August 19, 1909: The First Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway August 19, 1909: The First Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
“Almost no one sees the entire race. Some get drunk and wind up in the improvised jail under the stands. Some get drunk and lie on the grass in the sun.”
Aug 19, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
How a Harper Lee Novel Unfit to Print Was Turned Into Found Money How a Harper Lee Novel Unfit to Print Was Turned Into Found Money
The decision to publish was purely a marketing decision. It turned out to be a shrewd one.
Aug 18, 2015 / Richard Lingeman
August 18, 1958: Vladimir Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’ Is Published in the US August 18, 1958: Vladimir Nabokov’s ‘Lolita’ Is Published in the US
“Lolita by high art transmutes persons, motives and actions which in ordinary life are considered indecent, into objects of delight, compassion and contemplation.”
Aug 18, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
The Absurd, Cowardly, and Morally Bankrupt NLRB Decision Against the Northwestern Football Union The Absurd, Cowardly, and Morally Bankrupt NLRB Decision Against the Northwestern Football Union
The National Labor Relations Board may have ruled against the Northwestern football players’ efforts to organize, but this fight is far from over.
Aug 17, 2015 / Dave Zirin
The Dread of Loneliness The Dread of Loneliness
Self-definition and equality in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Aug 17, 2015 / Vivian Gornick
Julian Bond Built Coalitions, Practiced Solidarity, and Showed Us the Future Julian Bond Built Coalitions, Practiced Solidarity, and Showed Us the Future
When the civil-rights leader was nominated for vice president in 1968, we got a glimpse of the new politics.
Aug 17, 2015 / John Nichols
August 16, 1977: Elvis Presley Dies August 16, 1977: Elvis Presley Dies
The myth of the King “allows us to cling to the notion that art is pure and society is corrupt and corrupting.”
Aug 16, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
August 15, 1979: Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Apocalypse Now’ is Released in Theaters August 15, 1979: Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Apocalypse Now’ is Released in Theaters
“The Vietnam War as one bloody huge circus, with clowns, acrobats, fire-eaters and a big brass band.”
Aug 15, 2015 / Richard Kreitner
Letter From Belgorod Letter From Belgorod
Seventy years of victory in Russia and Ukraine.
Aug 14, 2015 / Sophie Pinkham
August 14, 1935: President Franklin Roosevelt Signs the Social Security Act August 14, 1935: President Franklin Roosevelt Signs the Social Security Act
“Unfortunately the present law seems doomed from the start by its complex, slovenly, and mangled character.”
Aug 14, 2015 / Richard Kreitner