On this week’s Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss Pope Francis’ visit to the US, the “quit lit” phenomenon, and Donald Trump.

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

• The papal visit of Pope Francis marks the tenth time a pope has come to the United States. In his new book, We Gather Together, Neil writes about how Pope John Paul II’s papal visits in the 1980s strengthened the American pro-life movement and deepened evangelical-Catholic relations.
• The rise of “quit lit” from professors announcing their departure from academia in written form found its most recent example in an essay for the website Vox. But the fantasy of quitting one’s job has been a frequent theme in American pop culture, from Johnny Paycheck’s country hit, “Take This Job and Shove It,” to the twentieth-century novels Babbitt and Revolutionary Road.
• Donald Trump’s presidential campaign continues to intrigue and puzzle political commentators. Historians have looked for historical precedents for Trump, but it may be that Trump, particularly in terms of his views on immigration and his outrageous comments about Mexicans, is best understood in the historical currents of American populism and nativism. Niki has written frequently on the Trump phenomenon in her column for U.S. News.

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

• Natalia discussed the recent finding that more people in 2015 have died from “selfie-related deaths” than from shark attacks. Such news reminded Natalia of Christopher Lasch’s critique of American society in his 1979 classic, The Culture of Narcissism.
• Neil recommended Johnny Depp’s new movie, Black Mass, which depicts the career of James “Whitey” Bulger, the mafia kingpin and FBI informant who terrorized South Boston in the 1970s and early 1980s.
• ·Niki spoke about Erik Kirschbaum’s recent editorial, “Whatever Happened to German America?” Niki, our resident German American, waxed nostalgic about her love for kuchen, springerle, and the Schnitzelbank drinking song. While understanding the history of discrimination against German Americans, which David Kennedy outlined in his book Over Here, Niki suggested there are much stronger historical reasons why we won’t see an organized drive to reclaim German-American identity any time soon.   

Episode 2, September 21, 2015 Show Notes

On this week’s Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss the Planned Parenthood video controversy, the IPO of SoulCycle, and the rise of corporate support for gay rights.

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

• The release of undercover videos showing a Planned Parenthood official discussing the organization’s practice of donating fetal tissue have elicited outrage from conservative outlets. The videos stand in a long tradition of anti-abortion activism, but also demonstrate the increasing power of undercover videos as a form of political activism.
• SoulCycle’s initial public offering has attracted the attention of Wall Street investors, but the cycling brand has received steady criticism from cultural critics since its wheels first started spinning. For those interested in reading more about the history of fitness and wellness, be sure to check out Natalia’s essays on these topics.
• The Dorito’s Rainbow chips are raising money for the It Gets Better Project. Other recent gay-friendly marketing campaigns have included Chipotle’s “Homo Estas” ads and Ben & Jerry’s “I Dough, I Dough” ice cream. Aside from these marketing efforts, corporations have played a leading role in fighting for gay rights since the 1990s.

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

• Natalia responded to a recent New York Times editorial that parents rather than schools should have the ultimate say in their children’s lunches. While acknowledging the class and cultural dimensions of food, Natalia argued that food and nutrition experts needed to have the same educational authority in the classroom that math and history instructors also hold. Natalia has written about how school wellness programs may be the next frontier in the nation’s culture wars.
• Neil discussed Stacy Schiff’s New Yorker article, “The Witches of Salem.” (Schiff’s new book on the Salem Witch Trials comes out in late October.) Neil noted the rich historical literature on the Salem Witch Trials has included Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum’s Salem Possessed and Mary Beth Norton’s In the Devil’s Snare.
• Niki spoke about Ari Berman’s new book Give Us the Ballot which argues we are in the midst of a counterrevolution in voting rights. If you want to read more about the battle over the ballot while you are waiting for Ari’s book to arrive, Niki has written about the history of voting rights several times in her column at U.S. News. See here, here, and here.

On this week’s Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss the jailing of Kim Davis and the history of civil disobedience, the new online marketplace called TeachersPayTeachers, and the controversy over Taylor Swift’s new video for “Wildest Dreams.”

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

• The jailing of Kim Davis had her conservative defenders arguing this was an act of civil disobedience while her critics responded Davis’ defiance would ultimately benefit the gay rights movement.
•  The website TeachersPayTeachers received glowing coverage from the New York Times.
•  Taylor Swift’s new music video for “Wildest Dreams” inspired a swift critique from two African writers. Swift’s production team rushed to the video’s defense, making their own case for historical accuracy. But plenty others have criticized “Wildest Dreams” as promoting a colonial nostalgia.

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

• Neil cited Bernie Sanders’ speech at Liberty University and compared it to Mitt Romney’s controversial appearance at Liberty in 2012.
• Natalia discussed Germany’s response to the European refugee crisis in light of the country’s complicated national history.  
• Niki compared the stability of the American political system to that of Australia’s that, with the recent election of Malcolm Turnbull to prime minister in a leadership spill, has had five prime ministers in four years.