Good morning. It's Saturday, Feb. 7. Welcome to this week's Society & Culture newsletter. First time reading? Sign up here or click here to share with friends. |
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Norman Rockwell's birthday was earlier this week, leading us to explore the work of the artist known for his American portraits. After that, we analyze the rise of Netflix as it works to acquire one of its main competitors. Finally, we unpack the fascinating cultural history of ghosts.
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—Kevin Kearney, 1440 Society & Culture Section Editor |
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Norman Rockwell, 101
Norman Rockwell was a 20th-century artist known for his narrative paintings and illustrations, which captured slices of American life. Rockwell’s distinctive, realistic portraits adorned 322 covers of the Saturday Evening Post, one of the country’s most popular magazines in the middle of the 20th century, which in turn, made Rockwell one of the country’s most recognizable artists. (See a collection of his work.)
Rockwell left the Saturday Evening Post in the ‘60s for Look magazine, where he could pursue more political work. His paintings there, including "The Problem We All Live With" and "Murder in Mississippi (Southern Justice)," criticized the violence directed at Black Americans during the Civil Rights era.
Some critics have dismissed Rockwell’s work as overly sentimental or simplistic, though his work, especially his more political 1960s and 1970s work, has been reconsidered in the 21st century. Beyond aesthetics, Rockwell played an integral role in American popular culture by codifying the nation’s values and defining an idyllic vision of the American Dream.
... Explore everything else we learned about Norman Rockwell.
Also, check out ...
> Rockwell based many of his paintings on staged photographs. (Watch)
> His "Rosie the Riveter" painting alludes to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. (Watch)
> Rockwell worked with psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, known for his research on identity formation. (Read)
> David Bowie tried to hire Rockwell for the cover of "Young Americans." (Read) |
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An introduction to Netflix
Netflix is the dominant streaming platform today, with more than 300 million subscribers. It pioneered the "bingeable" format after starting as a DVD rental company and now produces and releases hundreds of original shows and movies each year.
The company was founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph and spent its first decade oscillating between survival and growth. It survived the dot-com bubble, went public in 2002, and emerged victorious in fierce competition with Blockbuster. As high-speed internet became pervasive, the company began streaming content directly to subscribers, letting them watch movies and TV shows instantly instead of waiting for DVDs by mail.
The company began offering original content in 2013 and launched its first prestige drama with “House of Cards.” In December 2025, the company began the process of acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns competitor HBO, among other popular channels, movies, and series.
... Explore everything else we learned about Netflix.
Also, check out ...
> Watch a Netflix ad from 2004 that not so subtly disparages Blockbuster. (Watch)
> Netflix's original movies are designed to be played in the background. (Read)
> "Binge-watching" was effectively created during a coding competition. (Read)
> In recent years, the streamer has leaned into cheaply made, unscripted reality programming. (Read) |
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Ghosts, 101
A ghost is the perceived spiritual form of a deceased human or animal, believed to continue existing among the living as an animate being. While there is no scientific evidence that ghosts are real, proving or disproving their existence is generally considered impossible.
Mentions of the living dead go back to ancient times, and ghost tales have been explored universally across cultures, continents, and periods, with rituals that still exist in efforts to connect with them and ward them off. The places most commonly reported as haunted are sites like burial grounds, asylums, hotels, castles, and buildings where tragedy struck. (See a list of supposedly haunted places in the US.)
The idea of the soul, immortal and separate from the body, is held across different religions. Some psychologists believe that religion evolved to soothe common anxieties related to death and the afterlife.
... Explore everything else we learned about ghosts.
Also, check out ...
> 1440's Sony Kassam investigates why so many people believe in ghosts. (Listen)
> Novelists like Toni Morrison, Hari Kunzru, and George Saunders use ghosts as literary devices. (Read)
> William Mumler's "spirit photography" was used by grieving people, including Mary Todd Lincoln. (Watch)
> Ghosts didn't say "boo" until the 19th century. (Read) |
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Beyond our weekly deep dives, we love finding great takes on the culture currently shaping our lives. Here are some of the best reactions, profiles, and think pieces we encountered this week.
> Catherine O'Hara Could Do Anything
The Ringer | Alan Sepinwall. The actress famous for her roles in "Home Alone," "Schitt's Creek," and Christopher Guest's mockumentaries died last week. Sepinwall explains how O'Hara imbued her characters with both ridiculousness and pathos, leading to several classic scenes. (Read)
> House Style
Woman of Letters | Naomi Kanakia. Kanakia goes long on the New Yorker’s fiction section and its highly specific formula—middle-class characters, restrained prose, and plotless narratives. Then she tells the story of John Cheever, who perfected the formula while growing to resent the magazine that defined it. (Read)
> Opera's Second Act
The Conversation | Christos Makridis. Makridis, a labor economist at Arizona State University, argues that the public has an appetite for the art form, but that the industry's business model is dated, relying too heavily on philanthropy and aging season ticket holders rather than embracing innovation. (Read)
> Authentic Irony
NBC News | Tyler Kingkade. Legitimate concerns about college students plagiarizing with AI have led some professors to use AI to spot them, even though the detection software is known for false positives. The cycle has led to inaccurate accusations and the arrival of the ironically named "humanizer" industry. (Read)
> The Mini Medicis
Dirt | Lindsay Gellman. Gellman notes that the Medicis—the wealthy Renaissance brothers who became the era's most famous artistic patrons—understood that funding art offered power and legitimacy. The tech world is now following their model, with offers of microgrants and calls for new movements. (Read) |
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“Rockwell painted the American dream
—better than anyone.” |
—Filmmaker Steven Spielberg |
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