1946 Oakland General Strike

This 2017 episode covers Lucille Ball, the grande dame of American comedy. The famed star worked in modeling, radio and film, but she really made her mark in television, and her work set the standard for the TV sitcom.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

5 Apr 28min

Tracy and Holly talk about Dorothy Arzner's reluctance to talk about her past projects. Holly questions some of the statistics about strawberry consumption. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

4 Apr 17min

The story of how strawberries went from small forage item to one of the world’s most popular fruits – though they're technically not a true fruit – involves lots of crossbreeding experimentation, as you might expect, but also a bit of spy craft. Research: “A Transatlantic Tango: The Story of the Strawberry. Royal Horticultural Society. https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/features/history-of-the-strawberry#:~:text=It%20is%20hard%20to%20believe,back%20on%20fortifications%20near%20Concepci%C3%B3n. Allen, Mike. “The 18th-Century Spy Who Gave Us Big Strawberries.” Atlas Obscura. Nov. 16, 2017. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/big-strawberries-spy-chile-france Barnes, Monica. “Frezier, Amédée François (1682-1773).” American Museum of Natural History. January 2008. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280567727_Frezier_Amedee_Francois_1682-1773 Darrow, George M. “The Strawberry: History, Breeding and Physiology.” New York. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1966. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/strawberryhistor00darr/mode/1up The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "strawberry". Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Jun. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/plant/strawberry Folta, K.M., Barbey, C.R. “The strawberry genome: a complicated past and promising future.” Hortic Res 6, 97 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41438-019-0181-z Grubinger, Vern. “History of the Strawberry.” University of Vermont. June 2012. https://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/strawberryhistory.html Hancock, J.F. “Strawberries.” Oxford University Press. 2000. Petruzzello, Melissa. "list of plants in the family Rosaceae". Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Mar. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-plants-in-the-family-Rosaceae-2001612 Sevilla, Elisa, and Ana Sevilla. “STRAWBERRY.” New World Objects of Knowledge: A Cabinet of Curiosities, edited by Mark Thurner and Juan Pimentel, University of London Press, 2021, pp. 207–12. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1vbd275.34 “Strawberry Facts.” University of Florida Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. https://gcrec.ifas.ufl.edu/fruit-crops/strawberries/strawberry-facts/ Sytsma, Kenneth J.. "Rosaceae". Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/plant/Rosaceae See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2 Apr 37min

Dorothy Arzner wasn’t the first female film director in the U.S., but she was really the only one working in the studio system during most of the period that’s known as the Hollywood Golden Age. Her short career was still incredibly prolific. Research: "Dorothy Arzner." Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, Gale, 2022. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631009688/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=19d5d3af. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025. Bryant, Sara. “Dorothy Arzner’s Talkies: Gender, Technologies of Voice, and the Modernist Sensorium.” Modern Fiction Studies , Summer 2013, Vol. 59, No. 2, Women's Fiction, New Modernist Studies, and Feminism (Summer 2013) Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26287651 Casella, Donna R. “What Women Want: The Complex World of Dorothy Arzner and Her Cinematic Women.” Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media , SPRING & FALL 2009, Vol. 50, No. 1/2 (SPRING & FALL 2009). https://www.jstor.org/stable/41552560 Chuba, Kirsten. “Francis Coppola Helps Paramount Dedicate Building to Pioneer Director Dorothy Arzner.” Variety. https://variety.com/2018/film/news/dorothy-arzner-paramount-building-francis-coppola-1202715056/ D’Alessandro, Anthony. “Francis Ford Coppola & Paramount Dedicate Studio Building To Trailblazing Female Filmmaker Dorothy Arzner.” Deadline. 3/1/2018. https://deadline.com/2018/03/francis-ford-coppola-paramount-dorothy-arzner-jim-gianopulos-1202307320/ Field, Allyson Nadia. “Dorothy Arzner.” Women Film Pioneers Project. https://wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-dorothy-arzner/ Geller, Theresa L. “Arzner, Dorothy.” Senses of Cinema. 5/2003. https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/arzner/ Kuperberg, Julia & Clara. “Dorothy Arzner, Pioneer, Queer, Feminist.” Wichita Films. 2022. Lane, Christina. "Directed by Dorothy Arzner." Velvet Light Trap, fall 1996, pp. 68+. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A90190315/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=04146780. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025. Levy, Carly. “Dorothy Arzner: The Only Female Director of the Golden Age.” Video Librarian. 4/21/2023. https://videolibrarian.com/articles/essays/dorothy-arzner-a-golden-age-era-female-director/ Lewis, Maria. “Dorothy Arzner: mother of invention.” ACMI. https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/dorothy-arzner-mother-invention/ Lugowski, David M. “Queering the (New) Deal: Lesbian and Gay Representation and the Depression-Era Cultural Politics of Hollywood's Production Code.” Cinema Journal , Winter, 1999, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Winter, 1999). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1225622 Madsen, Axel. “The Sewing Circle : Hollywood's greatest secret : female stars who loved other women.” London : Robson. 1996. Mayer, So. “Dorothy Arzner: Queen of Hollywood.” BFI. 3/7/2015. https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/dorothy-arzner-queen-hollywood Norden, Martin F. “Exploring the work of Dorothy Arzner as a film-making teacher in southern California.” Film Education Journal. 2022. https://doi.org/10.14324/FEJ.05.2.01 Norden, Martin F., editor. “Dorothy Arzner: Interviews.” University Press of Mississippi. 2024. Tangcay, Jazz. “Women Were Better Represented in Hollywood During the Silent Film Era, AFI Study Reports (EXCLUSIVE).” 1/6/2023. https://variety.com/2023/film/news/women-hollywood-silent-film-era-american-film-institute-afi-1235480998/ Tatna, Meher. “Forgotten Hollywood: Dorothy Arzner.” Golden Globes. 2/16/2022. https://goldenglobes.com/articles/forgotten-hollywood-dorothy-arzner-articles-forgotten-hollywood-dorothy-arzner/ Tietjen, Jill S. and Barbara Bridges. “How Women Were Pushed Out of Hollywood—and Fought Their Way Back In.” Excerpt from "Hollywood: Her Story" The Helm. 4/22/2021. https://thehelm.co/hollywood-herstory-book/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

31 Mars 44min

This 2017 episode covers the early days of Hollywood, and its reputation for debauchery. When a high-profile director was murdered, it added to that image, and revealed that Taylor, like so many in Hollywood, had lots of secrets.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

29 Mars 43min

Tracy talks about the difficulty of finding English-language writing about another strike she'd like to cover. Holly talks about why Kurt Vonnegut appeals so deeply to teenagers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

28 Mars 20min

Holly is joined by guest host Bryan Young for a live show at Indiana Comic Con, focused on the life and work of the author Kurt Vonnegut, known for his dark humor and dystopian visions of the future. Research: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Kurt Vonnegut". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kurt-Vonnegut “Kurt Vonnegut Lecture.” Case Western Reserve University. 2004. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_RUgnC1lm8&t=551s Manikowski, Amy. “The Legacy of Kurt Vonnegut.” Biblio. https://www.biblio.com/blog/2022/11/the-legacy-of-kurt-vonnegut “Meet Kurt Vonnegut.” Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library. https://www.vonnegutlibrary.org/biography/ Shields, Charles J. “And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, a Life.” St. Martin’s Griffin. 2012. Strand, Ginger. “How Jane Vonnegut Made Kurt Vonnegut a Writer.” The New Yorker. Dec. 3, 2015. https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/how-jane-vonnegut-made-kurt-vonnegut-a-writer Sumner, Gregory D. “Unstuck in Time: Kurt Vonnegut’s Life and Novels.” Seven Stories Press. 2011. Weide, Robert B. and Don Argott. “Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time.” IFC Films. 2021. Vonnegut, Kurt. “Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage.” Dial Press. 1999. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

26 Mars 40min