Missed us? We’ve been busy…in Maria’s case, making a BABY! (Among other things.) In this mini episode we check in about maternal health numbers in the US (not amazing), the experience of becoming a mother (pretty sweet, but keep yer grains of salt handy), and - of course - hit up some feminist theory about this whole childbearing thing. What’s up, Simone de Beauvoir! If you’ve been watching The Handmaid’s Tale and need another perspective on reproduction, you’ve come to the right place. Mamma Mia! We’re multiplying!

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (1949)

Context

Kiera Butler, "The Scary Truth About Childbirth," Motherjones.com. Jan/Feb 2017. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/childbirth-injuries-prolapse-cesarean-section-natural-childbirth/#

Nina Martin, "Focus On Infants During Childbirth Leaves U.S. Moms In Danger," NPR.org. May 12, 2017. https://www.npr.org/2017/05/12/527806002/focus-on-infants-during-childbirth-leaves-u-s-moms-in-danger

Catherine Pearson, “What The French Get So Right About Taking Care Of New Moms,” HuffingtonPost.com. January 17, 2017. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-the-french-get-so-right-about-taking-care-of-new-moms_us_587d27b4e4b086022ca939c4

Bonus

Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale (1985), now a series on Hulu. 

Some useful medical advice for women who are pregnant, collected by NPR: https://www.npr.org/2017/08/03/541191480/if-you-hemorrhage-dont-clean-up-advice-from-mothers-who-almost-died

Music by ABBA and Mariah.

One year is over, another just begun! In this mid-season gab we talk about how to look back over the past year and share strategies for making New Year's resolutions that stick. Discover the official Noorain Khan method for taking stock at the end of a year, hear our goals for 2017, and get some concrete advice on how to make  a good resolution courtesy of kids.usa.gov. We also reveal our greatest resolution successes (Maria's involves Mordor, kind of) and swear that THIS is the year we're going to stay active - really!! Ready to take on the new year? Tune in for a chilled-out chat about taking the next steps! 

Links to Stuff we Talk About

On Noorain's love of self-improvement, quantified and otherwise:

S1E8: Our Quantified / Cyborg Selves http://www.intheory.us/episodes/2015/9/16/episode-8-our-quantifiedcyborg-selves

S3E1 - Self Help http://www.intheory.us/episodes/2016/10/18/s3e1-self-help

Stephanie Pappas, “Why We Make New Year's Resolutions,” LiveScience. December 31, 2013. http://www.livescience.com/42255-history-of-new-years-resolutions.html

Tips from kigs.usa.gov to help you reach your New Year's resolutions: https://kids.usa.gov/exercise-and-eating-healthy/new-years-resolution/index.shtml

Music by Bing Crosby, New Buffalo, and (of course!) Prince.

Does the prospect of reading a poem send you into panicked memories of 11th grade English class? FEAR NOT! Poetry doesn't have to be like that! In this episode we find out how it's secretly all around us in the best ways, use theory to kill the author and open up avenues for fun interpretation, and share love for viral poetry by women of color. Maria's pal and colleague Dr. Adhaar Noor Desai helps demo how to unpack a plum(b) poem (the results make Noorain blush!), and we discover how to put more poetry in our lives. Take a moment to listen - and maybe even start to write! 

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

Roland Barthes, “The Death of the Author” (1967) http://www.tbook.constantvzw.org/wp-content/death_authorbarthes.pdf

Context

Román Castellanos-Monfil, "Yale senior wins the Individual World Poetry Slam Championship," Yale News, October 26, 2015.  http://news.yale.edu/2015/10/26/yale-senior-wins-individual-world-poetry-slam-championship. (video of Emi’s performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IspMMNR8EOo)

Ron Charles, Geoff Edgers and Brian Murphy, "‘Poetry for the ear’: Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize in Literature," The Washington Post. October 13, 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/bob-dylan-wins-nobel-prize-in-literature/2016/10/13/d0c05ac4-90ea-11e6-a6a3-d50061aa9fae_story.html    

J.G. McClure, “The Miseducation of the Poet: High School and the Fear of Poetry,” Clever Magazine. http://www.cleavermagazine.com/the-miseducation-of-the-poet-high-school-and-the-fear-of-poetry-by-j-g-mcclure/

National Endowment for the Arts, “How a Nation Engages with Art: Highlights from the 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts,” NEA Research Report #57, September 2013. https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/highlights-from-2012-sppa-revised-oct-2015.pdf

Michelle Toglia, “Transcript Of Beyonce's 'Lemonade' Because The Words Are Just As Important As The Music,” Bustle, April 24, 2016. https://www.bustle.com/articles/156559-transcript-of-beyonces-lemonade-because-the-words-are-just-as-important-as-the-music YouTube video with all Lemonade poems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbV84ztUyuY (catch the lemonade recipe we play at 16:30 -17:48)

Bonus

A bonus close reading of Billy Collins's poem "Divorce" with Adhaar and Maria from their interview! Cutlery involved.

Poetry in Motion by MTA Arts & Design:  http://web.mta.info/mta/aft/poetry/

More on writer & artist Rupi Kaur:  https://www.rupikaur.com/  (on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rupikaur_/?hl=en) https://www.rupikaur.com/milkandhoney/)

Suggested poems for people who think they don’t like poetry:  https://www.bustle.com/articles/193723-8-poetry-collections-for-people-who-dont-like-poetry

Try writing your own poem! Here are some great English-language haikus: https://www.amazon.com/Haiku-Anthology-Third-Cor-Heuvel/dp/0393321185 Or write a poem based on a memory following these steps by Tara Skurtu: http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2016/01/i-dont-like-poetry-im-not-a-poetry-person-by-tara-skurtu.html

Guest speaker BIO! Adhaar Noor Desai is an Assistant Professor of Literature at Bard College who specializes in Shakespeare and early modern poetry. He completed his PhD in English at Cornell University, where he was a Fellow at their Center for Teaching Excellence. He has recently published in the journal Configurations and writes theatre reviews on contemporary stagings of Shakespeare. Follow him on Twitter at @adhaardesai

Poems

Helen Chasin, “The Word Plum”

Patrick Philips, "Heaven" 

John Stephenson, "Snowy night" and other haiku

William Carlos Williams, “Asphodel, That Greeny Flower”

Music this time by Corinne Bailey Rae, Bob Dylan, & Johnny Tillotson. 

Got gift-giving on your mind? You're not the only one to agonize over it! Is exchanging presents a magical practice of reciprocity that leads to stronger human bonds (Team Anthropology!) or is it an inefficient scourge leading to deadweight loss (Team Economics!)? In this episode, we explore these two camps...and in the process get to Japan's extreme gifting culture (Maria’s our in-house expert!), best/worst presents (yay!/ack!), holiday shopping, and registries. Get ready folks, we unwrap gift giving like no one else does—like nerds!

 

 

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

Bronisław Malinowski, “Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An account of native enterprise and adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea” (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1922) http://wolnelektury.pl/katalog/lektura/argonauts-of-the-western-pacific/ [N&M note:  Yes, this title is bad, like baaaad.]

Marcel Mauss, “The Gift: Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic Societies” (Cohen & West Ltd, 1966). https://archive.org/details/giftformsfunctio00maus [N&M note:  Yes, this one too.]

Joel Waldfogel, “Scroogenomics:  Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for the Holidays” (Princeton University Press, 2009). http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8972.html

 

Context

“Why Economists Hate Gifts”. Planet Money. December 11, 2011. NPR. 
http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/12/23/144195081/the-friday-podcast-why-economists-hate-gifts

Caitlin Kenney. “The Most Wasteful Time Of Year.” Planet Money. November 25, 2009. NPR. 
http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2009/11/podcast_happy_efficent_holiday.html

Shankar Vedantam. "New Study Explores Psychology Of Giving Wedding Gifts." All Things Considered. June 24, 2016. NPR. http://www.npr.org/2016/06/24/483426485/new-study-explores-psychology-of-giving-wedding-gifts

 

Bonus

On Japanese gift giving etiquette

On Valentine’s Day & White Day in Japan 

 

Music this time by 50 Cent, The Isley Brothers, Queen Mariah & Natalie Merchant 

Want to go out and change the world? Great! WE NEED IT. But how to avoid doing more harm than good, especially when working for people from other contexts and cultures? We dig into this tricky question with Dr. Ryan Richard Thoreson: human rights lawyer, LGBTIQ activist, and one of our personal faves. Along the way we encounter white savior Barbie, grapple with the notion of cultural relativism, and each reveal some of our most facepalm-worthy moments abroad. Ryan also catches us up on the state of international LGBTIQ rights and activism, and we share some real talk about the colonialist legacy of the Rhodes Scholarships that Ryan, Noorain, and Maria all held. Theory helped shape how we approach making positive change, so join us for this ep and then get out there and make a difference where you can!

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

Jack Donnelly, “Cultural Relativism and Universal Human Rights,” Human Rights Quarterly 6.4 (Nov. 1984): 400-419. http://fs2.american.edu/dfagel/www/Class%20Readings/Donnelly/Cultual%20Relativism.pdf

Ryan Richard Thoreson, Transnational LGBT Activism: Working for Sexual Rights Worldwide (University Of Minnesota Press, 2014) https://www.amazon.com/Transnational-LGBT-Activism-Working-Worldwide/dp/0816692742/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Articles

Teju Cole, “The White-Savior Industrial Complex,” The Atlantic. March 22, 2012. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843/

Nadia Khomami. "Oxford scholars reject hypocrisy claims amid row over Cecil Rhodes statue." The Guardian. January 13, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jan/12/cecil-rhodes-scholars-reject-hypocrisy-claims-amid-row-over-oriel-college-statue

Courtney Martin, "The Reductive Seduction of Other People’s Problems," Medium. January 11, 2016. https://medium.com/the-development-set/the-reductive-seduction-of-other-people-s-problems-3c07b307732d#.944npi1zl

Sarah Schulman, “Israel and ‘Pinkwashing,’” The New York Times. November 22, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/opinion/pinkwashing-and-israels-use-of-gays-as-a-messaging-tool.html

Context

Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Taylor, Cross-Cultural Filmmaking: A Handbook for Making Documentary and Ethnographic Films and Videos (University of California Press, 1997) https://www.amazon.com/Cross-Cultural-Filmmaking-Handbook-Documentary-Ethnographic/dp/0520087607 

Zeba Blay, "'White Savior Barbie’ Hilariously Parodies Volunteer Selfies In Africa," The Huffington Post. April 18, 2016. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-savior-barbie-hilariously-parodies-volunteer-selfies-in-africa_us_570fd4b5e4b03d8b7b9fc464 and Barbie Savior Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/barbiesavior/ 

"Government and Philanthropic Support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Communities," 2013/2014 Global Resources Report. June 2016. http://www.lgbtfunders.org/files/2013-2014_Global_Resources_Report.pdf

Bonus

Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden”: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5478/

Maria's documentary Momentum: Math and Science Teachers in Zambia (2006) on YouTube:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWd1YQCdhEU
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMV8Pxux_5c

Statement from the Rhodes Trust on Cecil Rhodes’ legacy http://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/rhodesandlegacy

Guest Speaker BIO! Ryan Richard Thoreson is the author of the book Transnational LGBT Activism: Working for Sexual Rights Worldwide, and has worked with a number of sexual rights groups including OutRight Action International and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Association. He completed his doctorate in Anthropology at the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and holds a JD from Yale Law School. He is currently completing a two-year fellowship researching and writing about LGBT children’s rights at Human Rights Watch.  

Music this time by the Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, and MJ. 

Following the 2016 election results, we've decided to share our vision for America at its best. So we're re-releasing our episode on patriotism from Season Two. In it, we talk about what it means to be both progressive and patriotic, and describe our inclusive American dream, which has room for both tradition and change. There is so much work to be done, and so much good to fight for. We've rounded up some links for ways to get involved and, if needed, help heal yourself and your community below.

Links about stuff we can do:

Get Involved:

Lily Feinn, “27 Little Things You Can Do To Make A Positive Difference After The 2016 Election Results” Bustle Magazine. November 9, 2016. https://www.bustle.com/articles/194304-27-little-things-you-can-do-to-make-a-positive-difference-after-the-2016-election-results

Anthony D. Romero (ACLU Executive Director) “If Donald Trump Implements His Proposed Policies, We’ll See Him in Court.” ACLU.org, November 9, 2016. https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/if-donald-trump-implements-his-proposed-policies-well-see-him-court Join the American Civil Liberties Union here.

Joanna Rothkopf, “A List of Pro-Women, Pro-Immigrant, Pro-Earth, Anti-Bigotry Organizations That Need Your Support” Jezebel.com, November 9, 2016. http://jezebel.com/a-list-of-pro-women-pro-immigrant-pro-earth-anti-big-1788752078

Lisa Ryan, “Here’s How to Donate to 10 Charities That Need Your Support Now More Than Ever” New York Magazine. November 9, 2016. http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/11/how-to-donate-to-planned-parenthood-and-other-charities.html

“How to Channel Your Post-Election Anger, Sadness, and Fear Into Action,” Slate.com. November 9, 2016. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/11/how_liberals_can_channel_their_post_election_anxiety_into_action.html

Self-care:

John M. Grohol, Psy.D., “Healing After the Election,” World of Psychology. http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2016/11/08/healing-after-the-election/

Collier Meyerson, “How women of color are practicing self-care in a Trump world,” Fusion.net. November 9, 2016 http://fusion.net/story/368417/women-of-color-self-care-tips-trump-president/ 

Ready to rethink what justice might look like in courts, schools, nations, and even our personal lives? In this episode, we take on restorative justice, the fledgling movement to engage victims and perpetrators (yes, we know, a loaded word!) of all kinds in constructive dialogue. This model offers a powerful alternative to the punitive paradigm of the American incarceration system, and ideally can lead to understanding, growth, and community-building. Human Rights lawyer and all-around badass Beth Compa talks us through some practical applications of RJ, and we get into both its promise and limitations. And along the way, we brush up on theories of justice (haaaayyy John Rawls), connect to themes from past eps, AND use a restorative justice lens to analyze her royal highness Queen Bey’s LEMONADE. Sorry, we ain’t sorry. 

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Harvard University Press, 1971) https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Theory_of_Justice.html?id=vcVEPc30ut0C

"About Restorative Justice," Centre for Justice & Reconciliation, A Program of Prison Fellowship International. http://restorativejustice.org/restorative-justice/about-restorative-justice/

Articles

Carly Berwick, "Zeroing out Zero Tolerance." The Atlantic. March 17, 2015. http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/03/zeroing-out-zero-tolerance/388003/

Paul Tullis, "Can Forgiveness Play a Role in Criminal Justice?" New York Times Magazine. January 4, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/magazine/can-forgiveness-play-a-role-in-criminal-justice.html.

Melinda D. Anderson, "Will School-Discipline Reform Actually Change Anything?" The Atlantic. September 14, 2015. http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/will-school-discipline-reform-actually-change-anything/405157/.  

Context

Growing Fairness. Teachers United (2013). http://www.teachersunite.org/documentary

Code of Hammurabi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Hammurabi

South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission: http://www.justice.gov.za/Trc/

Ira Glass, (Narrator). (2016, August 26). "Deep End of the Pool," (No. 595) [Audio podcast] - includes a great story about a private lawyer drafted to become a public defender, and what he learns about that system. This American Life. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/595/deep-end-of-the-pool?act=1

Bonus

Beyonce's Lemonade (2016) http://www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/

Equal Justice Initiative https://eji.org/

In Theory S1E4:  Childhood http://www.intheory.us/episodes/2015/7/1/childhood-those-golden-years-or-are-they (relevant to our conversation on schools)

In Theory S3E1:  Self Help http://www.intheory.us/episodes/2016/10/18/s3e1-self-help (relevant to our conversation on adversarial systems and the fetishization of competition)

Guest Speaker BIO! Most recently a staff attorney at the Promise of Justice Initiative, Beth Compa began her career with the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, where she examined the effects of privatization on Georgia’s prison and misdemeanor probation systems. Beth holds a B.A. in History from NYU (2004) and a J.D. from Yale (2011), where she was Editor in Chief of the Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal, a director of the Rebellious Lawyering conference, and a member of the Detention & Human Rights clinic.

Lifehacks, Oprah, The Secret…who CAN’T use a little self-help to maximize their personal and professional lives? We kick off Season 3 by diving into self help and celebrity advice culture, exploring both what’s great about them and their darker sides. We pin down the concept “neoliberalism,” and talk about how competition from the boardroom to the bedroom is leaving people feeling more isolated and looking to self-help for ways to survive in an increasingly precarious economy. On the way, Noorain opens up about her love of Oprah and her celebrity book binges, and Maria casts some epic shade on Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Let’s get this In Theory party started! 

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

Daniel Nehring, Emmanuel Alvarado, Eric C. Hendriks, and Dylan Kerrigan, Transnational Popular Psychology and the Global Self-Help Industry: The Politics of Contemporary Social Change (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9780230370852 

Jennifer M. Silva, Coming up Short: Working-Class Adulthood in an Age of Uncertainty (Oxford University Press, 2013)  https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Short-Working-Class-Adulthood-Uncertainty/dp/0190231890 

Articles

Peter Fleming, “The way to a better work-life balance? Unions, not self-help,” The Guardian, October 11, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2016/oct/11/way-to-better-work-life-balance-unions-not-self-help 

Vanessa Friedman, “How Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Has Become a Role Model for Other Celebrities,” The New York Times, November 14, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/fashion/how-gwyneth-paltrow-goop-has-become-a-role-model-for-other-celebrities.html

George Monbiot, “Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems,” The Guardian, April 15, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot

Joe Pinsker “America Is Even Less Socially Mobile Than Most Economists Thought,” The Atlantic, July 23, 2015. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/07/america-social-mobility-parents-income/399311/ 

Context

William G. Domhoff, “Wealth, Income, and Power” Who Rules America? September 2005; updated February 2013 http://whorulesamerica.net/power/wealth.html 

Trysh Travis, The Language of the Heart: A Cultural History of the Recovery Movement from Alcoholics Anonymous to Oprah Winfrey (University of North Carolina Press, 2009) https://www.amazon.com/Language-Heart-Cultural-Recovery-Alcoholics/dp/1469607301 

Janice Peck, Age of Oprah: Cultural Icon for the Neoliberal Era (Routledge, 2008) https://www.amazon.com/Age-Oprah-Cultural-Neoliberal-Media/dp/1594514690 

Bonus: Noorain’s celeb list!

Goop http://goop.com/ 

Top 10 Oprah moments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3qKEDBxwzY

Jewel, Never Broken https://www.amazon.com/Never-Broken-Songs-Only-Story/dp/0399185720

Janet Mock, Redefining Realness https://www.amazon.com/Redefining-Realness-Path-Womanhood-Identity/dp/1476709130 

Shonda Rimes, Year of Yes https://www.amazon.com/Year-Yes-Dance-Stand-Person-ebook/dp/B00YTG3C0G

Lindy West, Shrill https://www.amazon.com/Shrill-Notes-Woman-Lindy-West/dp/0316348406

Music this time by the Bananaramas, Miike Snow, and Destiny's Child.

Hey--is anyone out there? In our last official episode of Season 2, we talk about whether humans are actually alone in the universe with the help of theories from physicists, philosophers, and Champagne Papi. JK. Kind of. From the Fermi Paradox to the Great Filter Theory to the Drake Equation (see what we did there?) we discuss whether it's crazy to believe in UFOs and little green men…or crazy NOT to! Along the way Maria reveals her awkward mixup of foreign vs. intergalactic policy expectations, Noorain sings the praises of the feminist movie Contact, and together we muse on what our collective obsession with life on other planets says about humanity today. Get ready everyone, the government can’t cover up this conversation! The truth is out there...

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

Rene Descartes, "Meditations on First Philosophy." transl. D. A. Cress (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing; originally published in 1641) http://selfpace.uconn.edu/class/percep/DescartesMeditations.pdf

"The Drake Equation." SETI Institute. http://www.seti.org/drakeequation  

"The Fermi Paradox." SETI Institute. http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/project/details/fermi-paradox

Max Weber, "Science as Vocation." From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, ed. and transl. H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills (New York: Oxford University Press, 1946; originally published in 1919),  129-156. http://anthropos-lab.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Weber-Science-as-a-Vocation.pdf

Context

David Chalmers, "The Philosophy of Virtual Reality" (on Descartes, perception, and the Matrix - thanks to Nabiha Syed for the link!) https://aeon.co/videos/new-realities-are-imminent-how-vr-reframes-big-questions-in-philosophy

Articles

Will Dahlgreen, "You are not alone: most people believe that aliens exist," YouGov. September 28, 2015. https://today.yougov.com/news/2015/09/28/you-are-not-alone-most-people-believe-aliens-exist/

George Dvorsky, "11 of the Weirdest Solutions to the Fermi Paradox," io9. March 20, 2013. http://io9.com/11-of-the-weirdest-solutions-to-the-fermi-paradox-456850746

George Dvorsky, "The Great Filter theory suggests humans have already conquered the threat of extinction," io9. December 21, 2012. http://io9.com/5970501/the-great-filter-theory-suggests-humans-have-already-conquered-the-threat-of-extinction

Douglas Main, "Most People Believe Intelligent Aliens Exist, Poll Says," Newsweek. September 29, 2015. http://www.newsweek.com/most-people-believe-intelligent-aliens-exist-377965  

Tim Urban, " The Fermi Paradox: Where the Hell Are the Other Earths?," Gizmodo. May 23, 2014. http://gizmodo.com/the-fermi-paradox-where-the-hell-are-the-other-earths-1580345495

Bonus

Noorain's elementary school reading: My Teacher is an Alien (1989) https://lexile.com/book/details/9780671737290/  and beloved film Contact (1997):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRoj3jK37Vc

Music this time by Katy Perry, St. Vincent, and the magnificent Ella Fitzgerald. With shoutouts to Drake (naturally) and the X-Files theme song (DOUBLE naturally).

From craft brewing to knitting, when did acting like we’re home on the range get so cool? And why is it so satisfying to can your own jar of jam, hand-build a table, or make a quilt? This week we take on the history, culture, and politics of hipster crafting and DIY. With the help of our trusty friend Marx and a theory of "new domesticity," we dig into what modern-day maker throwbacks can tell us about our work lives and gender identities. Sociologist and beer whisperer Dr. Allison McKim helps us unpack the homebrewing explosion and its gender-troubled history, PLUS we get into Maria's love of Renaissance Faires, Noorain's once-but-no-more work alienation, and high-concept housekeeping. Pour yourself a beer (or a cold brewed coffee if you're Noorain) and come talk crafting! If you can make it, we will talk about it!

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

Karl Marx, “Estranged Labour,” in Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm (Marx's theory of alienation explained in everyday language here and here) 

Rachel Lee Rubin, Well Met:  Renaissance Faires and the American Counterculture (NYU Press, 2012) http://www.amazon.com/Well-Met-Renaissance-American-Counterculture/dp/1479859729

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN.html (on division of labor and the rise of capitalism) 

Articles

Krystal Baugher, “Women and Beer: A 4,500-Year History Is Coming Full Circle,” The Atlantic. November 11, 2013. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/women-and-beer-a-4-500-year-history-is-coming-full-circle/281338/ 

Emily Matchar, “The New Domesticity: Fun, Empowering or a Step Back for American Women?” The Washington Post. November 25, 2011. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-new-domesticity-fun-empowering-or-a-step-back-for-american-women/2011/11/18/gIQAqkg1vN_story.html

Bonnie Rochman, “Handmade in America: Crafting's Comeback,” Parade. October 19, 2013. http://communitytable.parade.com/214945/bonnierochman/handmade-in-america-craftings-comeback/ 

Context

“2012 State of the Craft Industry” Craft & Hobby Association Presentation. 2012. https://www.craftandhobby.org/eweb/docs/2012.State.of.Craft.Industy_Key.Insights.pdf

“Indie Craft Inspiration.” Craft & Hobby Association’s Portfolio Magazine. Winter 2009. https://www.craftandhobby.org/EWEB/docs/cha/Portfolio-Pdfs/2009%20Winter%20Portfolio.pdf

Shannon Hayes,  Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture. Left to Write Press. February 1, 2010. 
http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Homemakers-Reclaiming-Domesticity-Consumer/dp/0979439116/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51%2BGpPUHCPL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR107%2C160_&refRID=0FHRX0XDDE8PZFHJHF18

Bonus

Beer whisperer Allison McKim is also an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bard College; more on her here. 

Music this week from Billy Currington, Jewel, Lila Downs, The Cardigans, and Erykah Badu!