How Engineers Created a Flying ‘Star Wars’ X-Wing
Kelyn Soong Freelance Writer Seeing a Star Wars X-wing starfighter won’t require a trip to a galaxy far, far away. This year, just in time for May 4—Star Wars Day—the…
Music & Film
How Museums Are Preserving and Celebrating Selena’s Legacy
Fans hold a photo of Selena during the ceremony honoring her with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017. Tara Ziemba / AFP via Getty Images Selena…
Before Beyonce and Taylor Swift Ran the World, There Was Joan Baez
Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz / Images by Reg Innell / John Storey / Getty Images / National Archives Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are not the first women to find great…
How John Coltrane’s ‘My Favorite Things’ Changed American Music
Coltrane rehearses backstage before a show in London in November 1961. Getty Images They gathered one afternoon in late October of 1960, at the Atlantic Records studios in a nondescript…
Mickey Mouse and Many Other Beloved Creations, Including Peter Pan and ‘Mack the Knife,’ Are Now in the Public Domain
Works entering the public domain this year include Steamboat Willie, J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, A. A. Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner and Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. Illustration by Emily…
A Brilliant Folk Musician Turned the Natural Sounds of the Blue Ridge Mountains Into Powerful Songs
Daniel Bachman at home in Madison County, Virginia, with his trusty Martin D-18 guitar. Aldona Dye In early 2020, Daniel Bachman stood at the edge of a creek in Falmouth,…
A Curious Industry Once Gave Anyone With a Song in Their Heart a (Long) Shot at Stardom
Song-sharking companies sometimes began by offering free consultations for everyday poets—as in this 1921 advertisement in Film Fun magazine. Film Fun Magazine As popular music grew into a mass industry…
Quincy Jones Was a ‘Musician’s Musician’ Who Was Uniquely Beloved in the Cutthroat Music Industry
Quincy Jones at an awards ceremony in 2014 Sascha Steinbach / Getty Images The cultural influence and importance of Quincy Delight Jones Jr. cannot be overstated. As one of the…
Could Anyone Bring an Extinct Animal Back to Life? And More Questions From Our Readers
Could a private citizen get hold of a genome and use it to bring an extinct animal back to life? Tracy Walker Could a private citizen get hold of a…
Desi Arnaz Is Getting a Much-Deserved Historical Marker in Miami Beach
Raj Tawney Freelance writer Generation after generation, Americans continue to remember Desi Arnaz as Lucille Ball’s lovable Latin bandleader husband Ricky Ricardo in arguably the greatest television show in history,…