Holger Droessler on Coconut Colonialism, Labor, and Globalization in Samoa
This month's episode centers Samoa, including the Pacific islands comprising the present-day independent country of Samoa and American Samoa, examining capitalism, globalization, and coconut coloniali...
27 Maj 202246min
Keith Wailoo on Racial Marketing and the Rise of Menthol Cigarettes
In 2020, George Floyd was killed by police outside a store in Minneapolis known as "the best place to buy menthols." Of Black Americans who smoke, eighty-percent smoke menthol cigarettes. In this epis...
5 Apr 202247min
Jason Resnikoff on the Automation Discourse and the Meaning of Work
This month's episode takes a deep dive into the history of work and automation in the post-World War II era. It traces the discourse around automation from its origins in the factory to its wide-rangi...
7 Mars 202245min
Gregg Mitman on Firestone's Rubber Empire in Liberia
This month's episode focuses on a popular commodity, namely rubber. Despite consuming a large share of the world's rubber supply, the United States has long relied on the global market to meet America...
4 Feb 202248min
Destin Jenkins on Municipal Debt and Bondholder Power
Indebtedness, like inequality, has become a ubiquitous condition in and beyond the United States. Yet few have probed American cities' dependence on municipal debt. Focusing on San Francisco, this mon...
4 Jan 202257min
Elizabeth Tandy Shermer on Student Loans and Higher Education
It is no secret that the United States is facing a crisis with regards to higher education. In this month's episode, historian Elizabeth Tandy Shermer explains the long history that gave rise to the c...
4 Okt 202147min
Justene Hill Edwards on the Slaves Economy and the Limits of Black Capitalism
Building on and complicating recent scholarship on slavery and capitalism, Justene Hill Edwards takes listeners on a journey through the slaves' economy. From bustling urban marketplaces to back-count...
4 Aug 202134min
Joshua Greenberg on the Rage for Paper Money and Monetary Knowledge in Early America
For many Americans, the question--What is a dollar worth?--may sound bizarre, if not redundant. Fluctuating international exchange rates, highly volatile crypto-currencies, counterfeit money, these ar...
6 Juli 202151min
