Editors' Picks

The Early History of Faking War on Film

Early filmmakers faced a dilemma: how to capture the drama of war without getting themselves killed in the process. Their solution: fake the footage

PHOTOS: The History of Abraham Lincoln on Film

The 16th president has been a Hollywood star and box office attraction since the earliest days of Hollywood

Esperanza Spalding Took on Bieber, Now Takes on Jazz

The innovative bassist and winner of the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for performing arts is taking jazz to a whole new place

Beats

Page 4 of 6

A musical rite of the holiday season, the Baroque-era oratorio still awes listeners 250 years after the composer's death
December 2009 | By Jonathan Kandell

Light your pumpkin and read about the real places behind some of the world’s classic spooky tales
October 16, 2009 | By Robin T. Reid

She began her career as a musical prodigy and ended up breaking down racial barriers in the recording and film industries
October 16, 2009 | By Karen Chilton

Poet David Lehman provides a list of his favorite songs from the 1930s, including works by Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen and others
October 07, 2009 | By David Lehman

Poet David Lehman talks about the brilliant Jewish composers and lyricists whose work largely comprises the great American songbook
October 07, 2009 | By Jamie Katz

For years, the recording industry excluded black artists. Along came Motown, and suddenly everyone was singing its tunes
September 29, 2009 | By Marian Smith Holmes

Lovers of the banjo, fiddle and mandolin blend cultural identity and religious faith to create a uniquely American sound
September 24, 2009 | By Jen Miller

The British countryside is home to the real sites behind Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and other works by the literary sisters
September 03, 2009 | By William Ecenbarger

Billie Holiday’s favorite musician, jazz great Lester “Prez” Young brought a hip, freewheeling sensibility to his saxophone playing
August 25, 2009 | By Jamie Katz

From Twain to Kerouac to Bryson, writers have found inspiration in hitting the road and traveling the United States
August 20, 2009 | By Abby Callard

The folk musician talks about his new album – a lost recording of a solo concert held days before the legendary music festival
July 31, 2009 | By Jeff Campagna

The re-edited version of Ernest Hemingway’s Paris-based memoir sheds new light on the heartbreaking breakup of his first marriage
July 27, 2009 | By Chloë Schama

On a whim, a young couple went to the legendary rock festival only to be captured in a memorable image by photographer Burk Uzzle
August 2009 | By Timothy Dumas

The author of The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum, traveled many paths before he found his Yellow Brick Road and captured our collective imagination
June 26, 2009 | By Chloë Schama

Cities up and down the East Coast claim author Edgar Allan Poe as their own and celebrate his 200th birthday
June 11, 2009 | By Abigail Tucker

Amanda McKittrick Ros predicted she would achieve lasting fame as a novelist. Unfortunately, she did
June 2009 | By Miles Corwin

In the 1940s and 50s, photographer Herman Leonard captured icons of the jazz world, including Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington
May 07, 2009 | By Lucinda Moore

Pete Seeger is still singing the ballads that popularized folk music and transformed the genre into a call for action
May 2009 | By Joseph Caputo

The young musician discusses the joys of improvisation and her new tribute to fellow American Indian artist Mildred Bailey
April 09, 2009 | By Katy June-Friesen

The jazz flugelhornist and composer kicks off Jazz History Month with a donation to the National Museum of American History
April 03, 2009 | By Jeff Campagna

The British Library’s Spoken Word albums of recordings by British and American writers shed new light on the authors' work
March 20, 2009 | By Matthew Gurewitsch

Photographs by Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Eudora Welty display the empathy that would later infuse her fiction
April 2009 | By T.A. Frail

April 2009 | By Joseph Caputo

Author Elaine Showalter discusses the lasting influence of Harriet Beecher Stowe and why Gertrude Stein is overrated
March 06, 2009 | By Chloë Schama

March 2009 | By Joseph Caputo

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