History is a funny thing. Past events stack onto each other, like pages in a book, deeply embedding truths and ingraining biases and beliefs. The past haunts in the present, looming over and measuring us; as artists, we often hear the mantra “it’s all been done before.” (Fears of being tropey or derivative run deep.) But looking to history can also provide context, clarity, and discovery, offering pathways forward within the particularities of our current moment.

Across this issue, we balance the present with the past, charting similarities, differences, missteps, and complications.

–Lindsay Preston Zappas, Founder & Editor-in-Chief