Past Present

On this week's Past Present bonus episode, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss life coaches.  Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: Life coaching is big business these days , but there's still some confusion about what life coaches actually do. Natalia drew from the sociologist Arlie Hochschild's work on the outsourcing of intimate labor...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss the war on Christmas, food politics, and political spouses. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: The "war on Christmas" has become a regular part of the holiday season. The conservative website Newsmax has catalogued the big offenders of 2015 . Neil argued the "war...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss the sharing economy, affirmative action, and whether Donald Trump is a fascist. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: Harvard Business School researchers have issued a report about the pattern of racial discrimination in AirBnB . Other scholars and writers have raised additional concerns with the "...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's philanthropic gift, the history of baby names, and "prayer shaming." Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan announced they would donate 99 percent of their Facebook shares to charity , totaling so...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss the history of refugees, the legacy of Woodrow Wilson, and Instamoms.  Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: President Obama tied the Syrian refugee crisis to the story of the Pilgrims in a recent radio address to move Americans to support their entry to the US. The...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss Thanksgiving food, the controversial history of football, and Black Friday. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: At the first Thanksgiving meal in 1621, the colonists and Native Americans probably didn't eat turkey , but food has always been important to the holiday...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss the campus protests at Mizzou and Yale, Tinder and online dating, and the politics of immigration.  Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: Protests at the University of Missouri , Yale , and other schools have erupted over issues regarding racism on college campuses t...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss Jeb Bush and the history of frontrunners, the modern period, and trigger warnings.  Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: Jeb Bush was the presumed frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president in 2016, but he's quickly lost the top spot in the campaign . F...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss Benghazi and the history of Congressional hearings, Ben Carson and black Republicans, and the state of reality TV today. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: Hillary Clinton's testimony before the Congressional committee on Benghazi is just the latest event in a Con...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss Bernie Sanders and the history of socialism in America, Fitbit, and why adults are now celebrating Halloween.  Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show:   Bernie Sanders' bid for the Democratic Party's nomination has raised the old question, "Why is there no socialism in...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss Playboy magazine's decision to stop publishing nude photos, the strength and stability of the nation's political parties, and the whitening of American cities.  Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: Many commentators attributed Playboy's decision to stop publishing n...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss Confederate history and memorialization, selfie shaming, and Carly Fiorina and conservative feminism.  Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: Students at Yale have petitioned the university to rename the residential college named for John C. Calhoun, the South Carolin...

On this week's Past Present bonus episode, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss the history of gun policy and debates over the Second Amendment. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: The mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon that left ten people dead has once again put the contentious issue of gun rights in the national conve...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss Pope Francis' visit to the US, the "quit lit" phenomenon, and Donald Trump. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: The papal visit of Pope Francis marks the tenth time a pope has come to the United States . In his new book, We Gather Together , Neil writes about how P...

Episode 2, September 21, 2015 Show Notes On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss the Planned Parenthood video controversy, the IPO of SoulCycle, and the rise of corporate support for gay rights. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: The release of undercover videos showing a Planned Parenthood official dis...

On this week's Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss the jailing of Kim Davis and the history of civil disobedience, the new online marketplace called TeachersPayTeachers, and the controversy over Taylor Swift's new video for "Wildest Dreams." Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show: The jailing of Kim Davis had her conse...