The real Mitford Sisters - Decca 8

✍️🔥The Queen of Muckrakers & Life in the USA 🎤✊

This is the grand finale of Decca’s journey from aristocratic life in Oxfordshire to the front lines of American activism! Listen how Jessica Mitford evolved into one of America’s finest investigative journalists. We dive into her scathing exposé of the funeral industry, The American Way of Death, and her unexpected brushes with the Kennedy family. From leading silent campus protests in her fifties to her little known musical adventures, Decca always pointed her finger at any injustice—until the very end.

We wrap up with her influential legacy, including a poignant look at how she remembered the sisters she left behind.📚👭

Chapters:

0:00:00 Intro & Recap (Decca’s muckraking in the USA)

0:02:27 Decca’s journalism, The American Way of Death, & JFK

0:09:56 Decca’s investigative journalism on industry practices

0:17:05 Decca’s university years - raising protest again ;-)

0:20:55 The life of an activist mother & her children

0:23:11 Childcare arrangements & the household

0:33:54 Decca’s surprising musical talents & “Troublemaker”

0:37:52 Muv visiting Decca in Oakland & the HUAC’s subpoena

0:42:55 Decca’s relationship to Muv and Aranka

0:44:42 Decca’s death,her legacy, and her children

0:49:33 Decca remembering Tom, Unity, and Diana

0:56:20 Wrap & Outlook (There’s a duchess coming your way!)

For everyone who wants to dive deeper into Jessica Mitford's life, we recommend the following books:

• “Hons and Rebels” by Jessica Mitford (her first memoir)
• “A Fine Old Conflict” by Jessica Mitford (her second memoir)
• "Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford" by Carla Kaplan
• Christpher Hitchen’s interview with Decca (1988)

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Tags: #JessicaMitford #TheAmericanWayOfDeath #InvestigativeJournalism #Muckraking #TheMitfords #CivilRightsHistory #Kennedys #DeccaMitford

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