On this week’s Past Present bonus episode, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss life coaches. 

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

• Life coaching is big business these days, but there’s still some confusion about what life coaches actually do. Natalia drew from the sociologist Arlie Hochschild’s work on the outsourcing of intimate labor to argue that life coaches are often stand-ins for a reliable friend or professional mentor. Niki noted this was most visible in new services like “Rent-a-Mom.”
• Niki cited Julie Golia’s research on the rise of advice columns as a helpful way for understanding life coaches. Like Golia’s advice columnists, life coaches fulfill and professionalize social functions that once played out in close-knit communities. Neil noted that in a “Bowling Alone” era, life coaches provided an individualized experience of professional authority within a larger culture of community breakdown and anti-institutional sentiments.
• Natalia recommended Susan Faludi’s Stiffed for thinking more about the gendered politics of self-help and Barbara Ehrenreich’s Bright-Sided for a critical take on the life coaching industry. 

On this week’s Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss the war on Christmas, food politics, and political spouses.

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

• The “war on Christmas” has become a regular part of the holiday season. The conservative website Newsmax has catalogued the big offenders of 2015. Neil argued the “war on Christmas” is largely a media phenomenon, noting that many religious leaders have chosen to ignore the controversy or to argue that the real war on Christmas is the holiday’s over-commercialization.  Neil also observed that the Puritans outlawed Christmas because the holiday had such decadent celebrations. To read more about the controversial history of Christmas, see Stephen Nissenbaum’s The Battle for Christmas.
• A new grocery store venture, Daily Table, seeks to provide low-income consumers with more affordable food by selling about-to-expire foods from farmers and wholesalers. Natalia noted that dates used for food expiration are largely made up and contribute to high rates of food waste. Natalia recommended the book, We the Eaters, and the documentary, A Place at the Table, for thinking more about the politics of food.
• The New York Times’ profile of Marco Rubio’s wife, Jeanette, is the latest example of our culture’s fascination with political spouses. America’s First Ladies have played a unique role in national politics, often using their ceremonial functions to extend their husbands’ political objectives. Neil noted that spouses play particularly important roles in political campaigns, but that women like Betty Ford and Nancy Reagan were also sometimes seen as liabilities for their husbands.

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

• Natalia discussed the history of why American Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas day.
• Neil commented on GQ’s profile of the international megachurch, Hillsong.
• Niki explained how in Soviet Russia the Christmas tree became the New Year’s tree.

On this week’s Past Present podcast, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss the sharing economy, affirmative action, and whether Donald Trump is a fascist.

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

• Harvard Business School researchers have issued a report about the pattern of racial discrimination in AirBnB. Other scholars and writers have raised additional concerns with the “sharing economy.” Niki noted the historical example of early twentieth century urban dwellers who took boarders to earn extra money, as depicted in the 1925 Anzia Yezierska novel Bread Givers. Natalia suggested Nick Grossman’s “gig economy” was a more accurate term than the “sharing economy” to capture how Americans are working and earning money today.
• Affirmative action is back in the news as the Supreme Court hears Abigail Fisher’s lawsuit against the University of Texas. Listen here for Justice Antonin Scalia’s controversial remarks during oral arguments last week. Neil noted the admissions data concerning Fisher’s application disproved the argument she had faced racial discrimination. Niki pointed to the prevalence of “reverse discrimination” language in conservative arguments about affirmative action, such as shown in a recent editorial from the National Review.
• Is Donald Trump a fascist? It’s a question a lot of people have been asking, but Niki noted a Vox roundtable of historians had concluded he was not. Natalia added the historian Federico Finchelstein’s point that in order for Trump to be considered a fascist, he would need to move from advocating discrimination against the “enemy” to proposing their elimination.

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

• Natalia discussed Cosmopolitan magazine’s response to recent comments from Caitlyn Jenner about how trans women should look.
• Neil recommended Ta-Nehisi Coates’ essay in the Atlantic, “Hope and the Historian.” Natalia suggested placing Coates’ essay in conversation with James Fraser’s book, A History of Hope.
• Niki shared her project on the history of holidays at the White House she’s been working on for the Miller Center, including stories from the first White House Hanukkah celebration held during George H. W. Bush’s presidency and the account of Jackie Kennedy’s first Christmas after John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

On this week’s Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s philanthropic gift, the history of baby names, and “prayer shaming.”

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

• Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan announced they would donate 99 percent of their Facebook shares to charity, totaling some $45 billion. Some observers have been critical of the couple's decision. Niki pointed to Napster founder Sean Parker’s manifesto, “Philanthropy for Hackers” as a precursor to this debate. Natalia mentioned that books like Matthew Bishop’s Philanthrocapitalism have applauded the way billionaires are devoting themselves more to charitable giving and thereby reshaping the world. We recommend reading the history of philanthropy blog, HistPhil, for more. As a starting point, check out Benjamin Soskis’s essay on the Ford Foundation and the Gospel of Wealth.
• The most popular baby names of 2015 have been released, and gender-neutral options and names inspired by Instagram filters have made the list. Natalia reminded us that the bestseller Freakonomics has a chapter devoted to the economic consequences of what parents name their children. Niki shared the baby name generator that allows you to see what your name would be if you had been born at different points in history.
• In the wake of the San Bernardino shooting, the New York Daily News devoted its cover page to attacking Republican politicians who offered “thoughts and prayers” instead of political solutions to the nation’s gun crisis. Conservatives lashed back, decrying the rise of liberal “prayer shaming.” But Neil argued against the false dichotomy of a religious right and secular left in this debate, pointing out many liberals had offered their prayers while several Christian conservatives had criticized the thoughtless habit of extending “thoughts and prayers” on social media.

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

• Natalia discussed Witness Against Torture’s viral video, Thanksgiving at Guantanamo.
• Neil recommended the hit BBC television show, The Great British Bake Off. 
• Niki shared Mason B. Williams’s essay in the Atlantic, “The Crumbling Monuments of the Age of Marble.”

On this week’s Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss the history of refugees, the legacy of Woodrow Wilson, and Instamoms. 

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

• President Obama tied the Syrian refugee crisis to the story of the Pilgrims in a recent radio address to move Americans to support their entry to the US. The Washington Post’s image of a young refugee, Niki argued, was meant in part to elicit American sympathy, but throughout history Americans have seldom welcomed refugees into the nation. Natalia noted the lowest point of this history may have been when the US rejected the admission of European Jews in the years leading up to World War II. Neil pointed out that moment has been humanized by the account of Anne Frank’s family being denied entry as refugees.
• Princeton students have demanded the university remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from campus sites because of his racist acts as president. Natalia agreed with historian Nathan Connolly’s request that we “write segregation and race into the story, not to write the racists out of it.” She also recommended the historian Jonathan Zimmerman’s Politico article that encouraged Princeton students to reckon more with Wilson’s complicated example.
• “Instamoms,” like @Taylensmom, are the newest social media phenomena. But are these digital parents just the latest version of the stage mom? Natalia suggested Viviana Zelizer’s classic, Pricing the Priceless Child, provided a useful way for thinking about the changing social value of children in America.

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

• Natalia recommended Sarah Hepola’s memoir, Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget.
• Neil discussed why Americans spoke with the accent they did in the 1930s and what 100 years of photographs reveal about the history of smiling.
• Niki shared the new Amazon series The Man in the High Castle as a way of thinking about the meaning of fascism in American politics.