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.”

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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, and it’s not the first time. Neil wrote about the controversial history of Christmas songs for The Atlantic. Niki discussed another conflict over the 1984 song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”

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

• Natalia recommended Gustavo Turner’s LOGIC Magazine article, “My Stepdad’s Huge Data Set.”
• Neil discussed Michael S. Rosenwald’s Washington Post article, “The Police Officer Who Arrested a President.”
• Niki shared Charles Dunst and Krishnadev Kalamur’s Atlantic article, “Trump Moves to Deport Vietnam War Refugees.

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.

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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 article about how the white, libertarian land rights movement is cynically invoking the Native American example.

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

• Natalia discussed Shayla Love’s VICE article, “The Young and the Uncared For.”
• Neil commented on James Gorman’s New York Times article, “It Could Be the Age of the Chicken, Geologically.”
• Niki shared Ruth Graham’s Slate article, “How ‘Woke Ammon Bundy’ Became the World’s Most Surprising Resistance Figure.”

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 illustrates a new openness to discussing once-taboo bodily functions.

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

• Natalia recommended Jaime Lauren Keiles’ Vox article, “Reconsidering the Jewish American Princess.”
• Neil commented on the controversy over every president reciting the Apostles’ Creed at George H.W. Bush’s funeral except President Trump.
• Niki discussed Sarah Zhang’s Atlantic article, “300 Million Letters Are Missing From the Human Genome.”

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’s Making History:

• Natalia recommended historian Matthew Pressman’s new book, On Press: The Liberal Values That Shaped the News.
• Neil shared Julia Jacobs’ New York Times article, “Bush’s Letter to Clinton Cemented a Presidential Traditions, Historians Say.”
• Niki discussed Seyward Darby and Glenna Gordon’s Topic article, “The Secret Weapons of the Far Right.”