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The Conversation

Illustration of small man walking along a row of dominoes that collapse behind him.

How midlife became a crisis

Matthew Redmond, Université de Lille

Woman with baggy pants dangles a turquoise handbag from her fingers.

Birkin handbags, Walmart’s ‘Wirkin’ and the meme-ification of class warfare

Aarushi Bhandari, Davidson College

Transform the daily grind to make life more interesting – a philosopher shares 3 strategies to help you attain the good life

Lorraine Besser, Middlebury

woman in cityscape faces away from camera
How should we look to history to make sense of Luigi Mangione’s alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson?

Richard White, Stanford University

Young man with curly hair wears an orange jumpsuit as he is escorted into a car.
Bob Dylan and the creative leap that transformed modern music

Ted Olson, East Tennessee State University

Young man wearing sunglasses and a white sailor hat smokes a cigarette with his arm around a young woman who's laughing.
After Hurricane Helene, survivors have been in a race against time to protect family heirlooms, photographs and keepsakes

Nick Lehr, The Conversation

A big pool of muddy water surrounded by small homes and a white pickup truck that's angled into a ditch.
Read our latest Arts and Culture articles

Sports

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

Stephen Brauer, University of Richmond

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

Painting of naked man collapsed, with a shield dangling from his arm and blood trickling down his chest from a small wound.

How the gladiators inspired evangelicals’ sense of persecution

Cavan W. Concannon, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

The chilling crime spree of The Order – and its lasting effect on today’s white supremacists

Matthew Valasik, University of Alabama and Shannon Reid, University of North Carolina – Charlotte

Two investigators stand over a dead man with blood
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.
The best horror movie you’ve never seen

Scott Malia, College of the Holy Cross

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

Visual art

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

Holly Willis, University of Southern California

A blurry image of amorphous figures in motion.
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

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Read more about visual art

Music

View from third-floor balcony of department store show and massive Christmas tree surrounded by lights depicting snowmen, reindeer and other holiday images

The Wanamaker organ has been part of a treasured holiday tradition in Philly for over 100 years − a historian explains its illustrious past and uncertain future

Whitney Martinko, Villanova University

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

Jose Valentino Ruiz, University of Florida

Bald black man wearing glasses points at a camera and grins.
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.
Read more about music

Books

Black and white portrait of elderly man wearing suit and sitting in chair while clasping a cane with both hands.

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

Roger J. Kreuz, University of Memphis

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

Hand holds a vintage color photograph of young boy standing on a front stoop.
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.
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.
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.
Read more about books

Media

How liberals lost comedy − and helped Trump win

Nick Marx, Colorado State University and Matt Sienkiewicz, Boston College

Elderly man with dyed blonde hair and a blue suit smirks.
Polarization, brain rot and brat – the 2024 words of the year point to the power, perils and ephemeral nature of digital life

Roger J. Kreuz, University of Memphis

Silhouette of upset young man looking at his smartphone screen.
Dogecoin is a joke − so what’s behind its rally?

Maximilian Brichta, University of Southern California

Gold coin featuring a dog's head with the word 'WOW.'
Bluesky isn’t the ‘new Twitter,’ but its resemblance to the old one is drawing millions of new users

Casey Fiesler, University of Colorado Boulder

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Read more about media

History

Black and white photo of large room with American flags hanging from the ceiling and beds with wounded troops in them.

Compassion amid chaos − how one of America’s greatest poets became a lifeline for wounded soldiers

Richard Gunderman, Indiana University

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

Ian Afflerbach, University of North Georgia

Man wearing red t-shirt holds fist in air from a lectern while a cheering crowd waves red and blue signs.
What America’s first board game can teach us about the aspirations of a young nation

Matthew Wynn Sivils, Iowa State University

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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.
Read more about language

Gender and sexuality

Is masculine anxiety spurring support for Trump among Gen Z?

Nick Lehr, The Conversation

Teen boy wearing red sweater staring at camera with half of his face blurred.
‘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.
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
Read more about gender and 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 cartoon of a boy in a red jacket and tan cap holding a tiny tree sapling outside at night.

Why ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ almost didn’t air − and why it endures

Stephen Lind, University of Southern California

‘Love Is Blind’ contestants count as employees − new US government agency finding could shake up reality TV production

David Arditi, University of Texas at Arlington

A group of young men and women pose at a bar while fake money flutters in the air.
‘Yellowstone’ highlights Montana’s long-forgotten connection to the Confederacy

Randi Lynn Tanglen, University of North Dakota

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

Most read this week

1.
Birkin handbags, Walmart’s ‘Wirkin’ and the meme-ification of class warfare

Aarushi Bhandari, Davidson College

Birkin handbags, Walmart’s ‘Wirkin’ and the meme-ification of class warfare
2.
How midlife became a crisis

Matthew Redmond, Université de Lille

How midlife became a crisis
3.
Transform the daily grind to make life more interesting – a philosopher shares 3 strategies to help you attain the good life

Lorraine Besser, Middlebury

Transform the daily grind to make life more interesting – a philosopher shares 3 strategies to help you attain the good life
4.
Philly sports fans consider themselves ‘gritty’ − but it’s merely a myth used to fuel their passion

Timothy J. Brown, Eastern University

Philly sports fans consider themselves ‘gritty’ − but it’s merely a myth used to fuel their passion
5.
Why ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ almost didn’t air − and why it endures

Stephen Lind, University of Southern California

Why ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ almost didn’t air − and why it endures
6.
Lorne Michaels, the man behind the curtain at ‘Saturday Night Live,’ has been minting comedy gold for nearly 50 years

Chris Lamb, Indiana University

Lorne Michaels, the man behind the curtain at ‘Saturday Night Live,’ has been minting comedy gold for nearly 50 years