Podcast appearances and mentions of lara freidenfelds

Modern technology has saved countless pregnancies. Instead of mothers worrying if they'll survive childbirth, they're now able to focus on the child they're expecting – which Dr. Lara Freidenfelds, a historian, says has shifted our view of pregnancy. She explains how our mindset has changed over time and the repercussions that follow. Learn More: https://radiohealthjournal.org/the-perfect-pregnancy-doesnt-exist-childbirth-throughout-history Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Natalia, Neil, and Niki discuss the national tampon shortage and the history of feminine products. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show:  A national tampon shortage has until recently been dismissed as a minor inconvenience or even a punchline. We all drew on this Smithsonian history of menstrual products. Niki referred to this Atlantic essay on the history of the tampon, and Natalia to Lara Freidenfelds' book, The Modern Period: Menstruation in Twentieth-Century America.   In our regular closing feature, What's Making History: Natalia shared about ProPublica's new study of adult literacy and referred to this New York Times article about challenges to a popular literacy program. Neil recommended Sasha Issenberg's book, The Engagement: America's Quarter-Century Struggle Over Same-Sex Marriage. Niki discussed Christopher Mathias' HuffPost article, “Living With the Far-Right Insurgency in Idaho,” and her own column for CNN, “Arrests at Idaho Pride Event Could Be a Harbinger of Things to Come.”

Hagley Center program officer Gregory Hargreaves interviews Lara Freidenfelds about her research into the history of marketers' and advertisers' intense targeting of pregnant women, and its implications for early pregnancy loss. In support of her project, Freidenfelds, a historian of science, received a research grant from the Center for the History of Business, Technology, & Society. Pregnant women today face a barrage of advertising designed to lock-in brand loyalty during an emotionally and culturally sensitive time. The pressure to buy and consume and participate in the market may begin with the first hint of pregnancy. This was not always the case. Dr. Freidenfelds discovered that it took decades of deliberate effort to develop the techniques and infrastructures that pregnant women and new parents face today in American consumer culture. The story of one brand of baby bottle unlocked the fascinating tale. For more Hagley History Hangouts, and to learn more about the Center for the History of Business, Technology, & Society, visit us online at hagley.org.

In this episode, Sara interviews author and historian Lara Freidenfelds about her book The Myth of the Perfect Pregnancy. Lara discusses the knowledge we've gained about early pregnancy and miscarriage, as well as wisdom we've lost from earlier times.

Lara Freidenfelds argues parents should look forward to a "prepared" pregnancy instead of an "intended" pregnancy. Emily Oster of Brown University applies economics to parenting. Sam Payne on how to get your child to listen to your stories. Michael Mina explains how our immune system can have its own amnesia. Robert Sheperd shares new discoveries that allow robots to swim autonomously. Jennifer Jenkins gives us an update on text and music entering the public domain this year.

Just 100 years ago, getting a period often meant shock, bewilderment and an old rag in your panties. From pads to tampons to the pill, we've come a long way. Historian Lara Freidenfelds joins us to discuss how industrialization changed periods, spurring the advent of menstrual pads and tampons and a new realm of menstrual education. And we explore a growing movement to embrace periods in a whole new way.

Our producer is pregnant. For the past nine months people have asked what her birth plan is, which to her seems like asking what kind of weather she had planned for her wedding day. “All of a sudden my life was full of these terms: natural, medicated, doula, epidural, and it quickly became clear that there was a great debate—and I was supposed to choose a side.”  We wanted to know when this controversy started, and why comedian Amy Schumer is joking about sea-turtle births. So we talked to Lara Freidenfelds, a historian of sexuality, reproduction, and women’s health in America, and learned some surprising things about our nation’s early childbirth practices. Freidenfelds also shared her views about why a growing number of women are opting for unmedicated births, while Amy Tuteur, a retired obstetrician and the author of Push Back: Guilt in the Age of Natural Parenting, tells us that once upon a time all births were natural—and a lot of mothers and babies died. Show Clock 00:01 Inside Amy Schumer: "It's Better for the Baby" 01:00 Intro 02:32 Feature story: "I Can't Get To You" 11:25 Amy Tuteur and Lara Freidenfelds discuss the history and controversy behind natural childbirth Credits Hosts: Michal Meyer and Bob Kenworthy Guests: Amy Tuteur and Lara Freidenfelds Reporter: Kristin Gourlay Producer: Mariel Carr Associate Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez Audio Engineer: Seth G. Samuel Music Music courtesy of the Audio Network.

On this week’s Past Present podcast, Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and Neil Young discuss Jeb Bush and the history of frontrunners, the modern period, and trigger warnings.  Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Jeb Bush was the presumed frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president in 2016, but he’s quickly lost the top spot in the campaign. Frontrunners have often been unable to secure their party’s nomination. Neil tracked “frontrunner” on Google’s Ngram Viewer and found it was first used in 1924, but until 1960 it was mostly used in the context of horseracing. Niki noted that the jump of “frontrunner” language from horseracing to politics after 1960 was in keeping with what a 2012 Atlantic article had called the “Sports Center-ization” of political journalism.Menstruation has a long history. Some women are practicing “free bleeding” as a feminist project to reclaim the period from its history of shame and taboo. Natalia recommended Lara Freidenfelds’ history of menstruation in the twentieth century and an Atlantic article about the history of the tampon. The marketing of tampons and other feminine hygiene products have changed remarkably in recent years, perhaps most clearly in the humorous Camp Gyno ads for the tampon subscription service, HelloFlo.   The controversy over “trigger warnings” on college campuses today has become a hot media topic, but is it a real phenomenon? A recent Atlantic article by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt lamenting the “coddling of the American mind” certainly seemed to think so.  While liberal students in the 1960s protested for greater free speech on campus, liberal students today have called on universities to limit and publish offensive speech for the purposes of ensuring a “safe space.” Natalia noted this had also transformed how college students are dealing with sexual assault on campus, holding universities more accountable for these crimes than the perpetrators, a development Natalia has written about for the Notches blog.  In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History: Natalia discussed SeaWorld San Diego’s decision to end its killer whale performances after protests following the release of the 2013 documentary “Black Fish.”Neil commented on the defeat of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) last week, a nondiscrimination measure that opponents termed the “bathroom bill.” Neil wrote for Slate last week that conservative activists have used fears over public restrooms to defeat equal rights measures since the 1970s. Niki shared an article that asserted the ballpoint pen, rather than the computer, was what killed cursive writing.  

At the beginning of the 19th century women in the United States had an average of seven or eight children. By 1900 they had only three or four, and today 35% of Americans have exactly two children. How did this happen? This episode of Distillations explores the role technology has played in reproduction, and how it has affected the ethical and moral landscape that surrounds it. First, reporter Allison Quantz talks to her sister to find out what she plans to do with her extra frozen embryos. Along the way Quantz learns that there are more than one million frozen embryos in the United States with similar uncertain futures. Then we talk with Deanna Day, a historian of medicine and technology and a post-doctoral fellow at CHF, and Lara Freidenfelds, a historian who writes about women’s health, sex, and reproduction in America. SHOW CLOCK: 00:03 Introduction 01:46 A tale of unused embryos 11:35 Interview with Deanna Day and Lara Freidenfelds CREDITS: Hosts: Michal Meyer and Bob Kenworthy Guests: Deanna Day and Lara Freidenfelds Reporter: Allison Quantz Producer & Editor: Mariel Carr Music courtesy of Audio Network and the Free Music Archive.   Check out Distillations magazine at distillations.org, where you'll find articles, videos, and our podcast.