S2E7 - Do-It-Yourself Theory and the Crafting Comeback

From craft brewing to knitting, when did acting like we’re home on the range get so cool? And why is it so satisfying to can your own jar of jam, hand-build a table, or make a quilt? This week we take on the history, culture, and politics of hipster crafting and DIY. With the help of our trusty friend Marx and a theory of "new domesticity," we dig into what modern-day maker throwbacks can tell us about our work lives and gender identities. Sociologist and beer whisperer Dr. Allison McKim helps us unpack the homebrewing explosion and its gender-troubled history, PLUS we get into Maria's love of Renaissance Faires, Noorain's once-but-no-more work alienation, and high-concept housekeeping. Pour yourself a beer (or a cold brewed coffee if you're Noorain) and come talk crafting! If you can make it, we will talk about it!

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

Karl Marx, “Estranged Labour,” in Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm (Marx's theory of alienation explained in everyday language here and here) 

Rachel Lee Rubin, Well Met:  Renaissance Faires and the American Counterculture (NYU Press, 2012) http://www.amazon.com/Well-Met-Renaissance-American-Counterculture/dp/1479859729

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN.html (on division of labor and the rise of capitalism) 

Articles

Krystal Baugher, “Women and Beer: A 4,500-Year History Is Coming Full Circle,” The Atlantic. November 11, 2013. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/women-and-beer-a-4-500-year-history-is-coming-full-circle/281338/ 

Emily Matchar, “The New Domesticity: Fun, Empowering or a Step Back for American Women?” The Washington Post. November 25, 2011. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-new-domesticity-fun-empowering-or-a-step-back-for-american-women/2011/11/18/gIQAqkg1vN_story.html

Bonnie Rochman, “Handmade in America: Crafting's Comeback,” Parade. October 19, 2013. http://communitytable.parade.com/214945/bonnierochman/handmade-in-america-craftings-comeback/ 

Context

“2012 State of the Craft Industry” Craft & Hobby Association Presentation. 2012. https://www.craftandhobby.org/eweb/docs/2012.State.of.Craft.Industy_Key.Insights.pdf

“Indie Craft Inspiration.” Craft & Hobby Association’s Portfolio Magazine. Winter 2009. https://www.craftandhobby.org/EWEB/docs/cha/Portfolio-Pdfs/2009%20Winter%20Portfolio.pdf

Shannon Hayes,  Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture. Left to Write Press. February 1, 2010. 
http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Homemakers-Reclaiming-Domesticity-Consumer/dp/0979439116/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51%2BGpPUHCPL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR107%2C160_&refRID=0FHRX0XDDE8PZFHJHF18

Bonus

Beer whisperer Allison McKim is also an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bard College; more on her here. 

Music this week from Billy Currington, Jewel, Lila Downs, The Cardigans, and Erykah Badu! 

S2E6 - Season 2 Gab: Bold Transformations & Cozy Routines

Here in our mid-season grab-bag of chilled out convo, we take a break from theory to gab: we reflect on some of the amazing experiences we had as teenagers that made us into the people we are today. From socially conscious scouting to international underwear adventures, we take it back to '90s and let you in on some dorky-but-excellent truths about our formative years. PLUS we each describe our perfect Saturday and get enthusiastic about go-to takeout and gas station jalapeño poppers. Don't judge!! Come relax your brain with us (you need troughs to have peaks!) as we gear up for the last few episodes of Season 2.

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Formative Experiences (Transformations)

OK, we didn't talk about this explicitly, but doesn't Noorain's amazing rad Girl Scout program sound like the Pawnee Goddesses from S4 E4 of Parks and Rec, in the best way possible?! We played a little audio from that in our episode - Feministing agrees that they are the best! http://feministing.com/2011/10/21/parks-and-recreation-thank-you-for-the-pawnee-goddesses/ (Noorain dreams of being the Leslie Knope of West Michigan IRL!)

Maria's life-changing semester in Norway went down at Bergen Katedralskole (est. 1153 because Europe) in the city of Bergen. Thinking about a trip to Scandinavia? You should totally go to Bergen, it's the jam: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/norway/bergen-and-the-western-fjords/bergen

Lazy Saturday (Routines)

Lichee Nut, your new go-to Chinese takeout/delivery in Brooklyn. Pairs perfectly with 8 hours of TV binging. http://licheenut.com/

The (possible?) origins of mozzarella sticks, even though we've never met anyone who actually makes them at home. Frying cheese does not a mozzarella stick make, Thrillist. But also pics and (possible) backstories for other great deep fried icons of lazy Saturdays across our great nation: https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/where-fried-foods-came-from-corn-dogs-mozzarella-sticks-fried-candy-bars

Music this week by Madonna, Marc Anthony (salsa version), Arcade Fire, the Kinks, and just a tad of Queen Bey.

S2E2 - Food for Thought

If you are what you eat...what does that make us as Americans today? In this MEGA-EP we're talking about food: how it gets produced, its impact on people, animals, and the environment, and how to make better decisions in the grocery store. We are super excited to feature an in-depth interview with food activist and all-around legend Kate Galassi. Then Maria and Noorain break open the world of assembly-line chickens, ask some questions about food deserts, and do their best to avoid slave shrimp. Hold on to your jicamas everyone, it's time to chow down on another episode of In Theory!

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

On Fordism: Steven Tolliday & Jonathan Zeitlin, The Automobile Industry and its Workers: Between Fordism and Flexibility (New York: St.Martin's Press, 1987) http://www.amazon.com/Irresistible-Empire-Americas-Advance-Twentieth-Century/dp/0674022343

Context

Lisa Ling takes us inside a slaughterhouse: http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Inside-a-Slaughterhouse-Video
The US Department of Agriculture’s official definition of food deserts: http://americannutritionassociation.org/newsletter/usda-defines-food-deserts     

Articles

Roberto A. Ferdman, “The key difference between what poor people and everyone else eat.” The Washington Post. September 17, 2015.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/09/17/the-depressing-difference-in-what-poor-people-and-everyone-else-eats/?tid=a_inl

Becky Krystal, “How to find shrimp that’s not produced by slave labor in Thailand.” The Washington Post. December 16, 2015.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2015/12/16/how-to-find-shrimp-thats-not-produced-by-slave-labor-in-thailand

Margie Mason, Robin McDowell, Martha Mendoza, and Esther Htusan,“ Global supermarkets selling shrimp peeled by slaves.” The Associated Press. December 14, 2015. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8f64fb25931242a985bc30e3f5a9a0b2/ap-global-supermarkets-selling-shrimp-peeled-slaves  

Margot Sanger-Katz, “Giving the Poor Easy Access to Healthy Food Doesn’t Mean They’ll Buy It.” The New York Times. May 8, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/09/upshot/giving-the-poor-easy-access-to-healthy-food-doesnt-mean-theyll-buy-it.html

Bonus

BIO! The wonderful Kate Galassi started her career in food working on an organic produce farm in southern New Hampshire. She’s worked for a dozen small farms and food manufacturers, most of them involved with the New York City Greenmarket. She first trained as a produce buyer at The Spotted Pig and The Breslin. In 2013 she co-founded Quinciple, a home delivery service for curated farmers’ market boxes. She is now the New York Project Head for Natoora, a London based fruit and veg supplier committed to upending the traditional distribution model by working directly with farms of all sizes.

Check out artist Mishka Henner’s amazing/insane/gorgeous/horrifying aerial photos of the toxic runoff from American feedlots:
http://www.businessinsider.com/mishka-henners-photos-of-american-feedlots-2014-8

Music this week from Judy Collins, the Presidents of the United States of America, Weird Al, and our girl Mariah. Special thanks to Beth Pearson for being a brain trust on this week's ep!

Episode 6: Paleoworld

What is it about our paleolithic ancestors that makes us (and celebs from Miley Cyrus to Matthew McConaughey) want to adopt their hunter-gatherer ways? This week, we take on the Paleo Diet and explore the notion that getting back to our Stone Age roots can help us lead healthier, happier lives. That gets us deep into evolutionary theory, from Darwin’s concept of survival of the fittest to the science in Jurassic Park to our personal gut bacteria...and even a bogus explanation of why ladies love pink. Sharpen your sticks, friends: we’re going to hunt down some answers.

Links to Stuff We Talk About

Theory

Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species. 1859. 

M. Zuk, Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us about Sex, Diet,
and How We Live. New York:  W.W. Norton & Company, 2013.
 

Context

Michael Moss. Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2014.  (quickie NYTimes Magazine version here)

Articles

Jef Akst, "Gut bacteria are what we eat." The Scientist. April 7, 2010. 

Ferris Jabr, "How to Really Eat Like a Hunter-Gatherer: Why the Paleo Diet Is Half-Baked." Scientific American. June 3, 2013. 

Tim Spector, "The Paleo diet is absurd, science says." Fortune.com. June 25, 2015. 

Bonus

To read up on the original, trademarked Paleo Diet, visit Loren Cordain's website here.

Back in the day corn used to look different, check out just how different here. 

On this episode, we shared some facepalm-worthy examples of evolutionary psychology absurdities, check them (and some others) out here, here and here. (But don't get too down, this will make you feel better about evolutionary psychology!) 

This episode, our tunes are provided by Cher Lloyd (luv her), the original Jurassic Park movie, and our fav prehistoric fam,The Flintstones. YABADABADOO!