Landline with Mary Mahoney

If someone tells you they love Grover Cleveland, do not go with them to a second location. Welcome to the first Future History episode of Landline, where I ask some tough questions about how history will remember us. If future historians had only our music, movies, TV, and celebrity gossip to go on, could they understand life today? What stories would they tell about us? First up: the Season 4 premiere of The Gilded Age. It’s 1886, and everyone is panicking about the order of things. Oscar and Enid’s lavender marriage gives me hope for less gay trauma this season. Gladys’s traumatic birth opens a look at Victorian obstetrics and maternal health today. Peggy calls out Cleveland’s record on Reconstruction, and George spirals over railroad rebates and Rockefeller. Then I zoom out to what the show says about 2026: the limits of straight marriage, the second Gilded Age and Martha Stewart’s Halloween costume. Plus, what do The Gilded Age and The Real Housewives of Potomac have in common? Is predicting the future harder than reading the chemistry between Marian and Larry? 100%.Become a Patreon member → https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Timestamps00:00 A warning about Grover Cleveland01:00 What is Future History?02:00 Oscar and Enid’s lavender wedding06:00 Webster Hall and queer New York in 188610:00 Gladys’s childbirth and the save-the-duchess scene 16:00 Chloroform, Lister and maternal health, then and now24:00 Marian and Larry’s night at the hotel30:00 Peggy, the Kirklands and the Black elite34:00 Agnes, Ada and the case against Grover Cleveland44:00 George, Rockefeller and railroad rebates, with a clock twink chaser, followed by what historians will make of 2026TranscriptFull episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JflkDhoz9ZJfB0IeXCYFqKsJrNJe6sBpruxGwIACbqU/edit?usp=sharing Connect with Me:Website: www.marymmahoney.comInstagram: @mimimahoneyEmail: [email protected] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Love the show? Please leave a rating and review! It helps other listeners find Landline.Sponsor Message: Landline is sponsored by Libro.Fm. Listen to your favorite books and support your local bookstores! (Link: https://tidd.ly/40tPrKb ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Support the show

What happens when American Girl writes its own fan fiction? On this episode, I’m joined by Margaret Hartmann of New York magazine to dig into Fiona Davis’s Samantha: The Next Chapter. The novel finds Samantha Parkington at 25 in 1920, grieving Grandmary and fighting for her inheritance, with a choice to make between two very different men. Along the way, we take stock of American Girl at 40: Bratz collabs, the Claudie books, and why the brand keeps confusing nostalgia with history. We also get into the book’s surprisingly political Looking Back section on voting rights, and pitch the Samantha sequels we’d write ourselves. Spoilers (and laughs) ahead.To hear the full episode, become a Patreon member → https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Timestamps00:00 Welcome to Landline01:51 Margaret’s American Girl story (and memorizing the catalog)05:39 Samantha vs. Molly08:46 Sagamore Hill and the art of the house tour10:56 Is American Girl having a midlife crisis?24:05 Into the book: 1920, suffrage and Fiona Davis30:11 The Harlem scene and the limits of the white savior44:59 Class, money and Samantha’s empathy54:39 Looking Back 1920 and the fight for voting rights1:05:13 Our alternate plotlines, and who should get the next chapterTranscriptFull episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wfGBNYDaC6YUZWXgvU9c7hgPScQOAtpUwpO8OJ9W7cM/edit?usp=sharing ResourcesSamantha: The Next Chapter by Fiona Davis, also on Bookshop.orgAuthor Spotlight: Fiona Davis, American GirlMattel Marks 40 Years of the American Girl Brand, Business Wire, February 2026From Socialite to Shopgirl: American Girl Samantha Gets a New Story, NPR via Connecticut PublicMeet Claudie by Brit Bennett, and the Claudie seriesRachel by Angelina Weld Grimké, free on Project GutenbergCarrie Chapman Catt, National Park Service, and Woodlawn Cemetery, where she’s buried with Mary Garrett Hay, from NYC LGBT Historic SitesSagamore Hill National Historic Site, nps.gov/sahiHenry Street Settlement, henrystreet.orgLeague of Women Voters, lwv.orgFollow Landline:Website: https://landlinewithmary.com/ Connect with Me:Website: www.marymmahoney.comInstagram: @mimimahoneyEmail: [email protected] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Connect with my Margaret: Read Margaret’s article on American Girl: https://www.thecut.com/article/samantha-next-chapter-american-girl-book-adults.html You can read Margaret’s writing for New York here: https://nymag.com/author/margaret-hartmann/ Love the show? Please leave a rating and review! It helps other listeners find Landline.Sponsor Message: Landline is sponsored by Libro.Fm. Listen to your favorite books and support your local bookstores! (Link: https://tidd.ly/40tPrKb ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Support the show

If you grew up waiting by the mailbox for the winter issue, this one's for you. I'm joined by Aubre Andrus, former lifestyle editor at American Girl magazine and author of books for middle-grade readers, who is campaigning to bring the magazine back. We talk about what made it so special: the paper dolls that traced a girl's family through her mother's line, the raw honesty of Heart to Heart, and a letter signed "Annoyed" with a note from "Annoyed's Mother" underneath. Aubre takes us inside the dream job of planning slumber parties for a living, explains why she thinks this is the right cultural moment for a comeback, and tells us exactly how listeners can help. Plus: why a magazine that never asked girls to change might be what the brand needs most right now.Become a Patreon member → https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Timestamps00:00 Welcome to Landline + meet Aubre Andrus01:58 What American Girl magazine meant to us, from issue one in 199202:58 A quick history: Pleasant Rowland and the expansion into contemporary girlhood04:20 Inside a classic issue: Heart to Heart, Help!, paper dolls, and the mini magazine06:10 The magazine that never told girls they had to change08:02 "Annoyed's Mother," paper doll family trees, and girls as part of history10:46 Aubre's dream job as lifestyle editor (and the project that got her hired)15:19 How the campaign to bring back American Girl magazine started19:14 Why now: screen-free kids, the analog boom, and millennial nostalgia22:51 What American Girl lost when the magazine ended26:58 The pitch deck, Mattel shake-ups, and how listeners can helpTranscriptFull episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zyqS04v0ieoKCjLfu7GAwVtl3acMzIZScXSZKOzf8gc/edit?usp=sharing Follow Landline:Instagram: @landlinewithmaryTiktok:@landlinewithmaryYouTube:@LandlinewithMaryWebsite: https://landlinewithmary.com/ Connect with Me:Website: www.marymmahoney.comInstagram: @mimimahoneyEmail: [email protected] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Connect with my guest, Aubre Andrus: Instagram: @aubreandrusEngaging with her posts is the social proof she's bringing to Mattel.ResourcesSupport the campaignFollow Aubre Andrus on Instagram @aubreandrus. Ask American Girl to bring back the magazine: search "American Girl Customer Service" and use the contact form, choosing a question about a product. AG's help pages start here: American Girl FAQ.Mentioned in the episodeAubre Andrus, author page (Penguin Random House). Award-winning children's author of 20+ books for Scholastic, American Girl, Disney, and others.The Making of American Girl (American Girl Publishing). 288-page coffee table history from the company archives, with a section on the magazine and Pleasant Rowland's handwritten business plan.The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. The book behind much of the "no smartphones before high school" push Aubre describes.LEGO Life Magazine. The free kids' magazine Aubre points to as proof brands still see value in print.13 Going on 30 (2004). For the Jenna Rink pitch-meeting energy.Related reading and listeningReminder, I wrote a book about American Girl and its fandom! Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl by Mary Mahoney and Allison Horrocks.You can also listen to all of Dolls of Our Lives to hear us re-read every book. Love the show? Please leave a rating and review! It helps other listeners find Landline.Sponsor Message: Landline is sponsored by Libro.Fm. Listen to your favorite books and support your local bookstores! (Link: https://tidd.ly/40tPrKb ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Support the show

I have a confession. Murder, She Wrote is my favorite show of all time, and when I heard Jamie Lee Curtis is starring in a new version, I had questions. In this episode, I'm joined by Cristen Conger, host of Unladylike and Conspiracy, She Wrote, to make the case for Jessica Fletcher. We get into the show's quietly queer world and Angela Lansbury's astonishing life, from teen Oscar nominations to a narrow escape from the Manson Family. We also cover our favorite episodes, a lavender turban, a chowder used as a murder weapon, and why a show with a body in every episode is somehow the coziest thing on television. Then come our hot takes on the remake, now set for February 2028. Pour some chowder. Do not eat it.Become a Patreon member → https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Timestamps00:00 Welcome to Landline: remakes, adaptations, and why this one makes me shudder02:04 Meet Cristen Conger: Murder, She Wrote fans can always find each other05:55 Is Murder, She Wrote a queer show?08:44 The Grady problem10:21 The Jamie Lee Curtis remake, plus the Octavia Spencer version that died with Quibi14:55 Aging on screen, Botox, and Practical Magic 217:15 How Jessica Fletcher was born: Carla Singer, Miss Marple, and the Columbo writers21:39 Angela Lansbury's wild backstory: teen Oscar nominations, the Manson Family, and a move to Ireland25:53 Favorite episodes: Widow, Weep for Me, Keep the Home Fries Burning, and a murderous chowder32:52 The fandom: cancelled by Friends, revived by the internet, and a sold-out festival in MendocinoTranscriptFull episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EwyszMm0OfjMYOLX9_4h5ewpoIFOzv52HmWN-ZwBNww/edit?usp=sharing Resources:The remakeDeadline: Universal's Murder, She Wrote with Jamie Lee Curtis heads to early 2028Watch and readMurder, She Wrote free 24/7 channel on Pluto TVReassessing Murder, She Wrote (Routledge, 2025), edited by Eva Burke and Jennifer Schnabel. Murder, She Wrote (TV Milestones) by Bridget KiesList of the Murder, She Wrote novelsThe Murder, She Wrote Cook Book. Profits went to Aid for AIDS.Maintenance Phase: Angela Lansbury's "Positive Moves"The Mirror Crack'd (1980). (Film starring Angela as Ms. Marple with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson). Visit Cabot Cove (well, Mendocino)Kelley House Museum's Murder, She Wrote FestivalFollow Landline:Instagram: @landlinewithmaryTiktok:@landlinewithmaryYouTube:@LandlinewithMaryWebsite: https://landlinewithmary.com/ Connect with Me:Website: www.marymmahoney.comInstagram: @mimimahoneyEmail: [email protected] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Connect with my guest, Cristen Conger:Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/unladylikemedia Newsletter: https://unladylike.substack.com/ Listen to Conspiracy, She Wrote: https://conspiracyshewrote.com/ Listen to Unladylike: https://www.unladylike.co/episodes Love the show? Please leave a rating and review! It helps other listeners find Landline.Sponsor Message: Landline is sponsored by Libro.Fm. Listen to your favorite books and support your local bookstores! (Link: https://tidd.ly/40tPrKb ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Support the show

This year marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11. For this episode, I wanted to look at one very specific way it reshaped American life: music. My friend Abby joined me to travel down a rabbit hole that started with an actual, still-referenced Clear Channel memo listing over 150 songs deemed "lyrically questionable" after the attacks (“Walk Like an Egyptian” made the cut, for reasons no one has ever adequately explained), and ended up covering: the benefit concerts that defined the first month of grief that turned to rage, the album covers and music videos quietly re-edited to erase the twin towers, country music's hard turn to support the Iraq War, what happened to the Chicks when they refused to fall in line, and the strange, sometimes unbelievable songs 9/11 directly inspired, including one performed by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and one written by an 11-year-old Taylor Swift. We also cover the Limp Bizkit VMA fruit basket coincidence you did not ask for but are about to learn anyway.Become a Patreon member → https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Timestamps00:09 — Intro: why a music and 9/11 episode, 25 years later06:14 — Personal 9/11 memories (Abby and Mary)11:01 — The Limp Bizkit "Rollin'" World Trade Center coincidence17:56 — Congress sings on the Capitol steps; the benefit concerts introduced22:13 — America: A Tribute to Heroes (Sept 21), Springsteen opens with "My City of Ruins"32:16 — Concert for New York City (Oct 21); Paul McCartney and the shift toward revenge39:41 — The Beastie Boys' "New Yorkers Against Violence" benefit and the policy timeline (Patriot Act, "war on terror")44:24 — Censorship 101: Clear Channel's rise and the "no-play" memo quiz56:04 — Music videos and album covers edited after 9/111:08:26 — Country music's turn right: Toby Keith, Darryl Worley, and the Chicks1:20:50 — Music inspired by 9/11: The Rising, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, Cher1:26:17 — "Songs I Can't Believe Exist" (Ashcroft, Michael Jackson, Smash Mouth, Taylor Swift) and closing reflectionsTranscriptFull episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tvj_pHsqX9PwN0GyngE7OXVCEQBUlGDVHAvuGw2w8pM/edit?usp=sharing Resources & linksBenefit concerts & backgroundAmerica: A Tribute to HeroesThe Concert for New York City"New Yorkers Against Violence" (Beastie Boys benefit) — Rolling Stone coverageClear Channel memorandum (the banned/discouraged songs list)List of songs about the September 11 attacks (Wikipedia)Super Bowl XXXVI halftime show (U2)Books & documentariesMusic in the Post-9/11 World, ed. Jonathan Ritter and J. Martin DaughtryTurning Point: 9/11 and the War on TerrorFahrenheit 9/11Follow Landline:Instagram: @landlinewithmaryTiktok:@landlinewithmaryYouTube:@LandlinewithMaryWebsite: https://landlinewithmary.com/ Connect with Me:Website: www.marymmahoney.comInstagram: @mimimahoneyEmail: [email protected] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Love the show? Please leave a rating and review! It helps other listeners find Landline.Sponsor Message: Landline is sponsored by Libro.Fm. Listen to your favorite books and support your local bookstores! (Link: https://tidd.ly/40tPrKb ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Support the show

This week: Dolly Parton. On August 25th, Dolly Rebecca Parton passed away at 80, after a short battle with cancer. This is a personal one. I talk about what she meant to me: the country music rabbit hole that started at my public library, the sense of humor and radical acceptance that made her feel like home for a young queer kid, the story of the trans fan whose top surgery she quietly paid for, and the two songs (written, according to legend, in the same day) that prove she was one of the great American songwriters, full stop. I talk about seeing her live at Tanglewood in 2016, "Pure and Simple" and how it got me through coming out to my family, the place I set for her at my own wedding, and what I want my son to understand about her someday, from 9 to 5 to the songbook she bought back for Porter Wagoner decades after he made her career miserable.Then we zoom out to the "future history" of it all: how Dolly Parton fits into histories of women in country music, the impossible standards she was held to as a woman and an artist, the myth of the apolitical celebrity, what her giving says about wealth and philanthropy in our current Gilded Age, and why she asked Tennessee lawmakers not to build her a statue. Whatever history decides, I know how I'll remember her: for her talent, and for her kindness.Become a Patreon member → https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney TranscriptFull episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E5BygIoCPYH_5CJTYRbyvNZ9yyBynI1Tcq-AKKi1PMM/edit?usp=sharingFollow Landline:Instagram: @landlinewithmaryTiktok:@landlinewithmaryYouTube:@LandlinewithMaryWebsite: https://landlinewithmary.com/ Connect with Me:Website: www.marymmahoney.comInstagram: @mimimahoneyEmail: [email protected] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Love the show? Please leave a rating and review! It helps other listeners find Landline.Sponsor Message: Landline is sponsored by Libro.Fm. Listen to your favorite books and support your local bookstores! (Link: https://tidd.ly/40tPrKb )  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Support the show

Happy 30th anniversary, Rent. I've been waiting 525,600 minutes for this one. This week on Landline, I hand my nostalgia tour over to Kait and Renata of the Worst Bestsellers podcast. They teach me about the history of Rent, including the behind-the-scenes drama. We get into everything: the wood-burning stove I'm genuinely concerned about, Jonathan Larson's death the night before Rent opened off-Broadway, a plagiarism lawsuit that I still can’t believe, the infamous fan who faked a terminal illness to get rush tickets, and what it was like to tape bootlegs, wade through early Rent message boards, listservs, and write fan fiction. Kait and Renata first met online as Rent fans, and I’m so glad they could join me on this journey through the history of Rent, which asks: what was this, what did it mean then, and what does it mean to us now? Thirty years later, does Rent hold up? Kind of. Does it still make us feel things? Absolutely.Note: Paid members will get a bonus segment with Kait and Renata’s hot takes on Rent. Hint, one involves Joey Fatone and stunt casting. Become a Patreon member → https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Timestamps00:00 — Cold open: "You two said off mic that you really loved the film"00:18 — Welcome to Landline, meet Kait and Renata of Worst Bestsellers 04:23 — So what is Rent, actually? We talk about the hot plate.06:52 — Jonathan Larson, his death, and the real AIDS crisis backdrop the show was written into 13:45 — The legal drama begins: the Billy Aronson handshake deal 22:21 — The tragedy: Larson dies the night before Rent's off-Broadway opening 28:37 — Rush tickets, sleeping on the sidewalk, and the birth of Rent fandom (message boards, fan fiction, listservs, taping bootlegs)32:37 — The infamous fan who faked a terminal illness to get close to the cast 54:37 — The plagiarism lawsuit: Sarah Schulman vs. Rent 1:03:01 — The Rent Live 2019 disaster (Renata won a contest and lived to tell it) 1:09:19 — Where Rent sits with us now, on its 30th anniversaryTranscriptFull episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f2QodlDoxGF8t044yTwnOdh6sFby5l9UkXIVZteBKQ0/edit?usp=sharing Follow Landline:Instagram: @landlinewithmaryTiktok:@landlinewithmaryYouTube:@LandlinewithMaryWebsite: https://landlinewithmary.com/ Connect with Mary:Website: www.marymmahoney.comInstagram: @mimimahoneyEmail: [email protected] Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Connect with Renatta and Kait, and Worst Bestsellers Podcast:Website: https://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/ Instagram: @worstbestsellers  Renata’s Instagram: @renatasnacks Kait’s Instagram: @fourteenacrossLove the show? Please leave a rating and review! It helps other listeners find Landline.Sponsor Message: Landline is sponsored by Libro.Fm. Listen to your favorite books and support your local bookstores! (Link: https://tidd.ly/40tPrKb )  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Support the show

This week I'm talking reality TV and architecture with Jack Balderrama Morley, author of Dream Facades: The Cruel Architecture of Reality TV. We take a tour through the homes reality TV has taught us to want — Selling Sunset's glossy nothing-houses, the SoHo loft that launched The Real World, the Kardashians' frontier fantasy in Hidden Hills, Real Housewives of Atlanta's Chateau Chérie, and the current Mormon-wife renaissance on Bravo and beyond — and what all of it says about the American dream of homeownership, especially now that it feels further out of reach than ever. Jack is a delight, and left me wondering, “what if the cruelest architecture on Reality TV are the Below Deck yachts?”  Timestamps00:08 — Intro: reality TV, architecture, and Jack Balderrama Morley's Dream Facades02:45 — What inspired the book04:49 — Heidi Montag, Laguna Beach, and reality TV's turn toward the aspirational10:26 — Selling Sunset and the "beige-ification" of reality real estate13:50 — The architecture of Selling Sunset: from mid-century modernism to "shellacked modernism"19:20 — The Real World, the SoHo loft, and the birth of reality TV34:00 — The Kardashians, Hidden Hills, and the American frontier myth50:45 — Real Housewives of Atlanta and Chateau Chérie1:01:52 — Trading Spaces, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and the makeover-show genre1:13:46 — Mormons, reality TV, and Real Housewives of Salt Lake CityResources & Links MentionedTopics Discussed:Selling SunsetThe HillsLaguna Beach: The Real Orange CountyThe Real WorldKeeping Up with the KardashiansThe Real Housewives of AtlantaThe Real Housewives of Salt Lake CitySister WivesTrading SpacesExtreme Makeover: Home EditionFurther Reading/Viewing:For more information on the gap between black and white homeownership, check out this report from Stateline: https://stateline.org/2022/10/13/black-families-fall-further-behind-on-homeownership/ Want even more resources, deep dives, and behind-the-scenes context on this episode's topics? Patreon members get access to my exclusive newsletter with extended research, additional links, and insights that didn't make it into the show. You can get the weekly newsletter when you join for free. Paid members get a monthly bonus episode and a weekly newsletter of things I'm loving in pop culture.Become a Patreon member → https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Full episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EL3u6H2HaPkyPLTj13o12i32_q541v2jIG4WSlaTdbk/edit?usp=sharing Connect with Mary:Website: www.marymmahoney.comInstagram: @mimimahoneyEmail: [email protected] the show? Please leave a rating and review! It helps other listeners find Landline.Connect with Jack Balderrama Morley:Website: https://www.jackbalderramamorley.com/ Instagram: @jackbaldmoRead Jack’s writing at Dwell: https://www.dwell.com/@jackbalderramamorley1760/articles Read Jack’s book: https://bookshop.org/a/102042/9781662602924 Sponsor Message: Landline is sponsored by Libro.Fm. Listen to your favorite books and support your local bookstores! (Link: https://tidd.ly/40tPrKb )  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Support the show

Bedrooms have always been sacred ground for girls; the one square footage where you got to decide who you were before anyone else weighed in. This week I'm talking to Rachel Moss, author of In the Girls' Room: Essays on Bedroom Culture from the 90s to Now, about the long, weird, footnote-worthy history of what girls actually do behind a closed door: making zines, starting bands, papering walls with posters of their heroes, filling notebooks with genuinely bad poetry. We go from the Riot Grrrl scene in 90s Olympia and Kathleen Hanna's outsized (and under-credited) cultural footprint, to the moral panic of Reviving Ophelia and the Cassie Bernall myth, to Tavi Gevinson and Rookie Mag, all the way up to "bed rotting" as bedroom culture's more depressed, more online cousin. It's a conversation about privacy, creativity, and what happens to a private space once the internet — and your own phone — starts listening in. Grab your zine scissors, we're getting into it.Become a Patreon member → https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Timestamps00:08 — Intro: what "bedroom culture" is, and welcoming Rachel Moss02:28 — Rachel's zine shelf and the joy of meeting a fellow zine person03:04 — Making zines in secret in rural Ohio, and the Courtney Love conspiracy zine detour05:26 — Defining bedroom culture: making, consuming, and archiving09:21 — Where it starts: the 1950s "invention" of the American teenager10:40 — Riot Grrrl 101: Olympia, Kathleen Hanna, and Bikini Kill14:18 — Sadie Benning's bedroom video diaries and the tangled Riot Grrrl web (Le Tigre, etc.)17:26 — The dark side: Prozac Nation, Reviving Ophelia, and the Cassie Bernall myth22:51 — Shared family computers, Net Chick, and the first wave of girls building websites28:35 — Rookie Mag, Tavi Gevinson, and Petra Collins' uncredited influence36:00 — Bed rotting, depression, and Qualeasha Wood's 2025 gallery performance44:44 — Building Internet Bedroom, staying independent, and resisting the algorithm53:32 — Where to find Rachel's book, Substack, and InstagramTranscriptFull episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19mENoNtmGvp4XVh_7MELEsh1laxpvIVMx-meN9-OaZk/edit?usp=sharing Connect with Mary:Website: www.marymmahoney.comInstagram: @mimimahoneyEmail: [email protected] with Rachel Moss:Order Rachel’s books here: https://www.internetbedroom777.comYouTube: Rachel Moss (@internetbedroom) Instagram: @girlguttersSubstack: https://internetbedroom.substack.com Love the show? Please leave a rating and review! It helps other listeners find Landline.Sponsor Message: Landline is sponsored by Libro.Fm. Listen to your favorite books and support your local bookstores! (Link: https://tidd.ly/40tPrKb ) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Support the show

I sat down with historian M.J. Rymsza-Pawlowska, author of History Comes Alive, to figure out why America decided to throw itself a birthday party in the middle of Watergate, and what that has to do with the strange, sputtering rollout of the 250th happening right now. We get into Nixon hijacking a nonpartisan commission, a very wagon train crossing the country to meet Gerald Ford, and the queer and Black history organizers who used the bicentennial's grant money to build the public history field as we know it. It turns out nostalgia isn't good or bad, it just is, and the receipts are more interesting than the fireworks.This month’s patreon episode is a 411 episode on the bicentennial. Join the $5/month tier to hear it now. Become a Patreon member → https://www.patreon.com/cw/MaryMahoney Suggest a future episode topic here: https://www.patreon.com/MaryMahoney/posts/running-list-of-159302658?collection=1744255 Timestamps00:08 – Welcome, and why the bicentennial matters for America 25002:05 – MJ on stumbling into a dissertation topic nobody else wanted06:32 – How Americans went from watching history to living inside it14:23 – Reenactment, Reagan's Oval Office for kids, and "Hippies Living History"20:37 – 1966: Johnson forms the first bicentennial commission29:12 – Nixon takes over and wants fireworks, not history32:56 – Philadelphia's World's Fair collapses under its own weight34:33 – The People's Bicentennial Commission crashes the Boston Tea Party38:26 – The Afro-American Bicentennial Corporation and the fight for historic sites1:04:05 – MJ's hot take: the 250th is just the 1893 World's Fair with worse merchTranscriptFull episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nuDQ8GbcGKv4DmoAJ3jkPUutO8dpuDzq2oFO3SCnWpY/edit?usp=sharing Connect with Mary:Website: www.marymmahoney.comInstagram: @mimimahoneyEmail: [email protected] with M.J. Rymsza-Pavlovska:Website: https://mjrymszapawlowska.com/ Book: History Comes Alive: Public History and Popular Culture in the 1970s Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.Support the show