In 1980, 60 percent of 12th graders said they read a book, newspaper or magazine every day for pleasure. By 2016, only 16 percent did.
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Arts + Culture – Articles, Analysis, Opinion
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When record executives tried to mold Franklin's sound to their liking, her career sputtered. Then legendary producer Jerry Wexler came along. His approach? Stay out of her way.
And without white privilege, they wouldn't feel compelled to follow a white script.
In 1979, David Duke told the media he had launched a wildly successful recruiting drive in Connecticut. A local reporter wanted to test Duke's claims – so he filled out an application to join the KKK.
You know you've hit it big when your designs find their way into millions of kitchens – and the Museum of Modern Art.
Critics say hologram tours exploit the dead for a quick buck. But there's something about Roy Orbison's ethereal mystique that makes this one a particularly fitting tribute.
Kitchens are like mini laboratories, with foods and utensils exposed to extreme temperatures. So it's no surprise that a material used for Mars missions has found its way into a range of cooking ware.
Like the WNBA, the NBA went through fits and starts in its early years. Yet despite drawing similar crowds in the 1960s, NBA players earned far bigger paychecks than today's WNBA stars receive.
A number of factors – from our eagerness to place trust in people to our overconfidence in our own intelligence – make us easy prey.
Our social institutions and politics suffer from a collective arrested development – and our relationship to technology has only exacerbated this trend.
The halal food sector largely relies on industrially produced meats and produce. But more and more Muslims are using the Quran to interpret halal to mean food that's wholesome and humanely raised.
White shooters are nearly 95 percent more likely to have their crimes attributed to mental illness than black shooters.
Fifty years ago, an insurance agent named Paul Simpson was convinced of rampant bias on the evening news. So he embarked on a project to record each broadcast and store them at Vanderbilt University.
Is a shot of tequila actually good for you? And what's the deal with the worm? To celebrate National Tequila Day, a food historian explores some little-known aspects of the popular Mexican spirit.
Aristotle coined the term "enthymeme" to refer to arguments, words and ideas that are broadly accepted among the people of a nation. So what happens when enthymemes start to disappear?
From the 1930s to the 1960s, 'The Negro Motorist's Green Book' and 'Travelguide: Vacation and Recreation Without Humiliation' offered African-American roadtrippers lists of black-friendly businesses.
Forty years ago, Rebecca Moore's two sisters helped plan the Jonestown massacre. But she refuses to say they were brainwashed, arguing that it prevents us from truly understanding their behavior.
Without credible news and information, a healthy democracy is not possible.
Towns are embracing their eccentric visitors as a way to boost their struggling economies.
More interracial couples are appearing on TV and in advertising. But is media exposure enough to change attitudes?
Studies show that people's environments influence their mood. The same is true of homeless shelters, which can either help or hurt residents' psychological well-being — and, possibly, their futures.
McNaughton's works elicit giddy mockery from the left and effusive love from the right. Why do they resonate so strongly?
'The Mother Road' is one step closer to becoming a National Historic Trail, which would allocate funds for struggling towns along the original Route 66.
The gooey treat couldn't have become popularized without the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution, which brought cheap sweets to the masses.
In the US, smiling is a reflexive gesture of goodwill, but Russians view it as a sign of stupidity. Social psychology research could help explain this cultural contrast.