How a 1942 recording ban changed America forever.

The fourth season of One Year covers 1942, a year when inflation threatened to sink America, disinformation was rampant, and a worker revolt changed music forever.

How the worst school attack in U.S. history was narrowly averted.

The story of the American teachers who competed for an unprecedented prize: a spot aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

The third season of One Year covers 1986, a year when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, the mystery of Al Capone’s vaults got solved, and a sea lion named Herschel caused chaos in Seattle.

In 1995, an online soap opera revealed the internet’s potential as a venue for creative expression—and a tool for destruction.

The second season of One Year covers 1995, a year when homegrown terrorists attacked Oklahoma City, America went online, and the Macarena took over nightclubs.

Medical experts said the cancer drug Laetrile was dangerous quackery. It became a national sensation anyway.

The first season of One Year focuses on 1977, a year when gay rights hung in the balance, Roots dominated the airwaves, and Jesus appeared on a tortilla.

The story of Hagoromo — the brand of Japanese chalk that became an object of worship among mathematicians. And how a brave teacher singlehandedly saved its legacy from being erased.

All his life, Eugene Shoemaker dreamed of stepping foot on the moon. A geologist and planetary scientist known for his work with craters, Gene worked tirelessly in the hopes of becoming an Apollo astronaut so he could explore the lunar surface. But a failed medical test cut his dreams short. Still, his journey didn’t end there. His wife, astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker, tells the story of how Gene was always destined to be the man on the moon.

All his life, Eugene Shoemaker dreamed of stepping foot on the moon. A geologist and planetary scientist known for his work with craters, Gene worked tirelessly in the hopes of becoming an Apollo astronaut so he could explore the lunar surface. But a failed medical test cut his dreams short. Still, his journey didn’t end there. His wife, astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker, tells the story of how Gene was always destined to be the man on the moon.

I investigate a bizarre 1961 teen pop single that never made a dent in the charts. Eddie Hodges’ “Mugmates” claims that the latest teenage craze was ... matching coffee mugs. Instead of carving initials in oak trees, high school couples were supposedly decorating pairs of mugs to show that they were going steady. Was there really a “Mugmates” craze among 1960s teens? And if not, why would somebody want to make it into a craze?

Since 1960, the newspaper comic strip The Family Circus has delivered cutesy malapropisms and observations from its cast of adorable kid characters. And for just as long, it’s been relentlessly mocked as cloying and sentimental. But MacArthur Genius Grant-winning cartoonist Lynda Barry is willing to get into fisticuffs with anyone who says a bad word about the strip.

Next to the psychedelic sounds of Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane, the campy performance by Sha Na Na at Woodstock seems utterly incongruous. Decked out in leather jackets and gold lamé suits, the 12-piece ensemble played amped-up covers of ‘50s and early ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll hits, complete with choreographed dance. Sha Na Na’s inclusion at Woodstock is even stranger given that they didn’t have a record out — and that they were, in fact, a bunch of Ivy League undergrads in an a cappella group.

In 1987 Elaine May’s comedy Ishtar flopped spectacularly at the box office and almost instantly became a sitcom punchline and a popular candidate for worst film ever made. But the truth is, this infamous cinematic turkey actually soars.

How did Yanni, John Tesh, and other unlikely musical superstars become a thing in the 1990s? They discovered an improbable — and ingenious — vehicle to success: the PBS pledge drive.

For kids growing up in the 1990s, Nickelodeon’s Doug was the animated show that represented all the anxieties of adolescent life. In this oral history, the staff behind the scenes talk about creating the show, its most controversial episode, and the show’s enduring legacy.

Mariame Kaba (@prisonculture on Twitter) devotes her life to fighting for the abolition of youth incarceration. She’s also an unexpected aficionado of Hallmark Channel Christmas movies.

In the late ‘60s and early ’70s, a new form of evangelical Christianity spread to a surprising audience: the long-haired hippies of the counterculture — and it become popularly known as the Jesus Movement. Their belief that the end of the world was coming any minute was spread through surprisingly effective pop culture.