Acts Of Pod

Shirley Chisholm led a no-nonsense campaign for the House and later for president with the slogan "Unbought and Unbossed." She fought both racial and gender based discrimination to represent her district with a platform that is very similar to progressive candidates of today. Her courage forged a path for candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other women now seeking office to fight for their communities’ shared values. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Socrates to Weight Loss Tea there has hardly been a time when we have been free from diet culture. On this very special episode, our guest host and I act as your two weird Aunties critiquing a long storied history of strange diets, and how we've come to a peace about our own bodies and hope you celebrate yours as well.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we bring you updates on some of the news we’ve covered in previous pods! Enjoy the literal sounds of summer because Anne recorded outside as we update everything from the Pruitt scandals to child separation at the border. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we do a brief history of the Pride Parade and an overview of the gay rights movement in America. We look at the tactics that made this civil rights movement such a success and honor those whose courage made it possible. Happy PRIDE! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re huddled together yearning to be free. In the middle of a heated debate over immigration, we re-examine the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. It's the first federal act that limited immigration, certainly by race, but sadly not the last. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we give a basic introduction to wealth and income inequality. We take a look at the peaks of inequality in our own history dating back to the market crash of 1929, and analyze how the disparity of wealth has been used as a tool of oppression since, well, time immemorial. It’s hilarious! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we do a deep dive into the history of the plastic bag. “It’s funnier than you think,” says only one person. For a product with a fairly short life span, it’s managed to create quite a bit of damage. If you can forgive a bit of an echo, we are not in fact haunted, and we’d love to walk you through the rise and fall of the plastic bag. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode we take a look back at the Clinton scandal of the 90s as viewed through a more contemporary lens. We compare the attitudes towards the Clinton investigations as opposed to current investigations and catch up with some of the 90s moral crusaders in the present! Spoiler alert - moral indignation does not age well.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Riding the second wave of a red scare, Senator Joseph McCarthy conducted a series of trials meant to out secret communists in the State Department and all sectors of public and private life. Can his rise and fall shed any light on a current administration seduced by conspiracy theories, loyalty pledges and a strict interpretation of what an American is and what it is that makes America great? Spoiler Alert – It can. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do you do when you’re trying to save a child from horrific abuse but there are no services in place? Call the ASPCA! This is the true story of one tough little girl and the community of people who fought to save her. They set a precedent that would go on to help countless other children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We delve into the history of the student loan. In only twenty years an entire financial machine has cropped up to enrich every participating member of the system...except, of course, the student. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In light of the Scott Pruitt scandals out of the EPA, we thought it would be instructive to revisit the establishment of the agency, its original purpose and intent, and see how and/or if those goals are being maintained by Pruitt and his coterie of body guards and silent phone booths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does your drug dealer have a wing at the MET or exhibits at the Tate Modern? Today we cover the history of the modern opioid epidemic and the billionaire family right at the center of it, the Sackler Family of Purdue pharmaceutical. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the breakout news of the role of Cambridge Analytica in the elections and Russian interference, we take a look at the history of disinformation campaigns as a branch of psychological warfare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our current administration touts deregulation as a pro-growth strategy. There was time when these regulations were in fact hard fought victories for employees with little protections. We examine the tragedy known as the "The day the New Deal was born" the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices