On todays episode of the Modern Notion Daily podcast, were talking with Ardis Cameron, author of Unbuttoning America: A Biography of Peyton Place (Cornell University Press, May 2015). Cameron knew the book as a symbol of illicit love affairs and drama, but didnt actually read the novel until she was in her fifties. When she did, she realized it was a window into New England small town life and a precursor to revolutions in womens rights and attitudes toward sexuality that came in the 1960s and 70s. It also says a lot that 1 in 29 Americans bought the book when it came out in 1956. Later in the hour, Emma Bryce tells us about the bikinis atomic origins.

Music this hour:

Cheek to Cheek by Irving Berlin, performed live by Dorothy Collins

TweedleDee performed live by Dorothy Collins

Peyton Place by Squeeze

“Soldiertype (militarised)” by Ketsa, from the album What’s Without’s Within

“Forgiven Not Forgotten” by Jahzzar, from the album Kuddelmuddel