Theresa May, Goop, and Father’s Day

On this week’s Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil J. Young debate the British election results, Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand Goop, and Father’s Day.

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

• The recent snap election in Britain resulted in a “hung parliament” and weakened support for Teresa May as Prime Minister. We discussed the results in the context of other recent elections in Europe and the U.S., including Britain’s vote on Brexit, a topic in Episode 40.
• Gwyneth Paltrow may leave acting to devote all her time to Goop, her lifestyle brand and website. Natalia placed Paltrow in a tradition of other lifestyle gurus, including Jane Fonda and Martha Stewart, but distinguished her from Oprah’s promotion of Dr. Oz, a subject of Episode 52. Natalia also noted that a New York Post profile of a recent Goop summit found many disgruntled attendees.
• Happy Father’s Day! We discussed why the holiday took so much longer than Mother’s Day to get official status and how fatherhood has changed through the years.

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

• Natalia commented on Donald Trump’s tweet that the Russia investigation is a “witch hunt.”
• Neil discussed the Southern Baptist Convention’s passage of a resolution denouncing the alt-right.
• Niki talked about Fox News dropping its “Fair and Balanced” slogan.

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