Episode 287: The Miami Condo Collapse

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia discuss the tragedy of the Surfside condominium collapse and what it means for Miami.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• On June 24, a security camera captured the collapse of much of the Surfside condominium complex, killing a still untallied list of residents. Natalia cited this Slate article on the death of the Florida dream. Niki contextualized the collapse in the tradition of neoliberal deregulation, explained here.

 In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia recommended Alec MacGillis’ book, Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America.

• Neil comment on Christianity Today’s article, “Rick Warren Mastered the Formula for Suburban Church Growth.”

• Niki discussed her own CNN opinion piece, “The House Takes a Revealing Vote on Confederate Statues.”

Episode 286: The Debate over Paying College Athletes

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss the Supreme Court decision to allow education-related payments to student-athletes.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• The Supreme Court ruled against the NCAA’s restrictions on providing “education-related perks” to college athletes. Natalia referred to historian Taylor Branch’s 2011 piece in The Atlantic, “The Shame of College Sports.” Neil referred to this CNN piece on the ruling, and the relevant data point on the high salaries of college football coaches. 

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed Britney Spears’ testimony about her experience under her conservatorship. We discussed the “Free Britney” movement on Episode 268.

• Neil recommended Zachary M. Schrag’s book, The Fires of Philadelphia: Citizen-Soldiers, Nativists, and the 1844 Riots Over the Soul of a Nation.

• Niki talked about Dan Boyce’s NPR segment, “A Would-Be Trans and Queer Haven In Rural Colorado Just Wants to be Left Alone.”

Episode 285: Income Taxes and the History of the IRS

In this episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia discuss the history of the Internal Revenue Service and why the uber-wealthy pay so little in income taxes.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• ProPublica released a searing report revealing how little the richest Americans pay in taxes – and that they do so legally. Neil referred to this San Diego Union Tribune op-ed about racial discrimination at the IRS, and Niki and Natalia to this Intelligencer interview with Dorothy Brown. We all drew on this history of IRS scandals published by The Week.

 In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed two of the hotels in Yellowstone National Park.

• Neil shared this Explica.co piece, “Skittles Commemorates Gay Pride Month with Gray Packaging, Without the Color of the Rainbow.”

• Niki recommended historian A.K. Sandoval-Strausz’ Washington Post essay, “As Immigration Politics Changed, So Did ‘In the Heights’.”

Episode 284: The History of LGBTQ+ Pride

In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss the history of LGBTQ+ Pride.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• Controversy has flared over the presence of police at this year’s New York Pride March. Neil drew on this Time retrospective on the more than 50 years of Pride protests and parades.

 In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed Pooja Salhotra’s Chalkbeat article, “New York City Schools Integrate LGBTQ Stories in Social Studies Curriculum.”

• Neil recommended Laine Nooney’s VICE piece, “How the Personal Computer Broke the Human Body.”

• Niki shared about the New York Times feature, “’We’re Going to Publish’: An Oral History of the Pentagon Papers.”

Episode 283: Naomi Osaka, Athletes, and Mental Health

In this episode, Natalia, Neil, and Niki discuss the controversy over tennis champion Naomi Osaka’s decision not to participate in post-match press conferences.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• Citing mental health concerns, tennis champion Naomi Osaka decided not to participate in post-match press conferences at the French Open. Natalia referred to this history at Forbes of how the press conference supplanted locker room interviews. Neil drew on this three-part series on the history of sports journalism.

 In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia recommended Lyz Lenz’ Substack, “A Grown-Ass Woman”.

• Neil discussed the new FX documentary series, Pride.

• Niki talked about what the “post-pandemic” period might mean.

Episode 282: Cicadas!

In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss the emergence of the cicadas this season.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• After seventeen years underground, billions of cicadas are emerging on the east coast of the United States. Niki referred to this History article about Benjamin Banneker, who first classified the cicada in the eighteenth century. Natalia recommended historian Catherine McNeur’s book Taming Manhattan: Environmental Battles in the Antebellum City, and Niki referred to this Washington Post article on how cicadas have been used in political discourse.

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed Jazmine Hughes’ New York Times article, “Dianne Morales Tries to Calm a Sudden Crisis in Her Campaign.”

• Neil recommended historian Jill Lepore’s New Yorker article, “Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?”

• Niki shared Dartunorro Clark’s NBC News article, “Paul Ryan Urges GOP to Shake Trump Obsession, Focus on ‘Principles,’ not ‘Personality’.”

Episode 281: Critical Race Theory

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia discuss the current controversy over critical race theory.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• A series of legislative bills seek to ban the teaching of critical race theory in K-12 public institutions. At CNN, Niki looked at how the controversy over journalist Nikole Hannah-Smith’s appointment at the University of North Carolina is part of this larger battle. Natalia referred to historian Jonathan Zimmerman’s book Whose America?

 In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed the new “Little Island” development in New York City, described in this Wall Street Journal interview with developers Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg.

• Neil recommended historian Julie Golia’s book, Newspaper Confessions: A History of Advice Columns in a Pre-Internet Age.

• Niki reflected on Bob Dole and Michael Huffington blaming their election losses on immigrants in the 1990s.

Episode 280: Gas Panics and the Colonial Pipeline Cybersecurity Breach

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss the gas panic triggered by the recent cybersecurity breach at Colonial Pipeline.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• A cybersecurity breach at Colonial Pipeline caused panic, prompting motorists to line up at service stations up and down the East Coast. Natalia, Niki, and Neil all drew on historian Meg Jacobs’ work, and Natalia referred to Dan Taberski’s podcast Surviving Y2K. 

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed Julie Creswell’s New York Times article, “Diet Companies See Gains as Americans Try to Drop Pandemic Pounds.”

• Neil recommended Kathryn Hymes’ Atlantic article, “Why We Speak More Weirdly At Home.”

• Niki shared her CNN column, “The Drama in Stacey Abrams’ Political Thriller is Unfolding Off the Page.”

Episode 279: Peloton and the History of Product Recalls

In this episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia discuss the recall of the latest Peloton exercise machine in historical context.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• Peloton, the digital fitness company made famous by its internet-connected stationery bike, is complying with a federal voluntary recall of its Tread+, which has killed one child and injured many other children and pets. Natalia referred to historian Richard Bushman’s book The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities. Niki referenced Ralph Nader’s 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed, and Natalia reported on the intense response in Peloton Facebook groups.  

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed Alison Bechdel’s book, The Secret to Superhuman Strength.

• Neil recommended historian Roberto Rey Agudo’s Washington Post op-ed, “On Cinco de Mayo, Americans speak ‘mock Spanish.’ Here’s why that’s a problem.”

• Niki shared her CNN column, “George W. Bush is a flawed messenger for Republicans.”

Episode 278: The Past and Future of the Office

In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss the history – and future – of office life.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• New York magazine published a sprawling collection of essays about experiences of office life. Natalia referred to this Atlantic article about the persistence of deep cleaning protocols despite evidence that the coronavirus does not spread on surfaces. Niki cited historian Jeanne Boydston’s book Home and Work: Housework, Wages, and the Ideology of Labor in the Early Republic. Natalia drew on Nikil Saval’s book Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace and Anne-Helen Petersen’s Substack newsletter, “The Future of Remote Work is the Opposite of Lonely.” 

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed Katie Rosman’s New York Times article, “Girl, Wash Your Timeline”.

• Neil shared The Salt Lake Tribune’s obituary of Mormon scholar D. Michael Quinn, and historian Benjamin Park’s thread about his work.

• Niki recommended two Slate articles about writer Blake Bailey’s alleged history of sexual assault, one by Eve Crawford Peyton, and one by his former eighth grade students.

Episode 277: RuPaul and the History of Drag

In this episode, Natalia, Neil, and Niki discuss the cultural influence of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• Reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race has just wrapped its thirteenth season. Niki and Natalia drew on Simon Doonan’s book Drag: The Complete Story. Natalia also referred to this Vulture article on the history of drag and this New Yorker profile of “female impersonator” Joseph Touchette. She also discussed the episode of Worn Stories featuring Doonan discussing his 1980s aerobics spandex. 

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed the ill-fated Chippendales skit, “The Politician,” viewable on her Instagram account.

• Neil shared Peter Knegt’s Canadian Broadcast Corporation column, “The Fruit Machine: Why Every Canadian Should Know About This Country’s Gay Purge.”

• Niki recommended the “Pets Are People” episode of This Day Pod, featuring Anne-Helen Peterson.  

Episode 276: A Roaring Twenties Redux?

In this week's episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss the parallels between the 1920s and our current moment.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• As “post-pandemic life” becomes imaginable, predictions of a second “Roaring Twenties” are ubiquitous. Niki referred to her article about the promise and limits of such comparisons for CNN. Natalia drew on historian Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz’ Campus Life: Undergraduate Cultures from the End of the Eighteenth Century to the Present.

 In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed Rosanna Xia’s Los Angeles Times article, “DDT’s Toxic Legacy Can Harm Granddaughters of Women Exposed, Study Shows”.

• Neil recommended Chloe Angyal’s Washington Post article, “Ballet Directors Talk About ‘Fitness.’ That’s Still Code for Rail-Thin Dancers” and her forthcoming book, Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers is Saving Ballet from Itself

• Niki shared her own CNN opinion piece, “History Shows We Ignore Tucker Carlson at Our Peril.”

Episode 275: The Debate over School Reopening

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia discuss the debate over school reopening.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• When – and how – public schools should reopen has become a topic of intense controversy. Neil cited this Los Angeles Times piece about the “intractable learning loss” suffered by English Language Learners this year. Natalia referred to this New York Times article about whether “learning loss” should be assessed and to this Politico article about the demand by United Teachers of Los Angeles for free childcare as a condition of their return to the classroom. She also drew on this History Channel article about the trust in public schools that existed during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Niki cited historian Daniel Rodgers’ Age of Fracture, and each of our books: Classroom Wars, We Gather Together, and Messengers of the Right.  

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed the latest policing of Dr. Jill Biden’s self-presentation: her stockings.

• Neil discussed the HBO documentary Tina.

• Niki shared Gina Kolata’s New York Times article, “Kati Kariko Helped Shield the World From the Coronavirus.”

Episode 274: Beverly Cleary

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss the life and legacy of the late children’s author Beverly Cleary.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• At the age of 104, children’s author Beverly Cleary has died. Natalia drew on this Bulwark article about Cleary’s apolitical appeal, and Niki referred to this Atlantic essay and this Vulture piece about her grasp of children’s emotional landscape. Neil and Natalia referred to this New York Times article about her books’ appeal to boys and girls. 

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia recommended the podcast Stolen: the Search for Jermain.

• Neil discussed Phil Hoad’s Atavist article, “Cat and Mouse.”

• Niki shared Rebecca Onion’s Slate essay, “A Modern Feminist Classic Changed My Life. Was it Actually Garbage?”

Episode 273: The Atlanta and Boulder Mass Shootings

In this episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia discuss the recent mass shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, and Boulder, Colorado.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• As public spaces reopen, so too have mass shootings returned. Neil referred to this Slate piece about the coverage of the Atlanta shootings, and Natalia cited Melissa Jeltsen’s article in The Cut, her own essay about massage in Nursing Clio, and Nicholas Kristof’s New York Times article, “How to Reduce Shootings.”

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia recommended Joy Nicholson’s novel, The Tribes of Palos Verdes.

• Neil discussed Zoe Pickburn’s The Week article, “The Orphan Who Invented the Cupcake.”

• Niki shared David French’s Twitter thread about Sidney Powell.

Episode 272: Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Controversies

In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss the calls for Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York to resign.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• Amid charges that he covered up Covid-related deaths among nursing home residents and sexually harassed multiple women, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo is being asked to resign. Natalia referred to Rebecca Traister’s article at The Cut and Zephyr Teachout’s essay in The Nation. Niki discussed this Washington Post article about Cuomo’s popular interviews with his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, this past summer.

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed the Sally Jesse Raphael Show episode about “women who love calendar men” as featured on the Welcome To Your Fantasy Instagram account.

• Neil recommended the new Netflix documentary series Murder Among the Mormons and historian Benjamin Park’s Religion Dispatches essays about the show.

• Niki shared the Twitter accounts of two historians writing about the Atlanta spa shootings: Melissa May Borja and Erika Lee.

Episode 271: The Interview: Oprah, Meghan, and Harry

In this episode, Natalia, Neil, and Niki discuss Oprah Winfrey’s interview of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• Perhaps the official beginning of Meghan and Harry’s life in America was their interview with Oprah Winfrey. Niki referenced her CNN piece on Piers Morgan’s reaction to the interview, and Natalia mentioned Trysh Travis and Timothy Aubry’s book on therapeutic culture and this Smithsonian magazine piece about the exhibit on Oprah’s legacy.

 In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed Marisa Meltzer’s book This Is Big: How the Founder of Weight Watchers Changed the World--And Me.

• Neil shared Ruth Graham and Elizabeth Dias’ New York Times article, “Beth Moore, a Prominent Evangelical, Splits with Southern Baptists.”  

• Niki recommended the 30 for 30 podcast episode, “March 11, 2020.”

Episode 270: The Controversy over Dr. Seuss

In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss the controversy over the decision to stop publishing six Dr. Seuss books.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• Theodore Geisel’s estate has removed six of his Dr. Seuss books from circulation, causing ire among conservatives citing it as an example of “cancel culture.” Natalia referred to writer Michael Harriot’s Twitter thread, this 1945 Frank Sinatra short film, “The House I Live In,” and Sophie Gilbert’s Atlantic article about Seuss’ embrace by progressive activists. Niki drew on this BBC piece about Seuss’ radicalism. 

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed Jack Harris’ Los Angeles Times article, “Jeff Grosso: The Life and Death of Skateboarding’s Soul.”

• Neil recommended Elon Green’s book, Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York.  

• Niki shared Soraya Nadia McDonald’s article at The Undefeated, “Billie Holliday Deserves Better.”

Episode 269: Minimum Wage and the Fight for $15

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia discuss the fight to raise the federal minimum wage.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• House Democrats have proposed a federally guaranteed fifteen-dollar an hour minimum wage as part of their coronavirus relief bill. Niki drew on this New York Times piece about the effective minimum wage, and Neil referenced this New Yorker article about fast food workers in Orlando. Natalia and Niki referred to the stickiness of the “Fight for 15” slogan, as described in this Atlantic article. 

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed the Leo Baeck Institute’s Shared History Project.

• Neil shared Olivia Rutigliano’s Truly Adventurous story, “The Dognapping of the Century.”  

• Niki recommended Lillian Stone’s article at The Takeout, “The Spudly History of Mister Potato Head.”

Episode 268: Britney Spears and the #FreeBritney Movement

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss the #FreeBritney movement for Britney Spears and the conservatorship that inspired it.

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• A New York Times documentary about pop star Britney Spears and the conservatorship under which she has lived since 2008 has sparked renewed concern about her wellbeing. Natalia recommended this New Republic article about disability and conservatorships and Anne-Helen Petersen’s Substack newsletter about the Britney phenomenon. Niki drew on this Vox explainer about the conservatorship.

 In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia discussed Cecile Castranova’s article for The Hill, “CA School District’s Board Resigns After Unknowingly Talking About Parents in A Virtual Meeting.”

• Neil shared Daniel Silliman’s Christianity Today obituary, “Died: Carman, Christian Showman Who Topped Charts With Triumphant Fate.”  

• Niki commented on Eric Schmitt and Helene Cooper’s New York Times article, “Promotions for Female Generals Were Delayed Over Fears of Trump’s Reaction.”