After news of O.J. Simpson’s death broke earlier today, a lot of social-media commenters made a similar point: If you weren’t sentient during Simpson’s 1994–95 trial, it’s difficult to comprehend the stranglehold it had on the nation’s attention at the time. No legal proceeding — or, really, any phenomenon — has since captivated the entire country for such an extended stretch. It may seem like a combination of “famous person” plus “grisly crime” plus “monoculture” explains the event’s unique hold on America. But Will Leitch deftly argues that the trial’s special, dark appeal was more about Simpson, and the peculiar role he played in society at the time, than anything else.
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