Fashion designer Apfel’s wardrobe gets curated

In the exhibit “Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel,” fashion designer Iris Apfel's wardrobe, which includes out-there items like a Scherrer coat made all of feathers, is on display.

By Jennie Rose Halperin | Nov 29 11:27 pm ET

The process of fermentation yields drinks, songs

Indeed, every culture in history has some sort of fermented food—ranging from the delicious (miso, wine, and kombucha) to the strange (African sorghum beer, which smells like vomit).

By Jennie Rose Halperin | Nov 15 07:42 pm ET

World music gets uprooted by Western musicians

As the Western world continues to assert its dominance, “world” music is necessarily affected by it, and the sounds that these musicians are mimicking or plainly stealing, the sounds that captivated anthropologists one hundred years ago, are disappearing.

By Jennie Rose Halperin | Oct 18 10:45 pm ET

Snail mail sings songs of America’s past

E-mail—along with high fuel prices and the recession—has severely cut the number of mail-related songs, as well as cut mail delivery by 12 million pieces.

By Jennie Rose Halperin | Sep 22 10:37 pm ET

Folk legend Pete Seeger highlighted community-wide green festival

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At the Rockin’ Earth Day Fest organized by the Teachers College Go Green Committee on Saturday, legendary folk musician and activist Pete Seeger added one more item to his impressive resume: “I wish I went to Columbia. Then I could have studied anthropology—all my life I’ve been an amateur anthropologist.”

By Jennie Rose Halperin | Apr 19 11:05 pm ET

A little scandal goes a long way

Little Egypt brought belly dancing in the United States, but her history and true identity remain fascinatingly shrouded in mystery.

By Jennie Rose Halperin | Apr 14 09:13 pm ET

Taking it when no one is giving

With the fate of federal arts funding up in the air, we might benefit from a history lesson, and the wise words of some folk songs.

By Jennie Rose Halperin | Mar 31 09:00 pm ET

Theaters are a Reminder of Cinema’s Wonder Years

“Going to the movies just isn’t the same,” my mother always says as we climb the escalator to the top floor of the multiplex, stale popcorn in hand, to shiver through a 90-minute flick.

My mother, who grew up in the Bronx, was a bit spoiled by the movies she saw as a child. The closest cinema to her home was the Loews Paradise Theatre, located on the Grand Concourse. Opened in September 1929, only a month before Black Friday, the opulent theater contained 1500 seats and was designed to resemble a 16th century baroque garden.

By Jennie Rose Halperin | Feb 24 10:04 pm ET

What’s In a Name? Student Debters Sing a Strangely Familar Tune

“Sixteen Tons” was a surprise hit for Tennessee Ernie Ford in 1955.

By Jennie Rose Halperin | Feb 10 11:47 pm ET

A&E Top 10s: From the Cliché to the Controversial

From highbrow art to tacky Christmases to ridiculous press releases, this year's outgoing A&E editors share their top 10 lists of 2008.
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By Shane Ferro, Laura Hedli, Kevin Ciok, Julia Halperin, Jennie Rose Halperin, Hillary Busis, and Elizabeth Simins | Dec 8 03:35 am ET