Utilizing a breadth of archival sources from activists, artists, and policymakers, Charlie Jeffries' Teenage Dreams: Girlhood Sexualities in the U.S. Culture Wars (Rutgers UP, 2022) examines the race- and class-inflected battles over adolescent women’s sexual and reproductive lives in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century United States. Charlie Jeffries finds that most adults in this period hesitated to advocate for adolescent sexual and reproductive rights, revealing a new culture war altogether--one between adults of various political stripes in the cultural mainstream who prioritized the desire to delay girlhood sexual experience at all costs, and adults who remained culturally underground in their support for teenagers’ access to frank sexual information, and who would dare to advocate for this in public. The book tells the story of how the latter group of adults fought alongside teenagers themselves, who constituted a large and increasingly visible part of this activism. The history of the debates over teenage sexual behavior reveals unexpected alliances in American political battles, and sheds new light on the resurgence of the right in the US in recent years.
Rebekah Buchanan is a Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University. Her research focuses on feminism, activism, and literacy practices in youth culture, specifically through zines and music.
Introducing a new miniseries: Book Exploder, where authors break down a passage from one of their books, and discuss the creative process that went into writing it. Every other week, in between episodes of Song Exploder, you’ll hear from a new author, in conversation with host Susan Orlean. But for this first episode of the series, Susan is interviewed by Hrishikesh Hirway about her own book, The Library Book.
Susan Orlean is the author of twelve books, including The Orchid Thief (which inspired the Oscar-award winning film Adaptation), a staff writer at The New Yorker . Published in 2018, The Library Book became a New York Times Best Seller and named a Washington Post Top 10 Book of the Year. The book tells the story of the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Central Library. In this inaugural episode, Susan discusses a passage from her book, which details the blaze itself.
With interest rates and prices rising and GDP declining, many Americans want to know: Are we are in a recession, and should we be worried? Andy calls on expert economist Justin Wolfers to explain why the economy may not be as bad as it feels, what the Fed is doing to pump the brakes, and when we might see price increases come under control. Then Justin unpacks the economic elements in the Inflation Reduction Act and predicts whether it will live up to its name and help lower prices.
Find vaccines, masks, testing, treatments, and other resources in your community: https://www.covid.gov/
Order Andy’s book, “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response”: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165
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We'll tell you about the highest-ranking American official to visit Taiwan in 25 years and why China is retaliating.
Also, a major milestone for veterans' healthcare and a new sign the U.S. jobs market might be cooling.
Plus, where you could see a solar storm, why it may be a good time to book a flight, and who's getting bigger raises: people who stay with the same company or switch jobs?
Abortion access in Kansas will be preserved because yesterday the state overwhelmingly voted against a referendum designed to open the door to abortion bans. Meanwhile, the Justice Department sued Idaho on Tuesday over that state’s abortion law — the first lawsuit filed against a state’s anti-abortion law by the Biden administration since the Supreme Court overturned Roe.
California declared a state of emergency on Monday to combat the outbreak of monkeypox. New York and Illinois have done the same, along with the cities of New York and San Francisco.
And in headlines: the Senate passed the PACT Act, the defamation trial against InfoWars host Alex Jones continues, and the U.S. imposed more sanctions on Russian individuals and companies.
Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee
Much has been made of grabbing the coveted youth vote. America's future lies in her young people, so theoretically, whoever influences the young now will be in a much better position to steer the country.
But politicians often seem to look at young Americans as some sort of alien species. What do they like? What matters to them? How do I get them on my side?
Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, now president of Young America's Foundation, argues that young folks aren't that much different than your average voter and mostly have the same concerns.
"Young Americans still have to put gas in their car, their moped, or whatever they're driving these days," says Walker, emphasizing that the economic pain hitting older Americans also affects young Americans.
"If anything, I think [young Americans are] more libertarian than they are liberal, in the sense that at their core, they just want to live their own lives," he says.
When asked whether he thinks Republicans and conservatives can court young Americans who feel betrayed by the Democrats and President Joe Biden, Walker responds:
I think there are others who are less about hardcore right- or left-wing ideological viewpoints being upset and more just being upset in general. I do think there's a tremendous opportunity. But it can't just be that we're against Joe Biden.
Instead, Walker says, conservatives should make the argument for "a better way forward."
The former Wisconsin governor joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" today to discuss what young Americans are looking for in their leaders and how conservatives can best continue to court younger Americans.
We also cover these stories:
The U.S. announces that an American drone strike Saturday eliminated al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Kabul, Afghanistan.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives in Taiwan under heavy rhetorical fire from China.
President Joe Biden names FEMA regional administrator Robert Fenton as the government's lead on monkeypox.
A group of major news outlets sue the Texas Department of Public Safety over public records relating to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
