Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:
- Democrats won in a “blue wave” in the recent off-year elections. Natalia referenced this Roll Call article showing how the parties of sitting presidents have historically come up short in off-year and midterm elections.
- Twitter recently extended its character limit to 280 characters, prompting us to consider the history of the medium. We referenced Mashable’s Twitter history timeline and Natalia cited Julia Turner’s New York Times magazine article that highlights the linguistic effect of the hashtag on modern speech. Niki referred to Alan Brinkley’s biography of publisher Henry Luce.
- Peter, the Black protagonist of Ezra Jack Keats’ classic children’s book, is now on a postage stamp. Neil recalled reading The Snowy Day as a child. Natalia also commented on another famous children’s book from the era, Corduroy. Niki referenced Daksha Slater’s Mother Jones article on “The Uncomfortable Truth About Children’s Books.”
In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:
- Natalia discussed the documentary Abacus: Small Enough to Jail.
- Neil discussed the slime craze among American kids.
- Niki discussed the new movie The Florida Project.
