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Man in suit gestures to the left of a wax statue of a cowboy.

Trump’s ‘Garden of American Heroes’ is a monument to celebrity and achievement – paid for with humanities funding that benefits everyday Americans

Jennifer Tucker, Wesleyan University and Peter Rutland, Wesleyan University

Alternating pink, blue and green spirals with thin orange spirals superimposed

Colors are objective, according to two philosophers − even though the blue you see doesn’t match what I see

Elay Shech, Auburn University and Michael Watkins, Auburn University

With federal funding in question, artists can navigate a perilous future by looking to the past

Johanna K. Taylor, Arizona State University and Mary McAvoy, Arizona State University

Man paints a large blue and yellow outline of a cartoon person on a wall.
200 years ago, France extorted Haiti in one of history’s greatest heists – and Haitians want reparations

Marlene L. Daut, Yale University

200 years ago, France extorted Haiti in one of history’s greatest heists – and Haitians want reparations
Is China the new cool? How Beijing is using pop culture to win the soft power war

Shaoyu Yuan, Rutgers University - Newark

A man in traditional Chinese garv stand next to a man with cymbals.
The hidden history of Philadelphia’s window-box gardens and their role in urban reform

Sonja Dümpelmann, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Black bench in front of brick building with black shutters and black flower-filled window boxes
Read our latest Arts and Culture articles

Sports

Women are reclaiming their place in baseball

Callie Maddox, Miami University

Black and white photo of girl holding a baseball bat and posing in her batting stance.
When algorithms take the field – inside MLB’s robo-umping experiment

Arthur Daemmrich, Arizona State University and Eric S. Hintz, Smithsonian Institution

A white camera installed in a baseball stadium overlooking the field.
Philly Roller Derby league turns 20 - here’s how the sport skated its way to feminism, anti-racism and queer liberation

Colleen English, Penn State

Four women dressed in punk-style clothes roller skate on an indoor rink
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.
Read more about sports

Movies

Three men and one woman hold gold statuettes.

A Palestinian-Israeli film just won an Oscar − so why is it so hard to see?

Drew Paul, University of Tennessee

What Amazon MGM’s creative control over the James Bond film franchise means for the future of 007

Colin Burnett, Washington University in St. Louis

Man wearing tuxedo aims a pistol with a silencer affixed to it.
How Oscar-nominated screenwriters attempt to craft authentic dialogue, dialects and accents

Chris C. Palmer, Kennesaw State University and Mitchell Olson, Kennesaw State University

Movie still of a group of men consulting an architectural blueprint.
‘Emilia Pérez’ was nominated for 13 Oscars. Why do so many people hate it?

Alejandra Marquez Guajardo, Michigan State University

Three young actresses shown side by side.
How the gladiators inspired evangelicals’ sense of persecution

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

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

Visual art

Why tattoos are such an unreliable marker of gang membership

Beth C. Caldwell, Southwestern Law School

A man wtih tattoo of a red rose on his hand and a tattoo of a crown on his neck.
Can animals make art?

Shawn Simpson, University of Pittsburgh

Pieces of blue plastic surround a bird who stands in an archway created with sticks.
An artist traces her choices under Putin’s Russia – from resistance to retreat to exile – one mural at a time

Stephen Norris, Miami University

A colorful mural shows two blue figures with burst of yellow on their bodies facing groups of people on opposite sides of the page.
‘We painted our fear, hope and dreams’ − examining the art and artists of Guantánamo Bay

Alexandra Moore, Binghamton University, State University of New York and Elizabeth Swanson, Babson College

A sailing ship made out of found objects is seen in a cardboard frame.
Read more about visual art

Music

Feet of a musician on stage with the blurry crowd in the background.

On stage but out of the spotlight − the quiet struggle of being an opening act

Jeff Apruzzese, Drexel University

Kendrick Lamar’s big Super Bowl moment

Christina L. Myers, Michigan State University

Man wearing backwards hat kneels on one knee while speaking into a microphone.
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.
The Wanamaker organ has been a treasured piece of Philly history for over 100 years − a historian explains its illustrious past and uncertain future after Macy’s closes

Whitney Martinko, Villanova University

View of Wanamaker organ from balcony of Macy's store
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.
Read more about music

Books

Balding man poses while adjusting his glasses.

AI isn’t what we should be worried about – it’s the humans controlling it

Billy J. Stratton, University of Denver

From pulpits to protest, the surprising history of the phrase ‘pride and prejudice’

Margie Burns, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

An open book with the printed words 'Pride and Prejudice' as the title, with printed text underneath.
How the human neck became a locus of power, beauty and frailty

Kent Dunlap, Trinity College

Black and white photo of young man kissing neck of smiling young woman.
How the literature of fire can help readers find hope among the ashes

Grace Moore, University of Otago

A loose page with text, a black-and-white photo and seared borders sits on orange-hued rubble and dirt.
People say they prefer stories written by humans over AI-generated works, yet new study suggests that’s not quite true

Martin Abel, Bowdoin College and Reed Johnson, Bowdoin College

gray right robot hand holding a red pen
Read more about books

Media

The New Yorker turns 100 − how a poker game pipe dream became a publishing powerhouse

Christopher B. Daly, Boston University

A collage of colorful magazine covers.
5 Super Bowl commercials that deserve places in the advertising hall of shame

Matthew Pittman, University of Tennessee

A deflated football on yellowed, dried grass.
Why Trump’s meme coin is a cash grab

Maximilian Brichta, University of Southern California

Hand holding a smartphone with a green line graph rising to higher amounts.
Birkin handbags, Walmart’s ‘Wirkin’ and the meme-ification of class warfare

Aarushi Bhandari, Davidson College

Woman with baggy pants dangles a turquoise handbag from her fingers.
Read more about media

History

Man in suit descends red carpeted steps with a large bust of a young man facing him.

The problem with Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center isn’t the possibility of ‘Cats’

Joanna Dee Das, Washington University in St. Louis

In Israel, calls for genocide have migrated from the margins to the mainstream

Tamir Sorek, Penn State

A women sitting on rubble holds her head in her hand.
With its executive order targeting the Smithsonian, the Trump administration opens up a new front in the history wars

Jennifer Tucker, Wesleyan University

Painting of man in suit with red tie sitting in a chair.
How the color of St. Patrick’s Day went from blue to green

Bryan McGovern, Kennesaw State University

A man dressed in green clothes rows a green kayak in a river with water that's been dyed green.
Rare portraits reveal the humanity of the slaves who revolted on the Amistad

Kate McMahon, Smithsonian Institution

Illustration of shirtless Black men bludgeoning a white ship captain to death.
Read more about language

Gender and sexuality

With Hooters on the verge of bankruptcy, a psychologist reflects on her time spent studying the servers who work there

Dawn Szymanski, University of Tennessee

Young woman working as a waitress talks to a customer.
Trans people affirmed their gender without medical help in medieval Europe − history shows how identity transcends medicine and law

Sarah Barringer, University of Iowa

Tapestry of woman holding a mirror up to a unicorn with hooves in her lap, surrounded by woodland creatures
A federal policy expert weighs in on Trump’s efforts to stifle gender-affirming care for Americans under 19

Elana Redfield, University of California, Los Angeles

Hand holding black sharpie signing a piece of paper.
Mark Zuckerberg thinks workplaces need to ‘man up’ − here’s why that’s bad for all employees, no matter their gender

Adam Stanaland, University of Richmond

Two fighters grapple in the foreground while a middle-aged man observes through a chain link cage.
Read more about gender and sexuality

Cities

Man holding an umbrella walks across a plaza in front of a large, imposing concrete building.

Brutalism – the architectural style that dared to summon a new world from the ashes of World War II

Michael R. Allen, West Virginia University

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

Read more about cities

Television

Cast members of a television show sitting on a bench outside.

Is a ‘friend-apist’ what we really want from therapy?

David E. Tolchinsky, Indiana University

The child boss in ‘Severance’ reveals a devastating truth about work and child-rearing in the 21st century

Anna Mae Duane, University of Connecticut

Twen asian girl walking down a white, sterile hallway as a middle-aged man trails her.
Why ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ almost didn’t air − and why it endures

Stephen Lind, University of Southern California

A cartoon of a boy in a red jacket and tan cap holding a tiny tree sapling outside at night.
‘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.
Read more about television

Lifestyle

Three wooden cutouts of the letters 'T,' 'H' and 'X.'

Why you should think twice before using shorthand like ‘thx’ and ‘k’ in your texts

David Fang, Stanford University

America is becoming a nation of homebodies

Brian D. Taylor, University of California, Los Angeles; Eric Morris, Clemson University, and Sam Speroni, University of California, Los Angeles

Silhouette of young man peering through window blinds.
Why is free time still so elusive?

Gary Cross, Penn State

Five clocks falling from a red plank against a blue background.

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