Two William McKinley Autopsies
The 1901 assassination of US President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo revealed the abysmal state of race relations in America.
Americanism, Exoticism, and the “Chop Suey” Circuit
Asian American artists who performed for primarily white audiences in the 1930s and ’40s both challenged and solidified racial boundaries in the United States.
Mae West and Camp
A camp diva, a queer icon, and a model of feminism—the memorable Mae West left behind a complicated legacy, on and off the stage.
Her Bounty Is Boundless
From the first actor—a man—to play Juliet to the “girl boss” version on Broadway, Shakespeare’s young lover offers something new in every iteration.
Mermaids: Myth, Kith and Kin
Ariel epitomizes mermaids now, but these beguiling creatures precede her by millennia, sparking imaginations the world over with a hearty embrace of otherness.
Superbarrio: The People’s Superhero
Defender of the poor tenants and evictor of the voracious landlords, a masked lucha libre wrestler rose from the ruins of Mexico City’s 1985 earthquake.
The Mystery behind Charlotte Salomon’s Groundbreaking Art
Before she was killed by Nazis, Charlotte Salomon created a unique, genre-bending artwork that may have also been a confession to a murder.
Ai Weiwei’s Readymade: Politics
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has been making political waves for decades, but his current shows are especially relevant to the United States.
The Tangled Language of Jargon
What our emotional reaction to jargon reveals about the evolution of the English language, and how the use of specialized terms can manipulate meaning.
Why Paul Robeson Was Labelled a Psychopath
The singer, actor, and activist Paul Robeson had a spectacular rise and then a stunning fall brought on by the Cold War's pathologizing of dissent.