There is a reason why Western Europe’s loud acceptance of equality hasn't yet made a significant difference in much of the world: because of the US. Like civil rights and the women’s suffrage movement, it is only when America declares the debate closed that it will finally be closed in much of the world. If not legally, then at least culturally.

The new comic series Dark Fang pits a sexy vampire against polluters. The sexy part is readily apparent. But the plot promises to break some new ground for the Adult Comics genre.

Yia Vang, who moved to the US from a Thai refugee camp as a kid, explains his family's rites of passage, and why beets can be controversial.

Photojournalist Karim Ben Khelifa put together a virtual reality exhibition from the front lines of international conflicts for a museum at MIT.

Cindy Sherman launched her career by placing herself in photos that look like movie stills for imaginary movies. These are snapshots of America's collective unconscious.

Cole Porter was out of the musical theater scene during the 1930s, as American mores grew looser and more risqué. But instead of getting stodgy, he wrote the classic celebration of freedom from social constraints.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel about forbidden love among the Puritans captured our admiration for independence—and our craving for scandal.

This week is one of the most heavily traveled weeks of the year. Authors of a new book about midcentury album covers take us on a trip around the globe (Europe, Cuba and Egypt) by way of music and albums from the 1950s.

On a small London backstreet, a few minutes walk from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, a unique ceremony takes place every month. The Crossbones Vigil is unlike any other ritual for the dead in this city: It follows no particular religion, and it commemorates no powerful or famous people. It is for the people the city prefers to forget: the outcasts.

Musician Thomas Mapfumo made no secret of his disdain for Zimbabwe's deposed leader.