The International Brotherhood of Mothers
The following audio clip is excerpted from the BackStory episode “The Good Mother: A History of American Motherhood.” You can listen to the entire episode here. The Memory Palace’s Nate DiMeo weaves the tale of Anna Jarvis–founder of Mother’s Day–and her mother…Anna Jarvis, and how the holiday’s social justice origins turned commercial. [Audio clip: view [...]
Founding Mothers
The following audio clip is excerpted from the BackStory episode “The Good Mother: A History of American Motherhood.” You can listen to the entire episode here. Historian Linda Kerber sets out to uncover the role of women in the founding period and finds “republican motherhood,” followed by a discussion of how the concept of motherhood [...]
Mother Knows Best
The following audio clip is excerpted from the BackStory episode “The Good Mother: A History of American Motherhood.” You can listen to the entire episode here. Ann Hulbert, an expert on parenting experts, explains why mothers in the 1920s were instructed not to smother their children with love. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] [...]
The Good Mother: A History of American Motherhood
For most of American history, women were charged with raising productive citizens, but not given full citizen status, themselves. Our Mother’s Day episode explores this enduring paradox.
"Worst Mother in American History" Challenge
Our special Mother’s Day show will explore what is has meant to be a “good mother” in American history–and there are a fair number of figures to choose from (though perhaps less than you would think): 1950s TV moms, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and now, Michelle Obama… But we here at BackStory are stumped when it [...]
(The Invention of) Traditional Family Values
California’s recent passage of a gay marriage ban suggests that many Americans subscribe to the idea of the “traditional” family — caregiver mom, breadwinner dad, and 2.5 children. But whose tradition is it, really? In this hour, the Guys hear dueling viewpoints — first from Focus on the Family, and then from a Columbia University [...]
