The South African Art Collective That Imagined the End of Apartheid
In 1978, Serote and Thamsanqa (Thami) Mnyele founded the Medu Art Ensemble, an art collective that advocated for an end to the South African apartheid government through creative expression —…
Leonora Carrington Rewrote the Surrealist Narrative for Women
In one of Carrington’s earliest stories, “The Debutante,” a young woman who does not want to go to a ball switches places with a hyena. The débutante allows her maid…
Nothing Happened in 1999
this poem makes me think about how every year in the history of the world is a pivotal year and how quickly we forget all the monumental things that happen…
The history of Hello Kitty
Right alongside Mickey Mouse and Snoopy sits Hello Kitty, one of the most recognizable characters worldwide. Sanrio’s biggest star has won over fans of every age since her 1974 debut,…
Why rappers love Grey Poupon
Charting the rise of hip hop's favorite condiment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOgPk5T1xi0
The Night The Block Burned Down: Philadelphia’s MOVE Bombing
How the Philadelphia police leveled a whole block to take down an unlikely messiah figure.
The Undersea Horror Movies of the Late 1980s
Between January 1989 and the spring of 1990, no fewer than five films all came out with a similar theme – DeepStar Six was first, followed by Leviathan, Lords Of…
Seduced & Abandoned: The Body in the Virtual World – The Feminine Cyberspace
Seduced & Abandoned was one of a series of ICA conferences (spanning 12-13 March, 1994) held under the umbrella title Towards the Aesthetics of the Future that explored the connections…
Whatever happened to Winamp? (which you can still download, by the way)
Fifteen to twenty years ago, Winamp was the MP3 player that everyone used. It was the first MP3 player not to suck: playlists, shuffle, convenience. I asked friends on Facebook…