History Honeys 49: Live-Action Disney Films of the 1950s
Alaina turns her Disney series toward the company’s best known product! Well, maybe second-best-known. Following tentative steps, an accounting issue led to the studio’s first entirely live-action films, establishing some trends that have fallen away, and others that have continued for nearly 70 years. Are today’s teen Disney stars the last echo of the old studio system? What is lost in the selective memory of media? How much room is there for art on an assembly line?
History Honeys 50: Charles Guiteau and Leon Czolgosz
In 1881, a man killed the President of the United States. In 1901, another man killed another President of the United States. Grant teaches us about these two: their motivations, their preparations, their trials, and the effects of their acts. Is assassination a part of American politics? How do such different people meet at the same conclusion?
Bonus episode: C2E2 2018
Our annual trip to our local comic (and etc.) convention was a great time, and we’d like to share it with you! Here’s what we saw, did, and bought at 2018’s Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo.
History Honeys 51: Girl Scouts of the USA
Founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA has become “the world’s preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls”. As a lifetime member, Alaina tells us about Juliette Gordon Low’s life, the development of the program, and the current challenges they face. Also, cookies. When does an organization develop past its roots? How do two very similar programs take such different stances to the changing times?
History Honeys 52: Surrealism
As Dada began to burn itself out in the 1920s, a splinter movement rose from within: Surrealism. What we know now as an art movement began as a mode of thought, a philosophy, a practice. In this episode Grant teaches us about their goals, their political program, and where they all went once the band broke up. Can you exercize control over a movement meant to break boundaries and hierarchies? Is the most famous surrealist the worst at Surrealism? Which art movement would win in a fight?
Bonus episode: Firsthand Cedar Point
After learning about the nealry 150 year history of Cedar Point, we went there ourselves! In this bonus episode, we talk about the rides we experienced, the places we shopped, and the things we saw on our trip!
History Honeys 53: The Woman’s Building at the 1893 World’s Fair
Alaina returns to another small piece of 1893’s Columbian Exposition, and look at the Woman’s Building. Designed and decorated by trailblazing women, and filled with work and exhibits by women from around the world, it was one of the most popular buildings at the fair. The fair also hosted the World’s Congress of Representative Women, a week-long convention on women’s issues and a landmerk in early feminist history. Did it fulfill its purpose? Who benefited the most? What can women’s movements today learn from the successes and mistakes of 1893?
History Honeys 54: Operation Ajax
In the last days of the English empire, the people of Iran wanted to shake off the economic imperialism of British Petroluem. The movement spread, and the Americans got involved to defend the status quo. Grant teaches us about the factions in play, the tactics used, and the beginning of the US’s policy of regime change. When has imperialism improved the lives of people living under it? How can we accept the narrative that inciting chaos creates stability? Who’s next?
History Honeys 55: Guinness World Records
When you want to learn the best, the biggest, the most, there’s one resource that stands above the rest. Alaina teaches us the origin and developmentof the Guinness World Records, with a look at the lives of the founders and some large-scale failed attempts. How do you balance accuracy, reliability, and responsibility? What drives people to be the best at something? Are all our episodes this sumer going to be about people who hate the Irish?
History Honeys 56: The Voyage of the Damned
Grant tells us the story of the MS St Louis’s cruise in the spring of 1939. A cruise ship filled with 937 passengers left Nai Germany to escape persecution. In the end, most of them returned to it. How do you recognize a genocide before active extermination begins? What is stopping us from caring for those in danger? What does this have to do with 2018 America?
Bonus: Supplemental 2
This supplemental episode is a collection of bloopers, digressions, and other outtakes from almost the entire run of our show so far. Enjoy this collection of things we consider good enough to keep, even if they didn’t quite fit in the episodes they were recorded for.
History Honeys 57: Live-Action Disney Films of the 1960s
Alaina picks up from where a recent episode left off, and continues the story of Disney’s live-action productions through the 1960s. We spend our time following the lives and careers of recurring talent, as well as the films themselves and the trends they set. How many films did it take to pay for the enduring classics? How profitable does a star need to be to evade studio control? What size tennis shoes did the computer wear?
History Honeys 58: PBS
In this episode, Grant talks about the United States’ Public Broadcasting Service, the most trusted institution in the country. A need for non-commercial programming became a need for a federally-supported structure, which quickly became a national treasure. How does the profit motive shape content? What will it take for public broadcasting to continue? How much time could we spend just reminiscing?