Episode 132: Incels, Mormonism and Race, and Millennials and Personal Finance

In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil debate the “incel” community, the role of race in Mormon history, and the thrift-shaming of millennials.

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Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:

• In the wake of a Toronto terrorist attack, “incels,” or involuntary celibates, are gaining attention. Niki referred to this New York Times article about Jordan Peterson. Natalia cited Jia Tolentino’s New Yorker article on the origins of incel rage, Ross Douthat’s New York Times op-ed raising the possibility of the redistribution of sex, and this Washington Post column by historian Melissa J. Gismondi. Niki referred to this paper by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers.
• A hoax letter claiming the LDS Church was apologizing for its history of racism upset many. Natalia cited historian Sarah Barringer Gordon’s book The Mormon Question: Polygamy and Constitutional Conflict in Nineteenth Century America as well as historian Max Perry Mueller’s book Race and the Making of the Mormon People, which he discussed in an interview in The Atlantic. Neil referred to Linda Sillitoe’s book Salamander: The Story of the Mormon Forgery Murders.
• Financial planning recommendations to millennials are increasingly met with internet outrage. Natalia cited Rebecca Onion’s Slate article on the history of the thrift education movement, and Niki referred to historian Louis Hyman’s book Debtor Nation.

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Neil discussed the Guardian article, “Anne Frank’s ‘Dirty’ Jokes Found on Diary Pages She Covered Over.”
• Natalia talked about Historians on Hamilton: How a Blockbuster Musical is Restaging America’s Past, a new book edited by Claire Potter and Renée Romano.
• Niki shared this history of commercial flight in the 1930s and this WBUR segment on “What Happens When Someone on Your Flight Has a Medical Emergency.”