Episode 161: "Fault Lines," Dry January, and the Sex Recession

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia welcome Princeton historians Kevin M. Kruse and Julian Zelizer to discuss their new book, Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974, followed by a discussion of “Dry January,” and new findings that young people are having less sex.

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

• Princeton historians Kevin M. Kruse and Julian Zelizer’s new book, Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974 is now available from W.W. Norton.
• Back in 2012, four thousand people abstained from drinking in January; in 2018, four million adopted “Dry January.” Natalia recommended historian Lisa McGirr’s The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State.
• Millennials, The Atlantic reports, are in a “sex recession.” Natalia referred to historian Gail Bederman’s book Manliness and Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States, 1880-1917. Niki referred to this Huffington Post piece regarding polling on sexual behaviors.

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

• Natalia recommended The Atlantic’s advertorial spread, “Five Ways to Make the Outdoors More Inclusive.”
• Neil commented on the Los Angeles Times article, “TSA to Deploy More Floppy-Ear Dogs because They’re Less Scary than Pointy-Ear Dogs.”
• Niki discussed Livia Gershon’s JSTOR Daily article, “Why Champagne?”