Past Present

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia discuss the celebrity of Cardi B, Jeff Bezos’ “below-the-belt selfie,” and the death of Lyndon LaRouche. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  Cardi B became the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Best Hip-Hop Album, and she’s been a vocal critic of President Trump. Natalia referred to comments by her history teacher that Cardi B had been an excellent history student, while Niki referred to a GQ interview in which she discussed her passion for political science and history. Niki also recommended historian Katie Cramer Brownell’s book Showbiz Politics. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has gone on the attack against the National Enquirer, which, he says, has been attempting to extort him. Niki recommended David Greenberg’s Politico piece on political taboos. Lyndon LaRouche, founder of a bizarre political movement that spanned four decades, has died. Natalia

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss the history of blackface, political upheaval in Venezuela, and the demise of Valentine’s Day conversation hearts. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  Two top Virginia Democrats have admitted to wearing blackface. Natalia pointed to a recent Gucci turtleneck that many have called sartorial blackface. Niki referred to Jamelle Bouie’s New York Times op-ed about the bar for unacceptable racism in the United States and historian Rhae Lynn Barnes’ Washington Post piece on the history of blackface among American politicians. Venezuela is in extreme turmoil. Niki cited this Washington Post piece on Trump’s dangerous tactics vis-à-vis Venezuela by historians Federico Finchelstein and Pablo Piccato. Natalia recommended this primer on the “petrostate” from the Council on Foreign Relations. The conversation hearts that have for so long been a Valentine’s Da

In this podcast, Neil, Niki, and Natalia discuss Howard Schultz’ presidential bid, gay men in the priesthood, and the enduring fascination with serial killer Ted Bundy. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast On this week’s Past Present episode, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil J. Young discuss Howard Schultz’ presidential bid, gay men in the priesthood, and the enduring fascination with serial killer Ted Bundy.  Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  Starbucks founder Howard Schultz has announced he is running for the presidency in 2020. Natalia referred to Michelle Goldberg’s New York Times piece pleading Schultz not to run. Gay men, by even the most conservative metrics, are represented in the priesthood in greater proportion than in the general population. Neil referred to Andrew Sullivan’s New York article on why this might be. Serial killer Ted Bundy was executed thirty years ago, and ongoing fascination with his

In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss marching on Washington as a form of political protest, the Los Angeles teachers’ strike, and how American cities reflect economic inequality. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  Native American and pro-life activists both marched in Washington, D.C., last weekend, participating in a longstanding American protest tradition. The Los Angeles teachers’ union has reached a deal with the city. Natalia recommended Dana Goldstein’s coverage of the strikes in the New York Times and Goldstein’s book, The Teacher Wars: A History of America’s Most Embattled Profession. Natalia also recommended historian Diana D’Amico’s Washington Post op-ed on the role of suburbanization in the economic struggles of big-city school systems. Natalia also referred to the pro-charter school documentary The Lottery. A new study suggests that cities are not the sites of economic

In this episode, Natalia, Neil, and Niki discuss the new Gillette commercial “We Believe,” Rep. Steve King’s controversial comments, and the decline of cursive in American schools. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  Gillette released a new ad taking aim at “toxic masculinity.” Natalia recommended historian Gail Bederman’s book Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Race and Gender in the United States, 1880-1917 and a Twitter thread she compiled of relevant historical images. Neil referred to his HuffPost piece on the campaign’s conservatism. Representative Steve King recently waxed nostalgic for the days when “white supremacy” was acceptable. Natalia recommended Niki’s CNN article on journalists’ role in establishing the bounds of political discourse and Marama Whyte’s forthcoming dissertation on how women journalists covered feminism. Niki shared historian David Greenberg’s schola

In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss the Green New Deal, the KonMari craze, and the history of national emergencies. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Twitter has been abuzz with talk of a “Green New Deal.” Neil referred to Thomas Friedman’s first use of the term. Niki and Natalia recommended two books by environmental historians: Sarah Phillips’ This Land, This Nation: Conservation, Rural America, and the New Deal and Benjamin Alexander’s The New Deal’s Forest Army: How the Civilian Conservation Corps Worked. Japanese organizer Marie Kondo became an American sensation with her 2014 bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. A new Netflix series based on the book has catapulted the KonMari craze to new heights. Natalia recommended Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s New York Times profile of Kondo. Donald Trump threatened to declare a national emergency in order to build the wall with M

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia welcome Princeton historians Kevin M. Kruse and Julian Zelizer to discuss their new book, Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974, followed by a discussion of “Dry January,” and new findings that young people are having less sex. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  Princeton historians Kevin M. Kruse and Julian Zelizer’s new book, Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974 is now available from W.W. Norton. Back in 2012, four thousand people abstained from drinking in January; in 2018, four million adopted “Dry January.” Natalia recommended historian Lisa McGirr’s The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State. Millennials, The Atlantic reports, are in a “sex recession.” Natalia referred to historian Gail Bederman’s book Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States, 1

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss the closing of the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard, changing public perceptions of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and the controversy over the 1944 Christmas classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  After twenty-three years, the conservative Weekly Standard is shuttering. Natalia recommended Ed Kilgore’s Intelligencer article about the Weekly Standard’s history of partisanship. All three hosts referenced Niki’s book, Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics. Niki referred to Jeane Kirkpatrick’s 1979 Commentary essay “Dictatorship and Double Standards.” Silicon Valley executive and Lean In author Sheryl Sandberg has gone from superwoman to supervillain, a new Buzzfeed article The classic winter song, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” is raising controversy this season, an

In this episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia discuss the disputed whiteness of classical statues, the Emmy Award-winning show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Native American claims to land rights in Oklahoma. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  A small cadre of archaeologists and art historians are challenging the assumption that classical statuary were always white, the New Yorker reported. Niki recommended this article from the Nation on the connection between white supremacy and mythologies of a white past. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is back with a second season. Niki referred to this Refinery29 article that contrasted lead character Midge Maisel with Joan Rivers. Natalia suggested Emily Nussbaum’s critique at the New Yorker and Hey Alma’s historical critique of the show. A murder trial in Oklahoma is raising questions about Native American land rights. Natalia recommended this Daily Beast artic

In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss the death of President George Herbert Walker Bush, the resurgence of exorcisms, and the viral popularity of the Squatty Potty. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  Forty-first president George H.W. Bush died recently at age 94. Niki mentioned diverging analyses of Bush’s legacy from historians Tim Naftali at Slate and David Greenberg at POLITICO. Natalia recommended historian Josh Clark Davis’ viral thread about Bush’s War on Drugs. Neil wrote about Bush’s experience with the religious right at the Washington Post. Catholic exorcisms are on the rise. Niki referred to this article at The Conversation about the role of Pope Francis in this rise. A product called the Squatty Potty is a consumer hit. Natalia referred to this Guardian article about changes in how we relate to toilets and our bodies, as well as to another product, Tushy, that illust

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss convict firefighters, China’s new social credit system, and the history of Chanukah.  Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  California’s latest wave of forest fires is being battled in part by inmates in the state’s prisons through a program that was instated in the 1940s. Natalia cited historian Heather Ann Thompson’s book Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971. Since 2014, the Chinese government has been building a “social credit system” to track – and reward and punish – its citizens’ behaviors. We commented on this piece on the dystopian comparisons being made by cultural observers of these measures. Chanukah is upon us and the Jewish “Festival of Lights” has an oft-overlooked military history. Niki and Natalia both recommended this Forward article about the significance of rationing oil.    In our regular closing feature, What

In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss segregation academies, the death of an American missionary, and the declining market share of lingerie giant Victoria’s Secret. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  Mississippi Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is in a runoff contest to hold on to her Senate seat, sparked backlash when she made an offhand comment about a “public hanging” that many perceived as racist. The fact that Hyde-Smith attended a “segregation academy,” as reported by this Jackson Free Press article Natalia recommended, shed important light on how she developed such a worldview. Last week, American missionary John Allen Chau was killed when he traveled to the remote island of North Sentinel. Niki recommended this viral thread by Twitter user @RespectableLaw on the historical context for the hostility of the Sentinelese to outsiders. Neil discussed the case of evangelical Jim E

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia discuss the aftermath of the midterm elections with special guest, Slate senior political correspondent Jamelle Bouie, the revocation of CNN journalist Jim Acosta’s “hard pass” to the White House, and the supposed radicalization of children’s literature. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Demands for recounts and accusations of voter suppression and fraud defined the immediate aftermath of the midterm elections earlier this month. We sat down with Slate senior political correspondent Jamelle Bouie to discuss his analysis of the aftermath and how it fits into histories of disenfranchisement in the United States. After a heated exchange between President Trump and CNN reporter Jim Acosta, the White House downgraded his White House access. Niki recommended historian Martha Jones’ Washington Post article on how women journalists of color have routinely been d

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss the midterm elections, the alt-right social media platform Gab, and Movember. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  We discussed whether the midterm elections resulted in the “blue wave” Democrats anticipated. Gab, launched as a “free-speech Twitter,” has become a platform for the alt-Right. Niki recommended Kathleen Belew’s book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America. “Movember” launched in 2003 in Australia as a way to raise awareness about men’s health. Natalia recommended this Atlantic article questioning the utility of awareness campaigns.    In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History: Natalia shared the ESPN 30 for 30 Podcast’s episode “The Six Who Sat.” Neil discussed Melissa McCarthy’s new film, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Niki recommended Ben H. Winters’ book, Underground Airlines.

In this episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia discuss the massacre of Jews at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, the closing of rural hospitals, and the political reawakening of women in Orange County, California. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:   The largest murder of Jews in the United States took place last month at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Natalia referred to writer Yascha Mounk’s tweet about the resistance of the media to acknowledge anti-Semitism as racism. Niki referred to her discussion of anti-Semitism and the alt-Right in her podcast series A12. Rural hospitals are closing, depriving Americans in these regions of crucial medical services. Natalia recommended historian Gabriel Rosenberg’s book on the idealization of rural life, The 4-H Harvest: Sexuality and the State in Rural America. Motivated by antipathy to Trump, previously politically disengaged suburban mothers in O

In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss the history of U.S.-Saudi relations in light of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Trump administration’s policies toward transgender people, and the continued popularity of horror movies. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  The brutal death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has turned attention to the historical relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States. Niki referred to the data in this report about journalists killed in the line of duty. A memo from the Health and Human Services Department reveals that the Trump administration plans to further roll back the rights of transgender people. Natalia recommended the work of historian Jen Manion on the history of trans identity. In an age of digital streaming, horror movies remain a sure bet for box office success. Niki recommended Netflix horror series The Haunting of Hill House.

In this episode, Natalia, Neil, Niki, and guest historian Leah Wright Rigueur discuss black women and electoral politics, the closing of Sears, and corporate art patronage. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  Black women voters are a crucial electoral contingent, especially in the upcoming midterm elections. We spoke with Dr. Leah Wright Rigueur, author of The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power, about black women’s voting power today and in the past. Niki referenced Rachel Devlin’s book A Girl Stands at the Door, and Leah recommended Brittney Cooper’s Eloquent Rage, Ashley Farmer’s Remaking Black Power, Danielle McGuire’s At the Dark End of the Street, and Keisha Blain’s Set the World on Fire, as all good books for better understanding the long history of black women’s political activism. Sears is closing its doors for good. Natalia mentioned histo

In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss the right’s obsession with George Soros conspiracy theories, the recent “grievance studies” hoax, and the rise of Bavarian folk dress as a form of hipsterism. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  Financier and philanthropist George Soros is increasingly at the center of conspiracy theories on the political right. Niki referred to this New York Times article on anti-Semitism in the Trump era. The Wall Street Journal broke the news of the most recent academic hoax, perpetuated to expose the outsize influence of “social justice ideology” on certain subfields of the humanities. Natalia wrote about this in a roundtable at the Chronicle of Higher Education, and she referred to Yascha Mounk’s article in the Atlantic in defense of the hoaxsters. Lederhosen and dirndls are all the rage among Bavarian hipsters, reported the New York Times. Natalia referred

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia discuss the history of binge drinking, why McCarthyism is back in the news, and the political power of women’s rage. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination hearing has brought attention to the prevalence of binge drinking among young people. Natalia referenced Matt Damon’s Saturday Night Live portrayal of Brett Kavanaugh, and cited Sarah Hepola’s memoir of binge drinking, Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget. McCarthyism is back in the news as Mitch McConnell has accused Democrats of such tactics. Neil mentioned a Jonah Goldberg essay in the National Review that argued Joe McCarthy had been right. A series of books out this fall look at women’s rage: Rebecca Traister’s Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger; Soraya Chemaly’s Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger; and, Brittney Cooper’s Eloque

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss the history of high school yearbooks, how the Trump administration is defining immigrants as “public charges,” and the awful misogyny of Barstool Sports. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  High school yearbooks have been in the spotlight during the investigation of Brett Kavanaugh. Niki cited this Atlantic article that historicizes yearbooks and Natalia recommended historian Paula Fass’ book Outside In: Minorities and the Transformation of American Education for its use of yearbooks as historical sources. President Trump came to power promising to tighten immigration legislation, and a recent proposal promises to deny citizenship to those who make use of public services. Natalia recommended this Atlantic interview with historian Hidetaka Hirota about how today’s policies are rooted in 19th-century policies that targeted the Irish. If sports has