Cross Reference image

“Kapow!” It’s Time for Cross Reference

This month’s crossword puzzle features an onomatopoeic opener!
From the cover of Rising Sun by Michael Crichton

Colorful Plots and Racial Undertones in Modern Crime Fiction

Tarik Abdel-Monem argues that American crime fiction reflects mainstream prejudices in depicting mixed-race individuals as either deformed or superhuman.
Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson’s Speech on the Indian Removal Act: Annotated

In December 1830, two months after the passage of the Indian Removal Act, President Andrew Jackson used his annual Congressional message to celebrate the policy.
Original art for The Shadow by Charles Coll

What the Shadow Says

The appearance of the vigilante crime fighter known as the Shadow in the writings of Plath, Kerouac, and Baraka reveals a twentieth-century duality.
Actors on stage during a performance of A Midsummer Night 's Dream

Shakespeare and Fanfiction

Despite an enduring slice of audience that treats his work as precious and mythic, most Shakespeare fans have rarely met an adaptive concept they didn’t like.
Willie Mae Thornton

Willie Mae Thornton Deserves Your Full Attention

In a meditative new biography, DJ and scholar Lynnée Denise examines the mysteries and trials in the life of the legendary performer.
Photographs from a review of Black America, in Illustrated American, 1895

Nate Salsbury’s Black America

The 1895 show purported to show a genuine Southern Black community and demonstrate Black cultural progress in America, from enslavement to citizenship.
The covers of Partition by Saadat Hasan Manto, Palo Alto by Malcolm Harris, The Flew by Carlos Eire, Running While Black by Alison Mariella Désir, Living the Beatles Legend by Kenneth Womack, and The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris

What We’re Reading 2023

Enjoy a fresh batch of year-end book reports from all of the readers, writers, and editors at JSTOR Daily!
A sports page from the Pittsburgh Courier

How the Black Press Helped Integrate Baseball

In the 1930s and ’40s, Black newspapers like the Pittsburgh Courier used their platform to help break the sport’s color line.
Barbie in her various incarnations

Teaching Barbie: Scholarly Readings to Inspire Classroom Discussion

Barbie is having a(nother) moment. Researchers have been studying the famous doll for years.