271 | Judith Butler: Then and Now

This week two conversations with the feminist theorist and writer Judith Butler: one recorded the week Trump won the presidency in 2016 and one recorded a few days ago, as his presidency (just maybe) approaches its end.  We reflect on what has changed over the last four years, what has stayed the same, and whether our worst fears were realised.  Plus Judith tells us what she sees when she sees Biden and what she hopes might come next.  Two linked conversations about misogyny, racism, representation, empowerment, hope, rage, and the damage one man can do to democracy.

210 | Pornography and the Post Office

Gary Gerstle tells the story of Anthony Comstock, the man who tried to stamp out pornography in the final decades of the nineteenth century, using the US Postal Service as his weapon.  Where he succeeded and how he ultimately failed still has echoes now, even in the age of the internet.