In this episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia discuss the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

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

• This week, the Democratic Party is holding its national convention – entirely online. Neil referred to Ed Kilgore’s New York magazine article about the role of television in shaping conventions.

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

• Natalia recommended Teresa Ghilarducci’s Bloomberg Opinion piece, “Remote College is Still More Valuable than a Gap Year.”
• Neil shared the new podcast series, “Forgotten: Women of Juárez.”
• Niki discussed Jaya Saxena’s Atlas Obscura article, “Rhode Island Has One Great Culinary Invention, and it’s Coffee Milk.”

In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate.

Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast

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

• Kamala Harris is the 2020 Democratic vice-presidential candidate. Niki wrote about the significance of her candidacy for Inside Story magazine. Natalia referenced historian Martha Jones’ Washington Post essay; Niki referred to Jamelle Bouie’s New York Times op-ed on Harris’ blackness. Natalia cited this Jacobin article criticizing Harris and to pieces like this one paying new attention to the 1948 vice-presidential candidacy of Charlotta Bass. We previously discussed Kamala Harris on Episode 195 last year.

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

• Natalia shared Evgenia Peretz’s Vanity Fair article, “Keeping Up with the Millers: Stephen Miller and his Wife, Katie, Found Love in a Hateful Place.”
• Neil recommended Padma Lakshmi’s new Hulu show, “Taste the Nation.”
• Niki discussed the Luminary podcast, “Fiasco.”

In this episode, Natalia, Neil, and Niki discuss the conspiracy theory known as QAnon.

Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast

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

• Spread online, QAnon is a conspiracy theory that claims “deep state” traitors, connected to a cabal of pedophiles, are plotting to undermine President Trump and the United States. Niki and Neil referred to Adrienne LaFrance’s Atlantic essay contextualizing “Q”’s prophecies. Natalia referred to this Rolling Stone article about the late John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s role in the QAnon imagination.

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

• Natalia recommended Irina Aleksander’s New York Times Magazine article, “Sweatpants Forever.”
• Neil discussed the controversy over Ellen DeGeneres’ behavior on set – and how her celebrity defenders aren’t helping her case.
• Niki talked about Barrett Swanson’s New Republic article, “What I Learned From the Worst Novelist in the English Language.”

In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss the continued unrest in Portland and the deployment of federal forces to quell it.

Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast

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

• Protests continue in Portland, where President Trump has deployed federal forces. Niki discussed this episode of This Day in Esoteric Political History. Natalia recommended following the Twitter feeds of scholars of fascism Federico Finchelstein and Jason Stanley.

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

• Natalia recommended the podcasts Once Upon a Time…in the Valley and The Last Days of August.
• Neil discussed Christopher Knight’s Los Angeles Times article, “It’s time to chop down the ‘lynching tree’ from this California city’s logo.”
• Niki talked about Heather Schwedel’s Slate article, “It Was the Coolest Phone I’d Ever Seen.”