Past Present

In this week's episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia debate the viral New Yorker short story “Cat Person”, the disproportionately high maternal death rate among black women, and the Elf on the Shelf phenomenon. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Kristen Roupenian’s New Yorker short story “Cat Person” went surprisingly viral last week. Natalia cited Laura Kipnis’ Unwanted Advances to dissuade readers from equating bad and coercive sex. Natalia cited Jennifer Weiner’s New York Times op-ed about the snobbery often directed at her career writing “chick lit.” Neil recommended Roupenian’s interview with Deborah Treisman. ProPublica published a damning article highlighting the many reasons black women die in pregnancy and childbirth. Neil recommended anthropologist Carolyn Rouse’s book Uncertain Suffering: Racial Health Care Disparities and Sickle Cell Disease, and Natalia recommended Alondra Nelson’s Body a