How 'Yo! MTV Raps' helped mainstream hip hop
The MTV show Yo! MTV Raps helped bring hip-hop into mainstream American culture in the 1980s and was made by a scrappy team in the face of a skeptical corporate network.
Arts
A poet pieces together an uncertain past in 'Memoir of a Kidnapping'
When Shane McCrae was almost 4 years old, his maternal grandparents, who were white supremacists, took him from his father, who is Black. His new memoir is Pulling the Chariot of the Sun.
A new art exhibit in the High Country brings a unique west coast story eastward for the first time
A new art exhibit in the High Country is showcasing a unique story from the west coast.
Jamie Lee Curtis' graphic novel shows how 'We're blowing it with Mother Nature'
This project was motivated by the climate crisis: "We are heading into a very, very dangerous place," Curtis says. The story explores the environmental decisions one generation makes for the next.
Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years for Megan Thee Stallion shooting
The rapper was convicted of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020 as they left a party in Los Angeles. Prosecutors argued that Tory Lanez had tried to turn public opinion against the plaintiff.
'Rapper's Delight': How hip-hop got its first record deal
Hip-hop was born at a party in 1973, but it'd be another six years until the first commercial hip-hop records. People have differing views of it, but the release of "Rapper's Delight" changed history.
Shakespeare and penguin book get caught in Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' laws
Students in a Florida school district will be reading only excerpts from William Shakespeare's plays for class rather than the full texts under redesigned curriculum guides.
A barber turns haircuts into a game to help a boy with autism get through them
LaQuista Erinna's son Jackson was diagnosed with autism. Overwhelmed by sensory experiences, haircuts were hard. She found a barber who could manage Jackson's meltdowns. One day, things went wrong.
The Visual Effects workers behind Marvel's movie magic vote to unionize
More than 50 workers at Marvel Studios in LA, New York and Atlanta have signed authorization cards to be represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, or IATSE.
As a writer slowly loses his sight, he embraces other kinds of perception
Andrew Leland started losing his sight 20 years ago. He's now legally blind, although he still has a narrow field of vision, which allows him to see about 6% of what a fully-sighted person sees.