You Belong to Me
It isn’t Taylor Swift who is queer: it’s us
It is the queerness of fandom, not the artist, that helps us understand Taylor Swift better. ...
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It’s Good Work—If You Can Get It
A conversation with Alexandrea Ravenelle about Side Hustle Safety Net: How Vulnerable Workers Survive Precarious Times
As the world of work sagged and collapsed, University of North Carolina sociologist and W-2 worker Alexandrea Ravenelle decided to document this economic shock in real time....
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Sex, Death, and the Eyes of a Nation
A conversation with historian Bruce Dorsey about Murder in a Mill Town: Sex, Faith, and the Crime That Captivated a Nation
I asked Bruce Dorsey, author of Murder in a Mill Town, to come talk to me about America’s first, great sensational trial....
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Why Abortion Alone Does Not Make Women Free
A conversation with Felicia Kornbluh on Roe v. Wade
A conversation with Felicia Kornbluh on Roe v. Wade. Let’s recap how abortion, after almost 50 years, once again became a matter of state law. ...
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Where In the World Is Merze Tate?
A conversation with historian Barbara Savage about freedom, independence, and her new biography, Merze Tate: The Global Odyssey of a Black Woman Scholar
In this episode of "Why Now?," Claire Potter and Barbara D. Savage discuss the life of trailblazing Black academic Vernie Merze Tate....
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Why the Blind Should Lead the Blind
A conversation with Andrew Leland about the history and politics of disability and his book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight
Visually disabled people increasingly turn to institutions and support networks that are created, designed, and implemented by other blind people....
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Heather Cox Richardson Believes in You
A conversation about Richardson’s book Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, Substack, and the importance of popular history
A Why Now? episode on Heather Cox Richardson's book Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America...
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Oswald’s Mother
Episode 40: A conversation with journalist Deanne Stillman about her new book, American Confidential: Uncovering the Bizarre Story of Lee Harvey Oswald and His Mother
In Episode 40 of Why Now?, Claire Potter chats with journalist Deanne Stillman about her new book, American Confidential: Uncovering the Bizarre Story of Lee Harvey Oswald and His Mother....
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Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Vote
Episode 39: A conversation with historian Jennifer Frost
A conversation with historian Jennifer Frost about her book Let Us Vote! Youth Voting Rights and the 26th Amendment...
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The Adventures of a Very Amateur Historian
In episode 38, Claire Potter chats with Allison Epstein about her new novel on Imperial Russia, Let the Dead Bury the Dead
Allison Epstein’s new historical novel, Let the Dead Bury the Dead, is a story about Russians fighting for freedom. It’s a ripping tale about an officer coming home from the Napoleonic Wars to the man he loves....
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You Can’t Slut-Shame Lauren Boebert
Being a slutty Gun Chick is her brand
Americans would literally rather talk about hoodies, hand jobs, and whether we are all slut-shaming Lauren Boebert than policy....
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Black Resistance, Black Joy
In Episode 37, conversation with political theorist Christopher Paul Harris about his new book, To Build a Black Future: The Radical Politics of Joy, Pain, and Care
To Build a Black Future: The Radical Politics of Joy, Pain, and Care (Princeton University Press, 2023) draws on Christopher PaulHarris’s own experiences as an activist and organizer to analyze contemporary Black struggle and places that struggle in the long history of Black oppression, resistance, community making and joy....
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