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Inequality

Here in St. Louis and across the country, it has been difficult over the last two weeks to pay attention to anything other than the ongoing events in Ferguson, Missouri. The death of teenager Michael Brown and subsequent turmoil in Ferguson have sparked a nationwide conversation on race relations and inequality - a topic that Hold That Thought confronted throughout our series American Identities last fall. Over the next few weeks, we will be re-posting some of these episodes, as well as talking to faculty experts about their reactions to Ferguson.

In her collection Notes from No Man's Land: American Essays, author Eula Biss asserts that "nothing is innocent." Even telephone poles are marked by the country's history of slavery and colonization. Biss pairs the personal and the political in her writing, and in Notes from No Man's Land, she offers candid reflections on the role of race in her own life and in American history. Biss teaches writing at Northwestern University.

Photo: David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP Photo

Notes From No Man's Land

The death of Michael Brown and recent unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, have brought national attention to issues of racism and inequality. Many WUSTL professors have weighed in, including Clarissa Rile Hayward in a recent blog post for the Washington Post. The following podcast from November 2013 features Hayward discussing her book How Americans Make Race: Stories, Institutions, Spaces.

In Argentine tango, the steps that dancers perform - and even the shoes that they wear - tell a certain story about the correct role of men and women in the dance. In her book How Americans Make Race: Stories, Institutions, Spaces, Clarissa Rile Hayward argues that racial identities are formed in much the same way. Whether looking at the 1920s or 2013, people's behavior and attitudes toward race are often influenced by factors beyond their own experience and control. Hayward tracks this phenomenon, introduces the ideas of 'institutionalization' and 'objectification," and reveals why some stories about race are more influential than others.

How Americans Make Race

"Some commentators about Ferguson have tried to draw a sharp distinction between the rational, law-abiding community of Ferguson and the lawbreaking violent, criminal element. But it has never been so simple, either historically or today."

- Professor Iver Bernstein reflects on the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri

In July of 1863, James Pennington, a prominent African-American minister and former slave, saw his neighborhood destroyed in a violent episode now known as the New York draft riots. Professor Iver Bernstein shared Pennington's story in the podcast "Stripes and Scars," which first aired last fall. Now, in a new introduction, Bernstein considers the draft riots and other historical moments of racial conflict alongside the more recent incidents in Ferguson, Missouri. According to Bernstein, now is an appropriate moment to carefully consider the complex relationship between violence and protest, both historically and today.

Bernstein serves as director of the American Culture Studies program at Washington University in St. Louis. His upcoming book, Stripes & Scars: Race, The Revitalization of America, and The Origins of the Civil War, is under contract with Oxford University Press. 

Image via the Huffington Post

Stripes and Scars

As the St. Louis community continues to grapple with the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, Rebecca Wanzo pauses to reflect on Michael Brown and the role of victimization in American culture and politics. Wanzo serves as associate professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and as associate director of the Center for the Humanities. Her book The Suffering Will Not be Televised: African American Women and Sentimental Political Storytelling addresses questions about how and why stories of suffering are either publicized or obscured. She recently moderated the panel Race, Place, and Violence: A University Wide Discussion about Michael Brown. 

When Does Victimization Count?

The recent unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, has brought the nation's attention to racial and social inequality in the St. Louis region. As principal investigator of For the Sake of All, a multi-disciplinary project in collaboration with St. Louis University on the health and well-being of African Americans in St. Louis, Jason Purnell has researched how factors like education and access to healthy foods affect St. Louisans. Purnell describes the project, explains why differences between zip codes can be so shocking, and shares the types of policy changes that he believes could create positive change. 

For the Sake of All

Long before Hobby Lobby's stance on birth control filled the news earlier this year, beliefs about sex and religion have intertwined with American politics. R. Marie Griffith, a feminist historian of American religion and director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, takes us back to the 1920s, when a dramatic episode involving Margaret Sanger and the Catholic Church brought the morality of birth control into the public eye. As Griffith reveals, these historical debates are surprisingly relevant to today's political context. In particular, Griffith believes that Sanger's strong convictions about women's rights and sexuality are just as vitally important in 2014 as they were in the 1920s. The author of many articles and books, she is currently writing Christians, Sex, and Politics: An American History.

In Birth Control We Trust

In the mid-1960s, construction began on the Great Canadian Oil Sands project in Fort McMurray, Alberta. In part, this massive undertaking was the result of a friendship – that of J. Howard Pew, president of what is now Sunoco, and Ernest Manning, a Canadian politician. Pew and Manning’s relationship grew out of their shared evangelical faith, and as Darren Dochuk reveals, this type of religious ‘soft diplomacy’ is a fascinating, and often overlooked, facet of both politics and economics. Dochuk’s next book will chart evangelical Protestantism’s longstanding  - and politically significant - relationship with the petroleum industry. He is an associate professor at Washington University’s Danforth Center on Religion and Politics.

God, Oil, and Pipeline Politics

Throughout much of the 19th century, Mormons were in direct conflict with the US government. Less than a century later, Mormons were often viewed as ideal citizens. Laurie Maffly-Kipp, who is currently writing a book about the history and current status of Mormonism, gives us a glimpse into this unique example of the how religion and politics have intertwined throughout American history. 

The Mormon Citizen

Going back to colonial times, liberal and conservative Protestants in the US have had conflicting views over both theology and politics. Yet according to intellectual historian David Hollinger, the role of liberalized, ecumenical Protestantism in American history has too often been overshadowed by more conservative versions of the faith. How did evangelicals come to dominate the cultural capital of Christianity? Hollinger, whose most recent book is After Cloven Tongues of Fire: Protestant Liberalism in Modern American History, describes the history of Protestantism's two-party system.  

Evangelical vs. Ecumenical: The Protestant Two-Party System

In 1487, when the witch trials were just starting to take root in Europe, a Dominican priest published the Malleus Maleficarum, or The Witches' Hammer, a treatise on the prosecution of witches in a court of law. This text would be used over the next three centuries as the authority on prosecuting witches, laying out the rules for the trial, torture, and why women in particular were so susceptible to witchcraft. By the end of the witch craze in the 1720s, an estimated 80,000 had been tried and executed. In this extended episode, Gerhild Williams, a professor of comparative literature at Washington University in St. Louis, breaks down the witch trial phenomenon into three parts: (1) defining the witch and the roots of these beliefs, (2) how the political landscape evolved and the contents of The Witches Hammer, and (3) how and why the witch craze took hold and what we can learn from it today.

The Witches' Hammer: Magic and Law in early modern Europe

The results from the 2014 midterm elections are in, and Republicans stole the show. On the national scene, the GOP gained 15 seats in the House of Representatives and took control of the Senate for the first time since 2006. As predicted, conservative Christian voters played a significant role in these outcomes. Yet despite the recent focus on the political power of Evangelicals, the influence of liberal Protestantism may be more present in American culture and politics than you think. Historian David Hollinger, professor emeritus at the University of California - Berkeley, discusses what it means to be "Post-Protestant." His most recent book is After Cloven Tongues of Fire: Protestant Liberalism in Modern American History. 

Being 'Post - Protestant'

What can the history of one Broadway song reveal about American race relations? In Who Should Sing Ol' Man River?: The Lives of an American Song, now available through Amazon and Oxford University Press, musicologist Todd Decker explores how one show tune has been shaped and reshaped over time. Decker joined Hold That Thought to share how "Ol' Man River" transformed from a Broadway ballad into a dance ditty, an activist anthem, and more. 


Who Should Sing "Ol' Man River"?

Guided by a passionate belief that the arts are for everyone, music professor André de Quadros has conducted research in over 40 countries and, closer to his home base in Boston, for the past two years has been teaching classes in two Massachusetts prisons. De Quadros, who will conduct a special performance of the Washington University Choirs as part of the Distinguished Visiting Scholar Program, walks us through his experiences in prison education and shares his conviction that all humans are music-makers. 

Image © Michael Jacobson-Hardy

Way Beyond the Blue

Following the recent grand jury decision to not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the August shooting death of Michael Brown, protests and vandalism erupted in Ferguson and nearby St. Louis, Missouri. Rafia Zafar, professor of English, African and African-American Studies, and American Culture Studies, has written about protests in the civil rights movement and how, surprisingly, food and the sharing of meals played a symbolic role in that struggle. For activists such as Anne Moody, the simple act of ordering a grilled cheese sandwich was a dangerous act of protest. This Thanksgiving week, we reflect on this earlier era of protestors and the many roles of food in American culture.

Food and Protest

Should fringe groups, even offensive groups like the Ku Klux Klan, be allowed to have a voice in American politics? Since the 1950s, social scientists have recognized that very religious people are more likely to answer "no" to this type of question. In other words, religion and political intolerance often go hand-in-hand. But why is this the case? Political scientist James Gibson discusses the intersections between faith and intolerance and explains why, though these ideas can often connect, having faith does not make a person less tolerant. 

Does Religion Always Cause Political Intolerance?

Hayrettin Yücesoy, professor of Islamic and Arabic studies at Washington University in St. Louis, takes us back to the political and theological debates of 9th-century Baghdad. Scholars later claimed that in the medieval Islamic world, religion and politics fit neatly together. However, as Yücesoy explains, the historical reality was much more complicated. Religious scholars, political leaders, and even elite anarchists all had competing ideas about the relationship between Muslim faith and politics.

Anarchism and Dissent in Medieval Islam

The Winter Solstice is on December 21 and marks the shortest day of the year, which was once a very important day to many cultures. In fact, there are thousands of structures across the globe, including the impressive Stonehenge, built by our early ancestors to predict the equinoxes and solstices. So why did they make all this effort? Michael Friedlander, a professor emeritus of physics, and John Kelly, a senior lecturer in archaeology, both at Washington University in St. Louis, introduce us to the field of archaeoastronomy, which they use to examine one of the greatest pre-Columbian civilizations in the United States: Cahokia.

Digging into Archaeoastronomy

It's mid-January, that time of year when a person's zeal to start fresh in the new year might be starting to fade. But don't give up on your resolutions quite yet! Psychologist Tim Bono has some research-proven tips for how to successfully build willpower. Bono, an assistant dean in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, teaches the popular course Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness.

How to Strengthen Your Willpower

Love and desire are deeply personal, right? And when we fall in love with someone, it's because there's something unique and innate in them that matches with something unique and innate in us, right? Actually, neither of these things are as true as you think, according to Dredge Byung'chu Kang, a cultural anthropologist and a post-doctoral fellow in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. He discusses some national and global relationship trends, including data from online dating sites, that reveal how society and political economy shape what we consider intimate. He also shares one case in Thailand where love breaks the rule.

The New Anthropology of Love

Most people don't normally associate comic books and superheroes with religion. However, Roshan Abraham, a comics studies scholar and assistant professor of religious studies and classics at Washington University in St. Louis, reveals how religion is actually in the DNA of comics. He traces the many ways religion influences, shapes, and appears in comics, and how scholars in both religious and comics studies face very similar problems. 

Religion and Comic Books: A Tangled Web

How do you make a poem? Renown poet Carl Phillips finds inspiration for his work in even the every day moments of his life. In this re-release of a 2013 interview, Phillips shares his writing process, discusses his (then) latest poetry collection "Silverchest," and imparts his personal antidote to poetry. 

Poetic Elements

"Essay," as a verb, means to attempt or try, and comes from "assay" which is to examine something in order to determine its nature. And for essayist Dinty Moore, this is what nonfiction is all about. Having written several books on life and writing, he discusses the role of voice and persona in nonfiction, the slipperiness of memory, and the true vocation of the essay-writer.

Voice and Vocation in Nonfiction

Writing is hard. Sometimes when writing fiction, the narrative's momentum sputters to a stop. Charles Baxter, a fiction writer and essayist, shares six quick and dirty plot devices to increase the sense of urgency and keep a story moving forward before talking about the narratives he returns to in his own work.

On Plot: Captain Happen and Other Devices

Today, we consider the memoir. Kathleen Finneran, a writer in residence at Washington University in St. Louis, talks about her memoir "The Tender Land: A Family Love Story," which focuses on her family and how their lives were altered by the suicide of her younger brother. She considers how writing the book affected her grieving process and chronicles her family's surprising reaction to the book.
This interview was first released in the summer of 2014 as "Family Histories."

Grief and Memoir: Writing about the Tough Stuff

For some artists, shame motivates them write the next page. Others become paralyzed by it. Today, Stefan Merrill Block, the author of The Story of Forgetting, shares his earliest encounter with artistic shame. He also gives his advice on how to overcome and use shame to help the creative process.

Shame: Friend or Enemy?

What can an ancient debate about an elephant tell us about the history of medicine? To find out, step into the life and times of Galen of Pergamum. Though his name is not commonly recognized today, Galen's writings influenced medical theory and practice for centuries. Luis Salas studies Greek and Roman medicine and philosophy, in particular the works of Galen. Here, Salas shares a fascinating and revealing story about Galen, his rivals, and the heart of an elephant. 

Galen and the Elephant's Heart

In 2009, Anya Plutynski - a historian and philosopher of biology - was diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite all of her experience with scientific research, Plutynski struggled to fully understand her disease. How do scientists and doctors define cancer? Why are some screening and treatment options recommended over others? When and how do values enter the picture? In this episode, Plutynski shares her story, her opinions on ongoing debates over breast cancer screening, and ideas from her forthcoming book Explaining Cancer: Philosophical Issues in Cancer Causation, Evidence & Explanation. 

The Philosophy of Cancer

Treated for her first eating disorder at 11, Rebecca Lester, now in recovery, studies these conditions as an anthropologist and psychotherapist. She breaks down the most persistent eating disorder myths that pervade popular culture and the very system that is supposed to provide care for sufferers. She also shares her hope for the future of eating disorder treatment and advice for those who want to help.

Breaking Down Persistent Myths About Eating Disorders

Eat plenty of raw vegetables. Avoid preservatives. Breads should be whole grain. These may sounds like words of advice from your local natural foods store, but starting in the 1930s, the same messages were systematically spread throughout Germany by the Nazi party. Historian Corinna Treitel shares the story of the Nazis' obsession with natural foods, and discusses how their ideas about nutrition compare with how we think about food and health today. 

Eating Organic in Nazi Germany

It's about six weeks until the 2016 US presidential election, and everyone wants to know: Who will win? Hillary Clinton? Or Donald Trump? To attempt to answer this question, political scientists like Jacob Montgomery build complex forecasting models. Montgomery shares his own unique approach to forecasting, and describes both the limitations and the value of these efforts to predict the future.

How to Forecast an Election

What does the average American voter really think about the 2016 presidential candidates? How much do those beliefs depend on things like income, education level, or even personality? With the American Panel Survey (or TAPS), social scientists have a powerful tool to explore questions about human attitudes and behaviors over time. This year, researchers are using TAPS to learn about why voters choose certain candidates over others, and when and why they sometimes change their minds. Steven Smith, the director of TAPS, explains how the survey works and why it's such an asset for social scientists.

A Laboratory for the Social Sciences: The American Panel Survey

In a recent article in the Guardian, postdoctoral fellow Tim Shenk argues that Donald Trump's rise within the Republican Party has historical - and often overlooked - roots. From an obscure online journal to a best-selling book from 1941 and beyond, Shenk traces the hidden and surprising intellectual path of what we now call Trumpism. Understanding this history, Shenk believes, helps illuminate Trump's popularity, his reliance on Twitter, his clashes with fellow Republicans, and more.

The Hidden History of Trumpism

When you walk into a voting booth in less than a week to vote for the future president of the United States, you'll be all by yourself making a very personal decision - right? Betsy Sinclair, a political scientist at Washington University in St. Louis and author of The Social Citizen: Peer Networks and Political Behavior, believes that in reality, politics is often more social than personal. Here she discusses the place of Facebook, YouTube, and face-to-face interactions in political decision-making, and explains how social science experiments reveal the true importance of social networks in politics.

Social Citizens: How Peer Networks Influence Elections

When you hear the word "metabolism," what do you think about? Thanks to the groundbreaking work of chemist Gary Patti here at Washington University in St. Louis, instead of diet or weight loss, we think: "possible cure for cancer." Patti explains how metabolism is like Google Maps, helps us understand the emerging field of metabolomics, and shares the challenges and promise of metabolism research.

Metabolism: The Google Maps of Cancer Research

When actress Fanny Kemble took the stage in 1831 as Bianca, the pure and mistreated wife in Henry Milman's play Fazio, she astounded audiences with her true-to-life portrayal of jealousy and grief. Julia Walker, associate professor of drama and English at Washington University in St. Louis, brings the performance to life and explains why it was so extraordinary. Walker connects Kemble's acting style to historical events and anxieties, especially changing ideas about money and banking.

Performing Gold: Fanny Kemble, Modern Banking, and the Evolution of Acting

Hundreds of years ago in France, a group of men set up dramatic lighting, put on costumes, read scripts, and acted out a dramatic story. Despite all these elements of the theater, the men were not performing for an audience or acting on a stage. This group of Masons, one of many in 18th-century France, met in secret and created elaborate performances to initiate and promote their members. Pannill Camp, associate professor of drama and co-host of On TAP: A Theater and Performing Arts Podcast, explores the purpose and significance of these secret rituals and their relationship to the wider world of 18th century drama.

Performing Emotion: Freemasons and the Theater of Ritual

In her book No More Invisible Man: Race and Gender in Men’s Work, sociologist Adia Harvey Wingfield documents the pervasive and often subtle ways that successful black men – people like doctors, lawyers, and engineers – continue to face inequality in the workplace. Here she shares some of these men’s stories and discusses the causes of professional inequality. In addition to teaching sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, Wingfield is a regular contributor to The Atlantic.

Inequality at Work

Over the past three decades in the United States, the wealth gap between the richest Americans and everyone else has reached new extremes. At the same time, labor union membership has drastically decreased. In his book What Unions No Longer Do, sociologist Jake Rosenfeld argues that you can't understand one trend without the other. Rosenfeld shares ideas from his book and considers what so-called "Right to Work" legislation may mean for the future of organized labor.

Right to Work? Unions & Income Inequality

Kelly Harris, a doctoral student in education, uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify ‘hotspots’ of childhood asthma in St. Louis. Higher asthma rates are linked with lower income levels, and Harris wants to understand why. Through data, she seeks to discover solutions to health inequalities in the St. Louis region and beyond.

Mapping Asthma: The Geography of Inequality

During the civil rights era, North Carolina was home to more dues-paying Klan members than the rest of the South combined. When conducting research on this chapter of history for his acclaimed book Klansville, USA, sociologist David Cunningham encountered the work of a journalist named Pete Young, who in the 1960s attempted to understand what was happening in North Carolina. Cunningham shares some of this history and describes how Young's insights could hold lessons for today.

Making Sense of Klansville

Sociologist Caitlyn Collins frequently remembers a familiar phrase from her childhood. Collins’ mom, a successful sales director, often said with a sigh: “If we were in Europe, this would be so much easier!” So, was Collins’ mom correct? Are the lives of working mothers that much easier in Europe? Collins now investigates how public policies affect family life in both Europe and the US. She shares some of her findings on the laws and cultural attitudes that shape women's careers and lives.

Moms at Work: Policies and Perspectives in Europe and the US

Using survey data, sociologist Ariela Schachter has investigated how Americans think about race, immigration status, assimilation, and what it means to be ‘similar.’ She discusses her process and findings.

Would you be my neighbor?

This Valentine's Day, we bring you a story of frog romance and economics - with a side of math and 1960s game shows. Which mate will the frog bachelorette choose, and how does her choice relate to human decision-making? Economist Paulo Natenzon connects the dots.

Frog love and the decoy effect

Biologist Elizabeth Haswell wants to change the way that people think about plants. What do we know about how plants sense their environment, and what remains a mystery? The answers may surprise you. Haswell teaches biology at Washington University in St. Louis and is host of The Taproot podcast.

The Secret Lives of Plants

As the human race continues to flourish, where will our energy come from? Hold That Thought talks to three scientists who think that algae hold an important answer to this question, as well as an economist who helps us navigate the numbers. Listen to their thoughts in this hour-long podcast.

The Future of Energy

The apostle Peter was a leader and role model in early Christianity - or was he? According to Lance Jenott, a lecturer of classics and religious studies at Washington University in St. Louis, how we understand Peter depends on who is telling the story.

Saint Peter, According to Mark

This Fourth of July, visitors to Washington University's Olin Library will have the chance to see a rare piece of history - an early copy of the Declaration of Independence known as the Southwick Broadside. Historian David Konig and curator Cassie Brand discuss the historical significance of the broadside, the process of conserving and displaying the document, and their hopes for the exhibition.

The Southwick Broadside

Over thousands of years, by trial and error, humankind has learned how to produce superior materials for different types of processing. Physicist Ken Kelton talks about materials through the ages.

Materials through the ages

Ahead of the midterm elections, Steve Fazzari explores the current state of the economy and explains why widely cited unemployment and growth numbers don't give a full picture.

How good is the US economy, really?

Rebecca Copeland and Laura Miller, coeditors of "Diva Nation: Female Icons from Japanese Cultural History," discuss queens, goddesses, and the nature of “diva-hood.”

Diva Nation

Religious studies scholars Elaine Pagels and Laurie Maffly-Kipp discuss the Book of Revelation and how it has been interpreted across time, as well as the personal side of their writing and research.

Reading revelation

Climate scientist Bronwen Konecky travels to tropical regions around the world gathering evidence of the geologic past. Using data from rain samples and sediments deep at the bottom of lakes, she is piecing together a story about Earth's climatic history – and what it can tell us about our planet's future.

Mud cores, rain gauges, and the hunt for climate data

In literature classes, we often turn back to study "classics" that are hundreds of years old, and while the core message of these works remain intact, the once-contemporary references to politics, the snide remarks about rivals, and the nuances of a word that has since taken on another meaning can go whizzing past our heads unless we are given notes and annotations to explain. How, then, can we make these texts as funny and engaging for modern audiences as they were for the original readers? Or should we allow these texts to become literary artifacts? Mary Jo Bang, poet and professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis, explores the process she undertook in her recent translation of Dante Alighieri's Inferno, while Jessica Rosenfeld, medievalist and associate professor of English, explains why the Middle Ages are the origins of literature as we know it.
In addition to the interview, you can find a reading selection from "Inferno: A New Translation" in a second podcast

Translating Dante: A Conversation with Mary Jo Bang and Jessica Rosenfeld

Hold That Thought brings you research and ideas from Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Throughout the year we select a few topics to explore and then bring together thoughtful commentary on those topics from a variety of experts and sources. Be sure to subscribe!

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