Historians on Housewives

In which the Historians promote the new season and other fun stuff on the horizon for HonH. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which the Historians learn about how to think about scandal and the relationship between sexuality and Evangelical and Pentecostal religion in nineteenth and twentieth-century America, and how RHOP and RHOSLC can help us understand cheating and sexuality in these church communities. Recommended ReadingSuzanna Krivulskaya, “A History of Sex Abuse in the Protestant Imagination,” The Revealer, March 2, 2020.Wallace Best, “Lessons from the Rev. Eddie Long Scandal: Some Historical Context,” Huffpost, October 10, 2010.Kate Bowler, Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013).Ambre Dromgoole, “Pastor Mary Cosby, Arranged Pentecostal Marriages, and the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” The Revealer, February 4, 2021.Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (New York: Liveright, 2020).Megan Goodwyn and Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst, “Keeping It 101” podcast.Ahmad Greene-Hayes, “New Birth and Jamal Bryant: Time for the Black Church to Address Its Culture of Sexism, Misogyny and Homophobia,” The Root, December 4, 2018.Emily Suzanne Johnson, “A Theme Park, a Scandal, and the Faded Ruins of a Televangelism Empire,” Religion & Politics, October 28, 2014.Bravo Insider, “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Answer ALL Your Questions About Mormonism."Mathew Schmalz, “Why the Label ‘Cult' Gets in the Way of Understanding New Religions,” The Conversation, April 10, 2018. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which the Historians discuss public history, the Bronze Age Mari and curse tablets in Roman Britain, the connections between soap operas with Bravo shows like Vanderpump Rules and RHOBH, contemplate Real Housewives' curses on each other, what Jax Taylor has to do with a legal record from 3,000 years ago, paralleling Yolanda's treatment of the Hadid sisters with imperial alliances of the Bronze Age, consider the relationships between ancient cure-alls and housewives' use of IV drips, rating travel journalism, and much, much more!For more from our guest, check out:CarlySilver.comIG: @bespectacledlegendTwitter: @CarlyASilverRecommended ReadingCarly Silver, "Do You Want to Build an Icehouse?: On the refrigerated innovations of ancient rulers," Laphams Quarterly, September 28, 2021 Carly Silver, "How Ancient Cure-Alls Paved the Way for Drug Regulation," The Atlantic, January 10, 2017Carly Silver, "This Corrupt Boss Was Charged With Sexual Harassment—3,000 Years Ago," Narratively, April 4, 2018Greg Jenner, You're Dead to Me podcastAtlas ObscuraJStor Daily Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I'm that misbehaving Nasty Wench, writing and creating history, making the good wives and patriarchs anxious” with Dr. Kristalyn ShefvelandThe personal legacies of Kathleen Brown, William Byrd ancestry, tips for scholars and graduate students researching in the archive, Walt Disney's failed Slavery-themed theme park, ethnic foldaways in Indiana, discussing how reality television can be used to teach historical memory and the Lost Cause myth, and much, much more! Kristalyn Shefveland's twitter: @kristalynmarieRecommended ReadingAnglo-Native Virginia: Trade, Conversion, and Indian Slavery in the Old Dominion, 1646-1722 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2018).Classic Restaurants of Evansville (Charleston, S.C.:The History Press, 2020)Kathleen Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race, and Power in Colonial Virginia (Chapel Hill:University of North Carolina Press, 1996)Edmund S. Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1975)Alan Gallay, The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South, 1670-1717 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002) Social MediaTwitter: @HistoriansHEtsy Shop: HistoriansHousewives Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which the Historians discuss connections between lynching photography and the power of television, the racial politics of Bravo touching on current events and hypocrisies in reality television storylines, historical contexts for cultural liberalism and its limits, Max takes over the Bonko Party game, and we all come to grips with the end of a really long semester, and much, much more!Recommended ReadingsKateFlach.comKate Flach Op-Eds:“Thanks to conservative politicians and the media, the education wars echo the 1960s,” Washington Post, November 19, 2021“The ‘Wonder Years' remake resurrects a 1970 tactic to diversify TV viewing,” Washington Post, October 1, 2021: “Television is already moving to address racism—but will the effort last?,” Washington Post, June 11, 2020: Daniel Widener, Black Arts West: Culture and Struggle in Postwar Los Angeles (Durham: Duke University Press Books, 2010)Allison Perlman, Public Interests: Media Advocacy and Struggles over U.S. Television (Rutgers University Press, 2016)Elana Levine, Wallowing in Sex: The New Sexual Culture of 1970s American Television (Durham: Duke University Press, 2007).Elana Levine, Her Stories: Daytime Soap Opera and US Television History (Durham: Duke University Press, 2020).Ruth Feldstein, “I Wanted the Whole World to See" Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

In which the Historians discuss family law, poverty law, and divorce law and how they come up on the Real Housewives, “high-wealth families” legal regulations around high-wealth exceptionalism, the Girardi divorce, the differences between trusts and estates and much, much more!Further ReadingsAllison Tate, Home of the Dispossessed, Michigan Journal of Gender & Law (2022). Allison Tate, Inheriting Privilege, 116 Minnesota Law Review (2022). Allison Tate, Custom of The Country: Trusts and Marriage Planning in High-Wealth Families, 34 American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Journal 219 (2021).Jessica Marie Johnson, Wicked FleshRachel Sherman, "'A Very Expensive Ordinary Life': Consumption, Symbolic Boundaries, and Moral Legitimacy among New York Elites." Socio-Economic Review 16(2): 411-433 (2018)SourcesLisa Vanderpump in ABC's "Poison Arrow"Clip from Real Housewives of New York, Season 10 Episode 12: "Every Mayflower Has Its Thorn"Social MediaTwitter: @HistoriansHEtsy Shop: HistoriansHousewives See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In which the historians discuss the long history of Native sovereignty and the encroachment of state and federal government onto Native lands, issues of sovereignty, wardship and citizenship for Indigenous people, and how issues of Native identity are represented on the Real Housewives of New York, Potomac, and Atlanta, as well as much, much more!For the article we reference in this episode, see: Sarah Viren, “The Native Scholar Who Wasn't,” The New York Times Magazine (May 25, 2021)https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/magazine/cherokee-native-american-andrea-smith.html See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In which the Historians kick off season 3 by discussing Season 1 of RHOSLC, reminisce about what it was like taking classes with Coach and Jen Shah, what it means to be the perfect Mormon woman and wife, being divorced and LDS, debate fast food preferences and learn a dark secret about Utah fast food, Bret takes us on an ethnographic journey to LVP's Vanderpump Gardens, and much, much more! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In which the Historians discuss the ongoing Erika Jayne scandal, celebrity culture and the production of reality tv, the art of interviewing Housewives, and much, much more!

In which the Historians pick up where they left up… with a Bonko Party Game Break, unpack Porsha's infamous underground railroad comment, build on more connections between the Real Housewives and Black women's understanding of freedom and liberty in the Revolutionary Era, allege some wild things about Patty Stanger's Millionaire Matchmaker, and much, much, more!

In which the Historians discuss the historiography of enslaved women and the importance of slavery scholarship circa 2004, gab about Flavor of Love and the Real World, the origins of the JMIL-McNeil crossover, Adam's fabulous New Books in African American Studies podcast, shoutout Mumia, and much, much more!

In which the Historians start off with a Bonko Party game break before segueing into a discussion comparing the musicals 1776 and Hamilton, the experiences of enslaved people in Virginia's Chiswell Lead Mines, Loyalism in the Revolution, whether the American Revolution was indeed revolutionary, Star Trek, and much, much more!

Sean Gallagher is a historian of enslaved people and state slaveholding in the American Revolution. He will be starting a postdoc at the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society in Fall 2021.

In which the Historians discuss how our guest got into reality television and Bravo, play two games, hear a pitch on cord-cutting, discuss the CosmicDoc, spirituality and ghosts on RHOD, and much, much more!

In which the Historians discuss enslavement at sea, the metaphysical presence of the ghosts of the enslaved, spirit channelling and Tyler Henry, Sowande' Mustakeem's band Amalghemy, and much, much more!

In which the Historians conclude their interview with the Dr. Oz of Historians on Housewives, Dr. Emily Baum. They discuss all things traditional Chinese medicine, it's regional influence in the United States, researching and writing history in the time of Covid-19, what the hell Aaron Phypers was saying he does at that dinner party, reiki healing on reality TV, and much, much more!

In which the historians talk about the history of traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), how Chinese medicine became popular in the US, how Chinese medicine became so popular with wealthier women, and much, much more!

In which the historians discuss medieval source material, dig more into a fight between the RHOA husbands in Mexico, debate whether or not the Real Housewives is a feminist franchise, and allege wildly about Dorit and PK's newest venture into the world of restaurants and fine Italian cuisine.

In which the Historians learn about Medieval France and the unique genre of French farce then play a game that puts your ears to the test, literally and figuratively, plus much, much more!

In which the Historians continue their discussion with Gwendolyn Fowler about all things RHONJ, RHOBH, segregation in New Jersey, the women of the Welfare Rights Movement, and play Allegedly with RHOP!

In which the Historians discuss pandemic life, first forays into reality tv, RHONJ and representation, segregation in Bergen county, and take a Bonko party game break.

In which the Historians kick off season 2 and sit down with Jason Herbert to discuss Historians at the Movies (#HATM), his work as an ethnographer for the Seminole Tribe, the politics of turtle moving in Florida, test our knowledge of movies, food and wine, and dabble in Top Chef.

On the season 1 finale of HonH, the Historians are joined by two listener favorites to talk about their 2019 Bravocon experience. See Max's photo journal highlights from Bravocon:https://historiansonhousewives.com/podcast/season-1-finale-the-bravocon-episode-w-dr-martina-baldwin-and-dr-jen-edwards

In which one of the Historians own is in the hot seat discussing recent travels to Ghana, compare the RHOA women’s vacation to South Africa, Bravo depictions of Africa, explore Charity Folks and other Black women’s historic routes to freedom, converse about teaching and research methods that use the Bravo cannon, play the hardest Bonko Party yet, and much, much more! #1619project #KarinWulf #Omohundro #ucihumanities #UniversityofGhanaLegon #SAmawray #ucighanaproject @ugapress @CTSA_UCIrvine

In which the Historians learn about how issues surrounding Intimate Partner Violence are reflected on BravoTV, discuss dynamics of internalizing abuse and the manifold ways IPV arises on the shows and in domestic relationships, design a Yacht day, and much, much more!

In which the Historians learn about a Housewives connection in Chicago, discuss workplace power relations, surveillance, and employer policing on Below Deck and Below Deck Med, Flipping Out, and Vanderpump Rules, discuss some parallel and dissimilar treatment of unfree people in early America, play a round of ‘Foul on the Play’ and much, much more!

In which the Historians learn from Dr. Catherine Koonar about US capitalism, consumption, and food based on her research of chocolate and the Hershey company, the myth of the “self-made” man, and its relation to The Real Housewives, comparing Milton Hershey’s larger-than-life brand to Andy Cohen, Ramona, Bethenny, and Vicki play high-low with the Housewives’ reported net worth, use Karen Huger's La' Dame perfume drama to discuss the culture of entrepreneurship, and much, much more!

In which the Historians discuss representations and depictions of fertility and infertility in popular culture, BravoTV and in real life; learn about women's health practices, particularly well-women's exams; discuss Dr. Silverman’s edited volume titled The Fantasy of Reality: Critical Essays on The Real Housewives (2015), play a new game called “Cheeseburger in Paradise, and much, much more!

The Historians talk about the importance of fashion and material culture for denoting race and ethnicity, class, and religious associations in colonial Spain, the accuracy of RHOD’s portrayal of Dallas culture, debate the possibility of a Housewives cage match, discuss the importance of material culture, learn about how materiality and attire alter individual behavior both on Bravo and within the colonial Spanish empire, and much, more!.

In which the Historians respond to John Legend being named sexiest man alive, discuss the ways that Bravo shows relationship to feminism, how the Guidice’s experiences with incarceration, immigration, and deportation take on a different tone than what we might see at the border, the now infamous Andy Cohen interview with Teresa and Joe after his deportation, and much, much more!

HonH is taking this week off, but we’ll be back with an all new episode on January 15. For more HonH content, head over to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram updates and opinions about the latest shows on BravoTV and Bravoleberties. Happy Holidays!

In which the Historians break out their textured jingle-bell sweaters for a special in-studio holiday edition of HonH to discuss the history of Santa Clause, put to rest the eternal question of whether Coto de Caza is the sticks, learn the long and storied history of BravoTV as well as about critical media literacy, the (lack of) guilty pleasures in watching reality television, hear about what interviewing two Bravolebs was like and get a little tea, discuss the technical expertise of WWHL, listen to Kacey jingle some bells, attempt to answer the oldest chicken and the egg question: do the audiences shape the shows or the shows shape the audiences, and much, much more!

In which the Historians talk about BravoTV in the classroom, play politics with the Housewives, discuss the art of leveling criticism when someone’s got to go, the connections between BravoTV and the First Ladies, compare CSPAN notes, learn about how women inform male-centered presidential histories, grapple with some of the implications of a reality star president with Housewife supporters and detractors, analyze the Kavanaugh fight on RHOBH, the politics of silence with Kyle Richards and Eddie Judge, RHOA’s activism in BLM and Bravo’s depictions of “mainstream politics,” and much, much more!

In which the Historians discuss the ways that elite reality stars think about money, learn about the #FergusonSyllabus, interrogate the ways that Bravo discusses issues pertaining to race and racism in America, converse over Bethenny Frankel’s disaster relief work, learn about how people indicate their social class based on their consumption patterns, think critically about the connections between Dennis the Hot Dog King of Atlanta and the rise of the fast food industry in Black America, and discuss Tamara’s recent confrontation with her son Ryan over his support for Trump and The Wall. 



In which the Historians learn about the Armenian Genocide, some of the implications and politics of genocide denial, how testimonials on the Housewives franchises can be great tools for understanding Lifewriting Theory, learn how shared grief helps shape community identity within the Armenian-American community, dig into the Kardiashians’ personal histories with the American Genocide, learn about Nora Lessersohn’s family history, speculate about a Real Housewives of Boston, learn how testimony resonates as a form of identity creation and how this relates to Bravo television, how Carol and Dorinda’s trip to London to recover Anthony’s ashes provides a window into the ways that memory and identity get imparted through narrative, and much much more!

In which the Historians learn about the many connections between Medieval Europe and Bravo including the similarities between Roman sumptuary laws and the Housewives, comparisons between Erika Jayne’s glam squad and Lancelot preparing for battle, why a chair spread disease, the ways that a Thuringian princess and Frankish queen, Saint Radegund, was like LVP, Jill Zarin, Karen Huger and other matriarchs from the Bravo Housewife franchises, Bravo News launches with court reporter Dr. Jen Edwards down in South Carolina, and much much more!

In which the Historians compare the men of Vanderpump Rules and Southern Charm, the privilege of extended adolescence, toxic masculinity, Bullying, feminist and LGBTQ+ representations on Bravo, Reiki therapy, guess “Who ‘Probably’ Did It,” the importance of female friendships to the project of feminism, and much much more! 


In which the Historians talk about the #HonH origin story, conferences, speculate about who isn’t Andy Cohen’s favorite housewife, the Suffrage Centennial, learn about what goes into making books, gab about Housewives’ product lines, and Dawn educates the Historians about the Housewives’ “apology economy.”

In which the Historians interview Tanisha Ford about the parallels between Karen Hueger and Molly Moon, the role of fashion in creating community and Project Runway, why clothes are so important to everyone’s day-to-day lives, why Million Dollar Listing LA is better than Million Dollar Listing New York, the eco-system of fashion, and much much more!

This episode the Historians on Housewives are joined by Tikia K. Hamilton to discuss her work on the history of school segregation in D.C., play Historians Hot Take: Lightning Round, explore the politics on RHOA and RHOP, and speculate about why Kim Fields produced a bounty hunters funeral.

The Historians introduce themselves, play a game, and discuss the legacies of American slavery and the family histories on Bravo's Southern Charm.