Womyn
Marriage in America: A Brief History
Marriage – the word alone is loaded. Marriage is the butt of jokes, the “old ball and chain,” the end of fun. Marriage can also bring up images of fear, of abuse, of control. And Read more…
Womyn
King Ahebi Ugbabe: Sex, Gender, and Power in Colonial Nigeria
King Ahebi Ugbabe was unique among the men of Igboland in colonial Nigeria. There weren’t many kings in Igboland at all. But the infrequency of kingship is not what set Ugbabe apart: more importantly, in a Read more…
Law
The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: A Brief Overview and History
Studying the Fourteenth Amendment is like taking one thread of American history since the mid nineteenth century and following it through all of the major events of the period since then. It’s a great way Read more…
Crime
The Suitcase Murder: Abortion, Mystery and Murder in 20th Century America
On September 21, 1905, a suitcase floated to the water’s surface in Winthrop Harbor, a shallow six-foot deep man-made channel, about three miles north of Boston Harbor. Stuffed inside the seemingly innocuous case was the Read more…
Creepy, Occult & Otherworldly
“It’s all just a big joke”: Halloween, Samhain, and Moral Panics in the 1980s
In 1978, John Carpenter created a horror film that would arguably change the genre, certainly led the way in slasher films, and all on a $325,000 budget, with a 21 day shoot and no big Read more…
War, Conflict & Violence
George McGovern and the Elusive Christian Left
While today, press coverage treats Christianity’s alignment with political conservatism as a foregone conclusion, there is a larger milieu of liberal and progressive activism with Christian social justice. Join Averill and special guest Mark Lempke, Read more…
Sex
Marie Stopes: Married Sexual Pleasure, Birth Control and Eugenics
Marie Stopes was one of the most significant figures in the modern birth control movement. She founded 37 international family planning clinics and brought sexual knowledge and fulfillment to countless women around the world. She Read more…
Episode
Fascism and Uteruses
Averill and Marissa discuss abortion and birth control in 20th century Japan and Germany.
Episode
Jazz Cleopatra
Josephine Baker took Europe by storm, reaching dizzying heights in her fame. Yet when she returned to the US, she was rejected by her fellow countrymen. Join the History Buffs as they discuss Baker, bananas, and racism in Europe and the Americas.