'Sex and the City' changed the way single women were portrayed on TV

HBO is known for its adventurous original series

The premium network is known for groundbreaking shows like “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “The Wire,” “Game of Thrones,” Succession,” and more. Unlike traditional broadcast television, HBO shows were not bound by strict time limits, advertising, or FCC regulations, allowing for more creative freedom.

‘The Larry Sanders Show’ redefined the American sitcom by cutting the laughs

"The Larry Sanders Show" avoided both live studio audiences and canned laughs, implying viewers didn’t need to be told when to react. That was not common at the time—TV’s most popular live-action sitcoms, “Seinfeld” and “Cheers,” both relied on the more traditional approach—but the choice had a profound effect.

Menopause, once not discussed in polite company, is now a plot point in some television shows

Menopause has long been a topic left out of film and TV. But some shows, like "The Change," and celebrities, like Jennie Garth, are now openly talking about it. This article breaks down how Hollywood is starting to come around to the menopause conversation and how celebrities are talking about their own personal experiences, as well as advocating on Capitol Hill.

HBO premiered the modern stand-up special in 1975

When they appeared on TV, stand-ups were typically limited to five-minute spots on late-night talk shows, like "The Tonight Show." That changed with the fledgling HBO, which offered comics hourlong slots. The first was "An Evening with Robert Klein," a special that would define "the hour" for decades.

Jean Carroll was one of the first women to make a name in stand-up comedy

Carroll cut her teeth in vaudeville alongside Buddy Howe, her husband, who later became her manager. Despite operating in a male-dominated field, she became a popular headliner and was a mainstay as a stand-up on "The Ed Sullivan Show," which led to her own sitcom.

'Mad Men' is loosely based on the wild antics of Madison Avenue employees

The TV show follows the employees of a New York City ad agency as they navigate the debauched culture of Madison Avenue's golden age—and the political and cultural landscape of the 1960s. The hosts explain which episode to watch first if you want to get hooked.

The adoption of modern appliances led to the soap opera's rise

Soaps grew more popular as they transitioned to television in the 1950s. At the same time, the adoption of modern appliances like the automatic dishwasher and the clothes dryer offered housewives more free time, which soaps could now occupy. By 1970, CBS, NBC, and ABC were airing 18 daytime soaps.

'Serial': The podcast that revived a genre (4 seasons)

"Serial" debuted in 2014, sparking the contemporary fascination with true crime podcast content with a look at the murder of teenager Hae Minh Lee in 1999, and the jailing of Adnan Syed. The Peabody Award-winning season became a pop culture sensation, spawned countless imitators, and was followed by three more seasons on new topics. Listen to all four seasons here.

'Love on the Spectrum,' a popular Netflix reality show, is following people on the autism spectrum as they navigate romantic relationships

This is one of Netflix's biggest shows, something this podcast says is due partly to the fact that the series both scratches the itch for people who enjoy reality dating viewing and the program is conducted in a nonexploitative, sensitive way that makes viewers truly want the best for the people navigating these situations.

Why Robyn's 'Dancing on My Own' became an anthem

Robyn's "Dancing on My Own," was a low-key hit when it was released in 2010, but it's become an anthem in the time since then, influencing artists like Lorde and Charli xcx and inspiring an iconic scene on HBO's "Girls." This article breaks down why that is, studying the song's beats per minute, which match humans' typical walking pace, and the queer experience reflected in its lyrics.

The Girlboss TV show is generally regarded as a failure

Sophia Amoruso’s memoir, “#Girlboss,” spawned more than just a cultural movement—it also inspired an ill-fated television show that is remembered as one of Netflix’s first major failures.

How Netflix changed TV

In April 2017, Netflix reached 100 million subscribers worldwide—a figure that hit 300 million by 2025. With 50 million in the US alone, it has revolutionized the way people consume entertainment. Newsweek takes a look into the company's history and how it became the dominant force in entertainment.

'Hair' helped redefine Broadway theater

"Hair" rewrote the rule book, bringing politics, race, and, yes, nudity to Broadway. Plenty was going on backstage, too, with the young, revolutionary cast embracing the countercultural life they portrayed onstage.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week as a cast member

O'Hara was a star on the sketch show 'SCTV,' a sort of Canadian 'SNL' that eventually aired in the US. O'Hara was offered a role on 'SNL' when the future of 'SCTV' was uncertain, but when 'SCTV' was renewed, she quit 'SNL' to return to it. O'Hara was only a cast member for a week and never appeared on-air during that time, though she eventually hosted 'SNL' twice, in 1991 and 1992.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

Rob Reiner fell in love while working on the romantic comedy 'When Harry Met Sally'

The director was divorced when he began shooting the movie, which was loosely based on his own experiences dating. He was introduced to his eventual wife, Michele Singer, by a cameraman on the production, who told Reiner that he and Singer would wind up married.

Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ campaign sparked conversations about beauty standards in media

For the 20-year anniversary of the campaign in 2024, Dove conducted a brand-commissioned study to gauge how perceptions of beauty standards have shifted since its launch. While 81% of US women thought “the media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can’t ever achieve” in 2004, the share had shrunk to 69% in 2024. Watch the ad here.

Watch a definitive girl group documentary

The 1983 documentary "Girl Groups: The Story of a Sound" features archival footage of some of the Shirelles, the Ronettes, the Shangri-Las, and more alongside interviews with the performers and songwriters. It's a fascinating look back at the music, told by the people who pioneered it.

Simone de Beauvoir's 'The Second Sex' merged existentialism with feminism

De Beauvoir’s 1949 philosophical treatise criticized patriarchy and its negative impact on women. She argued that gender differences were mainly due to socialization rather than innate qualities, writing that “one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” In turn, de Beauvoir believed women should refuse predetermined gender roles and instead define themselves, echoing a key tenet of existentialism.

A scholarly analysis of romance's enduring popularity

Diane Winston, a media scholar at the University of Southern California, argues that romance novels have remained popular because they've historically offered women shame-free ways to explore their identities and sexualities. She notes that's even more true today, with contemporary romance novels, from romantasy bestsellers to "Heated Rivalry," more willingly explore social dynamics.

How the New Yorker went from poker game to powerhouse

After 100 years in print, the New Yorker is still going strong, publishing weekly issues featuring the best in long-form journalism, cultural criticism, and short fiction. This history of the magazine's founding and early years shows how its balance of high and lowbrow culture, along with a fortuitous game of poker, led to its longstanding success.

The history of New York's first hotel for middle-class women

March 2, 1903, marked the opening of New York's first hotel just for women, generally from the middle class. Prior to the establishment of the "Women's Hotel," it was difficult for solo women to find lodgings in the city. Seeing an opportunity, Charles Day Kellogg raised funds to establish the 400-room hotel, which exclusively served women until 1998. Read more about its history here.

See an analysis of the similarities between the characters in 'Silicon Valley' and the real people who inspired them

The HBO show "Silicon Valley" follows the story of an engineer who is trying to get his startup to take off in Silicon Valley. While one tech CEO said the show is like a documentary, many speculate the show is based on real life tech figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel.

'Foodie' culture arose in the early 2000s

Food writer Jaya Saxena attributes the mainstreaming of the term to early-aughts TV shows, including “Top Chef” and “No Reservations,” as well as the dawn of social apps like Yelp, which turned everyday diners into critics.

‘Yo Soy Betty, La Fea’ is history’s most successful telenovela

The show premiered in Colombia in the late ‘90s and inverted a classic telenovela trope: A beautiful woman meets a wealthy, attractive man, and (after many episodes) marries him. It has aired in 180 countries and in 2010 claimed the Guinness World Record for most successful telenovela in history.

Title IX helped push women’s soccer to the world stage

In 1999, Title IX-era stars Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain helped the US win the 1999 World Cup, drawing a then-record 18 million viewers and popularizing US women’s soccer. Many suggest this would not have been possible without the NCAA’s role as a talent incubator, attracting over 20,000 international athletes annually.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is 'Afghan Girl' (1984) by Steve McCurry, yet the subject Sharbat Gula went much of her life without being identified or benefitting from the image's success.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.