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The Conversation

Young woman with beehive hairdo clutches the arm of an older, stout man with gray hair.

By not lip-syncing Amy Winehouse’s songs, actress Marisa Abela confronts impossible expectations in ‘Back to Black’

Katherine Meizel, Bowling Green State University

Silhouettes of a family of seven walking in a line.

I interviewed moms with 5 or more kids − here’s what I learned about the women who are quietly going against the grain

Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, Catholic University of America

‘Hidden mother’ photos don’t erase moms − rather, they reveal the labor and love that support the child

Andrea Kaston Tange, Macalester College

Sepia photograph of toddler held in lap of adult with half of head cut off
What America’s first board game can teach us about the aspirations of a young nation

Matthew Wynn Sivils, Iowa State University

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Rap ‘beef’ as public spectacle is a dangerous game that artists rarely win

A.D. Carson, University of Virginia

A tree-lined street is jammed with parked police vehicles and television reporters.
Palestinian writers have long explored the horrors of amputation

Graham Liddell, Hope College

Young boy without a leg uses crutches as he leans against a wall. A faceless adult stands in the foreground.
Read our latest Arts and Culture articles

Sports

The luck of the puck in the Stanley Cup – why chance plays such a big role in hockey

Mark Robert Rank, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis

Fans dressed in orange and black watch from the stands behind protective glass as a goalie in a white, black and gold jersey strains to catch a puck with his glove.
Is this the dawn of a new era in women’s sports?

Cheryl Cooky, Purdue University

Pink confetti falls from the rafters of a basketball arena as a female coach and her players celebrate.
Why the Chiefs and Royals couldn’t convince Kansas City voters to foot the bill for their stadiums

Victor Matheson, College of the Holy Cross

An aerial view of a baseball stadium and football stadium near one another.
‘The Amazon of Sports’ has already cornered baseball’s apparel market – and is now on the verge of subsuming baseball cards, too

Nathaniel Grow, Indiana University; John Holden, Oklahoma State University, and Marc Edelman, Baruch College, CUNY

A group of young fans wearing ballcaps red baseball uniforms hold up their baseball cards.
Read more about sports

Movies

A silhouette of a man walking past three identical posters showing a gray-haired man, dressed in a long saffron-color shirt, with the flag of India in the background.

Bollywood is playing a large supporting role in India’s elections

Preminda Jacob, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Despite its big night at the Oscars, ‘Oppenheimer’ is a disappointment and a lost opportunity

Naoko Wake, Michigan State University

Black and white photo of a mushroom cloud in the ocean, as seen from the shore.
How ‘Dune’ became a beacon for the fledgling environmental movement − and a rallying cry for the new science of ecology

Devin Griffiths, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Sand dunes at sunset.
Bradley Cooper, Cillian Murphy and the myths of Method acting

Scott Malia, College of the Holy Cross

Man holding cigarette rests head on palm while his arm is around a young woman who's cradling a cigarette in her fingers.
How the Academy Awards became ‘the biggest international fashion show free-for-all’

Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén, University of Southern California

Young Black woman with short hair holds gold statuette while wearing a flowing powder blue dress.
Read more about movies

Visual art

From shrimp Jesus to fake self-portraits, AI-generated images have become the latest form of social media spam

Renee DiResta, Stanford University; Abhiram Reddy, Georgetown University, and Josh A. Goldstein, Georgetown University

Image of Virgin Mary surrounded by pink and blue sky and rainbow.
‘Hidden mother’ photos don’t erase moms − rather, they reveal the labor and love that support the child

Andrea Kaston Tange, Macalester College

Sepia photograph of toddler held in lap of adult with half of head cut off
Donald Trump and the dying art of the courtroom sketch

Anita Lam, York University, Canada

Sketch of man looking glum.
For graffiti artists, abandoned skyscrapers in Miami and Los Angeles become a canvas for regular people to be seen and heard

Colette Gaiter, University of Delaware

An aerial view of colorful graffiti on an unfinished skyscraper.
Read more about visual art

Music

Black and white portrait of young woman bathed in light resting her head on her hands.

Taylor Swift’s homage to Clara Bow

Deirdre Clemente, University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Annie Delgado, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

The most important voice on Beyoncé’s new album

William Nash, Middlebury

Elderly Black woman wearing glasses and a purple shirt seated in a chair.
Beyoncé’s ‘Blackbiird’ breathes new life into a symbol that has inspired centuries of Black artists, musicians and storytellers

Katie Kapurch, Texas State University and Jon Marc Smith, Texas State University

Young Black woman closes her eyes as she sings into a microphone.
From rebel to retail − inside Bob Marley’s posthumous musical and merchandising empire

Mike Alleyne, Middle Tennessee State University

Dreadlocked man sings and plays guitar in front of sign reading 'Viva Zimbabwe.'
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at 200: Revolutionary work of art has spawned two centuries of joy, goodwill and propaganda

Ted Olson, East Tennessee State University

a painting of a man in 19th centruy clothing with unruly hair
Read more about music

Books

Young woman sprawled on couch covering her face with a book.

Gen Zers and millennials are still big fans of books – even if they don’t call themselves ‘readers’

Kathi Inman Berens, Portland State University and Rachel Noorda, Portland State University

Why is free time still so elusive?

Gary Cross, Penn State

Five clocks falling from a red plank against a blue background.
How I identified a probable pen name of Louisa May Alcott

Max Chapnick, Northeastern University

Vignette sepia photographic portrait of young woman made in the 1870s.
Betty Smith enchanted a generation of readers with ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ − even as she groused that she hoped Williamsburg would be flattened

Rachel Gordan, University of Florida

Black and white photo of a group of teen girls huddling around another girl who's reading 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.'
Why have you read ‘The Great Gatsby’ but not Ursula Parrott’s ‘Ex-Wife’?

Marsha Gordon, North Carolina State University

Black and white photo of woman wearing hat posing with boy in bleachers.
Read more about books

Language

A collage of public signs written in Spanish, English and other languages

I analyzed 3,356 signs to see how language use is changing in three Latino neighborhoods in Philly

Daniel Guarin, Temple University

Are our fears of saying ‘no’ overblown?

Julian Givi, West Virginia University and Colleen P. Kirk, New York Institute of Technology

Black, orange and yellow illustration of silhouetted arm holding a smartphone.
‘The former guy’ versus ‘Sleepy Joe’ – why Biden and Trump are loath to utter each other’s name

Roger J. Kreuz, University of Memphis

An elderly man in a suit spreads his arms as he speaks. He is flanked by a middle-aged woman and two middle-aged men.
Linguists have identified a new English dialect that’s emerging in South Florida

Phillip M. Carter, Florida International University

Two smiling young women hang out car windows while one waves a Cuban flag.
Sellout! How political corruption shaped an American insult

Ian Afflerbach, University of North Georgia

Two images – front and back – of a metal statue featuring a smiling politician with a slot to insert coins in his back.
Read more about language

Television

Young Asian woman poses in front of a blue display featuring images from the series 'Shogun.'

James Clavell’s ‘Shōgun’ is reimagined for a new generation of TV viewers

Constantine Nomikos Vaporis, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

How TV shows have grappled with a post-Dobbs America

Stephanie Herold, University of California, San Francisco

Man tries to comfort crying girl.
How the sounds of ‘Succession’ shred the grandeur and respect the characters so desperately try to project

Delia Casadei, University of California, Berkeley

Three men and two women dressed in black stand at a funeral.
Reality TV show contestants are more like unpaid interns than Hollywood stars

David Arditi, University of Texas at Arlington

Woman wearing sunglasses flanked by two guitarists sings into microphone on stage.
Making the moral of the story stick − a media psychologist explains the research behind ‘Sesame Street,’ ‘Arthur’ and other children’s TV

Drew Cingel, University of California, Davis; Allyson Snyder, University of California, Davis; Jane Shawcroft, University of California, Davis, and Samantha Vigil, University of California, Davis

Large Sesame Street characters Rosita, Katie, Elmo, Cookie Monster and Grover stand on stage reaching out to children in the audience
Read more about television

Most read this week

1.
I interviewed moms with 5 or more kids − here’s what I learned about the women who are quietly going against the grain

Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, Catholic University of America

I interviewed moms with 5 or more kids − here’s what I learned about the women who are quietly going against the grain
2.
What America’s first board game can teach us about the aspirations of a young nation

Matthew Wynn Sivils, Iowa State University

What America’s first board game can teach us about the aspirations of a young nation
3.
‘Hidden mother’ photos don’t erase moms − rather, they reveal the labor and love that support the child

Andrea Kaston Tange, Macalester College

‘Hidden mother’ photos don’t erase moms − rather, they reveal the labor and love that support the child
4.
By not lip-syncing Amy Winehouse’s songs, actress Marisa Abela confronts impossible expectations in ‘Back to Black’

Katherine Meizel, Bowling Green State University

By not lip-syncing Amy Winehouse’s songs, actress Marisa Abela confronts impossible expectations in ‘Back to Black’
5.
Palestinian writers have long explored the horrors of amputation

Graham Liddell, Hope College

Palestinian writers have long explored the horrors of amputation
6.
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at 200: Revolutionary work of art has spawned two centuries of joy, goodwill and propaganda

Ted Olson, East Tennessee State University

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at 200: Revolutionary work of art has spawned two centuries of joy, goodwill and propaganda