Nov 15th, 2008 · British, American, Russian and French nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s and '60s left permanent records in trees around the globe. Scientists have found chemical signatures of the explosions in the wood of old trees in many countries.
Oct 24th, 2008 · William Bolcom's searing opera, after a play by Arthur Miller, is a sometimes bleak, yet always vivid drama set in the Italian-American community of Red Hook, Brooklyn, in the 1950s.
Oct 14th, 2008 · In 1950, a mathematician asked, if a computer could think, how could we tell? His answer: it could hold a conversation. In this spirit, the annual Loebner Artificial Intelligence Prize goes to the most human-like computer. This year, to a program called Elbot. When asked, how's it going? Elbot responded: I feel terrible today. This morning I poured milk over my breakfast instead of oil, and it rusted before I could eat it.
Sep 24th, 2008 · In the early 1950s, the Snake River Outlaws' members played popular songs of the day, and some of their own, to crowds in Missoula, Mont. Forgotten recordings of the band have recently resurfaced, giving listeners a glimpse at those unsettled days.
Sep 15th, 2008 · In his newest novel, Philip Roth looks at the moral norms imposed on college kids in the 1950s. He says it was only many years after his own college days that he saw how repressive the environment was.
Sep 1st, 2008 · Between 1950 and 1970, the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency relocated thousands of primarily black-owned businesses and homes in the name of urban renewal. Now, city officials are considering a plan to pay "reparations" to displaced individuals or their descendants by giving them top priority in the lottery for affordable housing units.
Aug 22nd, 2008 · The term, "black list," once defined Communist investigations by the U.S. government in the 1950s. But now, an HBO documentary is redefining that term. The Black List is a documentary with 22 prominent black Americans — from Gen. Colin Power to erotica writer Zane — having their say.
Aug 21st, 2008 · In the late 1950s and early 1960s, American Indians began leaving reservations in search for a better life in big cities. Yvonne Williams was one of them, and her story was depicted in the 1961 movie The Exiles, which has since been restored. Williams opens up about the film, and describes its impact on her life.