, University of Florida

With thousands of baseball fans in the background, a left-handed pitcher on the mound prepares to fire the ball to home plate.
Read more about sports

Movies

Small character with a burlap bag covering his head stands next to a jack 'o lantern that's on fire.

The best horror movie you’ve never seen

Scott Malia, College of the Holy Cross

What James Earl Jones can teach us about activism and art in times of crisis

Dominic Taylor, University of California, Los Angeles

Shirtless young Black man smokes a cigar and winks while looking at his reflection in a mirror.
ChatGPT and the movie ‘Her’ are just the latest example of the ‘sci-fi feedback loop’

Rizwan Virk, Arizona State University

A massive holograph of a pink-skinned, blue-haired young woman points at a small man who gazes up at her.
How ‘Dune’ became a beacon for the fledgling environmental movement − and a rallying cry for the new science of ecology

Devin Griffiths, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Sand dunes at sunset.
Bradley Cooper, Cillian Murphy and the myths of Method acting

Scott Malia, College of the Holy Cross

Man holding cigarette rests head on palm while his arm is around a young woman who's cradling a cigarette in her fingers.
Read more about movies

Visual art

Photographer Louis Carlos Bernal memorialized the barrios at the US-Mexican border

Rebecca Senf, University of Arizona

Sepia portrait of middle aged man standing in front of a desk with his hands on his hips and a camera hanging from his neck.
How the surrealists used randomness as a catalyst for creative expression

Mark Robert Rank, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis

Black and white photo of young man with thin mustache lying in a bathtub, fully clothed, while sketching on a piece of paper.
From shrimp Jesus to fake self-portraits, AI-generated images have become the latest form of social media spam

Renee DiResta, Stanford University; Abhiram Reddy, Georgetown University, and Josh A. Goldstein, Georgetown University

Image of Virgin Mary surrounded by pink and blue sky and rainbow.
‘Hidden mother’ photos don’t erase moms − rather, they reveal the labor and love that support the child

Andrea Kaston Tange, Macalester College

Sepia photograph of toddler held in lap of adult with half of head cut off
Read more about visual art

Music

Bald black man wearing glasses points at a camera and grins.

Quincy Jones mastered the art of arrangement, transforming simple tunes into epic soundscapes

Jose Valentino Ruiz, University of Florida

As the stars of hip-hop’s golden age approach their golden years, some confront questions about whether old blood can make new music

A.D. Carson, University of Virginia

Bald bearded Black man wearing colorful shirt raps into a microphone.
By not lip-syncing Amy Winehouse’s songs, actress Marisa Abela confronts impossible expectations in ‘Back to Black’

Katherine Meizel, Bowling Green State University

Young woman with beehive hairdo clutches the arm of an older, stout man with gray hair.
The science behind Ariana Grande’s vocal metamorphosis

Lydia Kruse, Purdue University

Young woman dressed in billowing white gown sings while backup dancers surround her.
Missy Elliott tours as a headliner − and it’s about time

Elliott H. Powell, University of Minnesota

Performer in large black sunglasses, big gold hoop earrings and a metallic green jumpsuit holds a microphone on stage
Read more about music

Books

Hand holds a vintage color photograph of young boy standing on a front stoop.

As more Americans go ‘no contact’ with their parents, they live out a dilemma at the heart of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’

Jeanette Tran, Drake University

The whip-poor-will has been an omen of death for centuries − what happened to this iconic bird of American horror?

Jared Del Rosso, University of Denver

A drawing of a brown and black bird singing while perched on a branch.
Hemingway, after the hurricane

Verna Kale, Penn State

Black and white photo of people standing on debris.
The woman who revolutionized the fantasy genre is finally getting her due

Dennis Wilson Wise, University of Arizona

Collage of short woman with short hair and sunglasses standing on a planet while holding a purse.
Nationalism is not patriotism: 3 insights from Orwell about Trump and the 2024 election

Mark Satta, Wayne State University

A man dressed in red, white and blue hugging and kissing an American flag.
Read more about books

Media

US states are finally starting to put in place protections for the kids of family vloggers

Jessica Maddox, University of Alabama

A father holds up a camera to record a mother and her young child reading a book together on a sofa.
US government tries to rein in an out-of-control subscription economy

David Arditi, University of Texas at Arlington

Illustration of hand holding smartphone with graphics of $100 bills and grocery carts and houses and books floating out of it.
Farms to fame: How China’s rural influencers are redefining country life

Mitchell Gallagher, Wayne State University

A woman in a hat squats in a field holding a vegetable while being filmed on a phone.
Congress is trying to force carmakers to keep AM radio − it should also use this opportunity to correct the mistakes of the past

Matthew Jordan, Penn State

Black and white photo of a hand adjusting the knob of a car radio.
Read more about media

History

Man wearing red t-shirt holds fist in air from a lectern while a cheering crowd waves red and blue signs.

How organized labor shames its traitors − the story of the ‘scab’

Ian Afflerbach, University of North Georgia

What America’s first board game can teach us about the aspirations of a young nation

Matthew Wynn Sivils, Iowa State University

Alt Text.
Records of Pompeii’s survivors have been found – and archaeologists are starting to understand how they rebuilt their lives

Steven L. Tuck, Miami University

Oil painting of volcano erupting at night.
What the 3.2 million-year-old Lucy fossil reveals about nudity and shame

Stacy Keltner, Kennesaw State University

A sculpted head of an ape-like creature with its head angled to the side, gazing off into the distance.
How the 18th-century ‘probability revolution’ fueled the casino gambling craze

John Eglin, University of Montana

Colorful illustration of men wearing tricorn hats gathered around a spinning wheel.
Read more about language

Sexuality

How a survey of over 2,000 women in the 1920s changed the way Americans thought about female sexuality

Anya Jabour, University of Montana

Black and white photo of four young women sitting on a roof in the 1920s.
Colorado is home to the longest-running gay rodeo in the world

Rebecca Scofield, University of Idaho and Elyssa Ford, Northwest Missouri State University

A man wearing a colorful outfit holds an icepack to his eye
Historians are learning more about how the Nazis targeted trans people

Laurie Marhoefer, University of Washington

Black and white photo of four trans women.
Transgender regret? Research challenges narratives about gender-affirming surgeries

Harry Barbee, Johns Hopkins University; Bashar Hassan, Johns Hopkins University, and Fan Liang, Johns Hopkins University

Young person applies lipstick.
Read more about sexuality

Cities

Makeshift memorial made from wooden pallet, table, empty liquor bottles and stuffed animals

I documented dozens of shrines to people who’ve died in North Philly − here’s what they tell us about memory, grief and trauma

Gordon Coonfield, Villanova University

Large building with windows stands against gray sky.

A short history of the rise, fall and return of Detroit’s Michigan Central Station

Mila Puccini, Wayne State University and Jeffrey Horner, Wayne State University

Read more about cities

Television

A scenic shot of a cloud-dotted sky, brown grasslands and a barbed wire fence.

‘Yellowstone’ highlights Montana’s long-forgotten connection to the Confederacy

Randi Lynn Tanglen, University of North Dakota

In ‘Nobody Wants This,’ rom-com gets century-old tropes with a new twist – the cute rabbi

Samira Mehta, University of Colorado Boulder

A man in a sweater and jacket and a woman in a dark red top pose in front of a sign that says 'Nobody Wants This' in red letters.
Bob Newhart was more than an actor or comedian – he was a literary master

Mark Canada, Indiana University Kokomo

a sitting white man holds an old telephone receiver to his ear
Creative life after death − or yes, you can control spinoffs from beyond the grave

Naomi Cahn, University of Virginia and Reid Kress Weisbord, Rutgers University - Newark

Cast members Anthony Edwards, Laura Innes and Noah Wyle act in a 2001 episode of NBC's prime-time drama series "ER."
‘Homicide: Life on the Streets’ laid the groundwork for Peak TV – and it’s finally available to stream for new and old fans of the series

Summit Osur, Quinnipiac University

Young man talks to young girl sitting on table while a man films them with a big, black camera.
Read more about television

Most read this week

1.
An 83-year-old short story by Borges portends a bleak future for the internet

Roger J. Kreuz, University of Memphis

An 83-year-old short story by Borges portends a bleak future for the internet
2.
‘For the very first time I really enjoyed sex!’ − how lesbian escort agencies became a form of self-care in Japan

Marta Fanasca, Università di Bologna

‘For the very first time I really enjoyed sex!’ − how lesbian escort agencies became a form of self-care in Japan
3.
Why do people have different tastes in music? A music education expert explains why some songs are universally liked, while others aren’t

Jane Kuehne, Auburn University

Why do people have different tastes in music? A music education expert explains why some songs are universally liked, while others aren’t
4.
Records of Pompeii’s survivors have been found – and archaeologists are starting to understand how they rebuilt their lives

Steven L. Tuck, Miami University

Records of Pompeii’s survivors have been found – and archaeologists are starting to understand how they rebuilt their lives
5.
The ‘Death Mother’: Horror’s most unnerving villain

Kerry Hegarty, Miami University

The ‘Death Mother’: Horror’s most unnerving villain
6.
US states are finally starting to put in place protections for the kids of family vloggers

Jessica Maddox, University of Alabama

US states are finally starting to put in place protections for the kids of family vloggers