A mini-episode from Bill and Rachel on how a major defense contract led to the iconic KitchenAid stand mixer, followed by some announcements about the podcast for the summer months ahead.
Links and notes for ep. 471 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/AFD-Ep-471-Links-and-Notes-KitchenAid-Mini-episode.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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150 years ago, in May 1873, work began on developing the breakthrough design for mass-produced barbed wire, with wide-ranging (pun intended) implications for agriculture, society, and warfare.
Links and notes for ep. 470 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/AFD-Ep-470-Links-and-Notes-Barbed-Wire.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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This week we are talking about the field of home economics or domestic science. Was it really a science? To what extent was it a marketing exercise? Can it ever really overcome its founding racist and classist overtones? Does home economics even exist anymore?
Links and note for ep. 468 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/AFD-Ep-468-Links-and-Notes-Home-Economics_Domestic-Science.pdf
Opening music by Stunt Bird.
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The failed anthracite coal mine workers strike of 1887-88 in eastern Pennsylvania illustrates some of the fault lines and contradictions within capitalism and highlight some of the ways our 21st century economy is devolving back toward older patterns. (Bill and Rachel)
Links and notes for ep. 464 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/AFD-Ep-464-Links-and-Notes-Anthracite-Coal-Strike-of-1887-88.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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At the start of the 20th century, eccentric inventor and utopian theorist King C. Gillette developed the disposable blade for safety razors, launching one of the most influential, trend-setting American corporations of all time, for good or ill. (Bill and Rachel)
Links and notes for ep. 463 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/AFD-Ep-463-Links-and-Notes-Gillette.pdf
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150 years ago last week, on March 3rd, 1873, the Comstock Laws on obscenity, including birth control and abortion supplies or information, became part of the US Criminal Code. (Bill and Rachel.)
Links and notes for ep. 462 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/AFD-Ep-462-Links-and-Notes-March-1873_-Comstock-Laws.pdf
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In 1857, Waltham, Massachusetts jumped from the First to the Second Industrial Revolution by becoming the global home of the mass-produced pocketwatch, capitalizing on the railroad industry and then the American Civil War.
Links and notes for ep. 458 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/AFD-Ep-458-Links-and-Notes-1IR_-Watch-City.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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