Steven Spielberg’s 1982 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was an integral part of my family’s classic movies, a list that also included […]
“The Relationship Between Public Morals and Public Toilets”: Christine Jorgensen and the Birth of Trans Bathroom Panic
Christine Jorgensen was used to unwelcome attention, but this was a new level of outrage. After undergoing hormone therapy and […]
Mach 10 with Her Hair on Fire
Over the last 13 years, my mom went from a fast-moving and passionate high school teacher often described as “Mach […]
A Good Death: The Modern Hospice Movement
“She was at home, this is where she wanted to be. It wasn’t easy, but it was right.” He said […]
Beyond IVF: Eugenics and Reproductive Biotechnology
Access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) has emerged as a crucial issue in the 2024 election. While the Republican Party […]
Man vs. Bear? TikTok as a Platform for Contemporary Feminist Consciousness Raising
Trigger Warning: Mention of gender-based violence In the spring of 2024, millions of TikTok users weighed in on a seemingly […]
“Tampon Tim” and the Politics of Periods
“Tampon Tim,” Stephen Miller sneered, referring to the legislation Governor Tim Walz signed requiring schools to provide free menstrual products […]
How Louis Ziskind Helped Deinstitutionalize Mental Healthcare
Perched among the lumpy hills and modest cottages of Los Angeles’s Echo Park, a hospital sits. You would not expect […]
Interview with Elizabeth Garner Masarik on her book, The Sentimental State: How Women-Led Reform Built the American Welfare State (University of Georgia Press, 2024)
I got the chance to speak with historian Elizabeth Garner Masarik about her new book The Sentimental State: How Women-Led […]
Disability Rights and the Lived Experiences of Visual Impairment in The Country of the Blind: An Interview with Andrew Leland
Andrew Leland’s 2023 book The Country of the Blind, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, is an absorbing exploration of […]