Past Present

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia discuss the tragedy of the Surfside condominium collapse and what it means for Miami.

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

• On June 24, a security camera captured the collapse of much of the Surfside condominium complex, killing a still untallied list of residents. Natalia cited this Slate article on the death of the Florida dream. Niki contextualized the collapse in the tradition of neoliberal deregulation, explained here.

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

• Natalia recommended Alec MacGillis' book, Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America.
• Neil comment on Christianity Today's article, "Rick Warren Mastered the Formula for Suburban Church Growth."
• Niki discussed her own CNN opinion piece, "The House Takes a Revealing Vote on Confederate Statues."

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss the Supreme Court decision to allow education-related payments to student-athletes.

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

• The Supreme Court ruled against the NCAA's restrictions on providing "education-related perks" to college athletes. Natalia referred to historian Taylor Branch's 2011 piece in The Atlantic, "The Shame of College Sports." Neil referred to this CNN piece on the ruling, and the relevant data point on the high salaries of college football coaches.

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

• Natalia discussed Britney Spears' testimony about her experience under her conservatorship. We discussed the "Free Britney" movement on Episode 268.
• Neil recommended Zachary M. Schrag's book, The Fires of Philadelphia: Citizen-Soldiers, Nativists, and the 1844 Riots Over the Soul of a Nation.
• Niki talked about Dan Boyce's NPR segment, "A Would-Be Trans and Queer Haven In Rural Colorado Just Wants to be Left Alone."

In this episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia discuss the history of the Internal Revenue Service and why the uber-wealthy pay so little in income taxes.

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

• ProPublica released a searing report revealing how little the richest Americans pay in taxes – and that they do so legally. Neil referred to this San Diego Union Tribune op-ed about racial discrimination at the IRS, and Niki and Natalia to this Intelligencer interview with Dorothy Brown. We all drew on this history of IRS scandals published by The Week.

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

• Natalia discussed two of the hotels in Yellowstone National Park.
• Neil shared this co piece, "Skittles Commemorates Gay Pride Month with Gray Packaging, Without the Color of the Rainbow."
• Niki recommended historian A.K. Sandoval-Strausz' Washington Post essay, "As Immigration Politics Changed, So Did 'In the Heights'."

In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss the history of LGBTQ+ Pride.

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

• Controversy has flared over the presence of police at this year's New York Pride March. Neil drew on this Time retrospective on the more than 50 years of Pride protests and parades.

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

• Natalia discussed Pooja Salhotra's Chalkbeat article, "New York City Schools Integrate LGBTQ Stories in Social Studies Curriculum."
• Neil recommended Laine Nooney's VICE piece, "How the Personal Computer Broke the Human Body."
• Niki shared about the New York Times feature, "'We're Going to Publish': An Oral History of the Pentagon Papers."

In this episode, Natalia, Neil, and Niki discuss the controversy over tennis champion Naomi Osaka's decision not to participate in post-match press conferences.

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

• Citing mental health concerns, tennis champion Naomi Osaka decided not to participate in post-match press conferences at the French Open. Natalia referred to this history at Forbes of how the press conference supplanted locker room interviews. Neil drew on this three-part series on the history of sports journalism.

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

• Natalia recommended Lyz Lenz' Substack, "A Grown-Ass Woman."
• Neil discussed the new FX documentary series, Pride.
• Niki talked about what the "post-pandemic" period might mean.

In this episode, Neil, Natalia, and Niki discuss the emergence of the cicadas this season.

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

• After seventeen years underground, billions of cicadas are emerging on the east coast of the United States. Niki referred to this History article about Benjamin Banneker, who first classified the cicada in the eighteenth century. Natalia recommended historian Catherine McNeur's book Taming Manhattan: Environmental Battles in the Antebellum City, and Niki referred to this Washington Post article on how cicadas have been used in political discourse.

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

• Natalia discussed Jazmine Hughes' New York Times article, "Dianne Morales Tries to Calm a Sudden Crisis in Her Campaign."
• Neil recommended historian Jill Lepore's New Yorker article, "Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?"
• Niki shared Dartunorro Clark's NBC News article, "Paul Ryan Urges GOP to Shake Trump Obsession, Focus on 'Principles,' not 'Personality'."

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia discuss the current controversy over critical race theory.

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

• A series of legislative bills seek to ban the teaching of critical race theory in K-12 public institutions. At CNN, Niki looked at how the controversy over journalist Nikole Hannah-Smith's appointment at the University of North Carolina is part of this larger battle. Natalia referred to historian Jonathan Zimmerman's book Whose America?

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

• Natalia discussed the new "Little Island" development in New York City, described in this Wall Street Journal interview with developers Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg.
• Neil recommended historian Julie Golia's book, Newspaper Confessions: A History of Advice Columns in a Pre-Internet Age.
• Niki reflected on Bob Dole and Michael Huffington blaming their election losses on immigrants in the 1990s.

In this episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss the gas panic triggered by the recent cybersecurity breach at Colonial Pipeline.

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

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

• A cybersecurity breach at Colonial Pipeline caused panic, prompting motorists to line up at service stations up and down the East Coast. Natalia, Niki, and Neil all drew on historian Meg Jacobs' work, and Natalia referred to Dan Taberski's podcast Surviving Y2K.

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

• Natalia discussed Julie Creswell's New York Times article, "Diet Companies See Gains as Americans Try to Drop Pandemic Pounds."
• Neil recommended Kathryn Hymes' Atlantic article, "Why We Speak More Weirdly At Home."
• Niki shared her CNN column, "The Drama in Stacey Abrams' Political Thriller is Unfolding Off the Page."

In this episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia discuss the recall of the latest Peloton exercise machine in historical context.

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

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

• Peloton, the digital fitness company made famous by its internet-connected stationery bike, is complying with a federal voluntary recall of its Tread+, which has killed one child and injured many other children and pets. Natalia referred to historian Richard Bushman's book The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities. Niki referenced Ralph Nader's 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed, and Natalia reported on the intense response in Peloton Facebook groups.

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

• Natalia discussed Alison Bechdel's book, The Secret to Superhuman Strength.
• Neil recommended historian Roberto Rey Agudo's Washington Post op-ed, "On Cinco de Mayo, Americans speak 'mock Spanish.' Here's why that's a problem."
• Niki shared her CNN column, "George W. Bush is a flawed messenger for Republicans."

In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss the history – and future – of office life.

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

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

• New York magazine published a sprawling collection of essays about experiences of office life. Natalia referred to this Atlantic article about the persistence of deep cleaning protocols despite evidence that the coronavirus does not spread on surfaces. Niki cited historian Jeanne Boydston's book Home and Work: Housework, Wages, and the Ideology of Labor in the Early Republic. Natalia drew on Nikil Saval's book Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace and Anne-Helen Petersen's Substack newsletter, "The Future of Remote Work is the Opposite of Lonely."

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

• Natalia discussed Katie Rosman's New York Times article, "Girl, Wash Your Timeline".
• Neil shared The Salt Lake Tribune's obituary of Mormon scholar Michael Quinn, and historian Benjamin Park's thread about his work.
• Niki recommended two Slate articles about writer Blake Bailey's alleged history of sexual assault, one by Eve Crawford Peyton, and one by his former eighth grade students.