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Black and white headshot of author Livia Gershon

Livia Gershon

Livia Gershon is a freelance writer in Nashua, New Hampshire. Her writing has appeared in publications including Salon, Aeon Magazine and the Good Men Project. Contact her on Twitter @liviagershon.

Sheet music from Barnum's Baby Shows
Politics & History

Babies on Display

In the mid- to late nineteenth century, people showed off their infants at baby shows.
Ayuba Suleiman Diallo
Education & Society

The Lost History of Early Muslim Americans

 Islam in America is clearly nothing new.
Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog
Arts & Culture

Snoop Dogg, Martha Stewart, and Whiteness

Martha Stewart has a new show with Snoop Dogg, premiering November 7 on VH1.
voter fraud
Politics & Government

Creating the Voter Fraud Myth

Although in-person voter fraud is close to nonexistent, it’s a big concern for many voters.
Andrew Carnegie
Business

The Social Responsibility of American Industrialists

In the 1890s, the first public relations professionals began advising the wealthy on how to use philanthropy to placate the public. 
Chick Tract
Education & Society

Chick Tracts and the Culture Wars

Jack Chick has been called the “most widely read theologian in history.” His Chick tracts have circulated for years. He was also vehemently anti-Catholic.
scared kid
Education & Society

How Scary is Too Scary?

Halloween poses questions for parents, like how scary is too scary for their kids? The answer depends on when we ask the question.
Business woman
Business

The Businesswomen of Early Twentieth Century America

Women's roles in the business world partly depended on their status as consumers in the early twentieth century.
soap carving
Business

When Corporations Co-opt Crafts

Procter & Gamble made its industrially produced soap the basis for a revival of an ancient craft, leading to a huge fad for soap carving.
Trump Tower
Business

Do Corporate Leaders Need to Pay Taxes?

Donald Trump’s claim that he had a fiduciary duty to minimize his taxes has sparked a conversation about business ethics. Are CEOs obligated to avoid taxes?
Polish refugees
Politics & History

Refugees Have Always Made Americans Nervous

What happens when a big stream of refugees enters an American community, bringing their foreign customs and values and taking scarce jobs?
Strikers fight police in Minneapolis, c. 1934
Politics & History

The Checkered History of Colleges, Unions, and Scabs

In the early twentieth-century, some aristocratic college men were eager to prove their masculinity by working as strikebreakers.
Nixon transcripts
Politics & Government

What Affects Our Trust in Government?

Government distrust has been on the decline for decades, but a recent poll shows a slight increase.
Oprah and Obamas
Politics & Government

A Little Political Knowledge Is…Much Better Than Nothing

Studies show that viewers do gain political knowledge through daytime television and other forms of "soft news."
Jail Cell
Politics & History

A Non-Punitive Response to Juvenile Crime

It wasn’t until recently that federal juvenile justice policy swung sharply toward prosecution and tough sentencing.
Woman at Bank of England
Business

The Long History of Financial Advice for Women

There's a whole modern industry devoted to promoting women’s financial literacy.
Close Up Of Pregnant Woman Smoking Cigarette
Politics & History

Addicted Mothers: Substance Abusers or Child Abusers?

Are mothers with addictions abusive or victims? Our answer almost always involves race and class.
Nixon Kennedy televised debate
Politics & Government

How Televising Presidential Debates Changed Everything

Ever since Kennedy-Nixon, televised debates have given viewers an insight into candidates' policies—and their personalities, too.
Grand Central terminal clock
Business

How America Got its Time Zones

Boston is considering joining the Atlantic time zone. How did Americans decide on time zones anyway?
Phyllis Schlafly
Politics & History

Phyllis Schlafly and the Meaning of Antifeminism

From today’s vantage point, many of the anti-feminist ideas Phyllis Schlafly espoused sound extreme. But are they?
September 11 memorial
Education & Society

How 9/11 Changed Americans

15 years after 9/11, what are the lasting effects on Americans' psychology?
Hazelton PA postcard
Business & Economics

Could Immigration Save Middle America?

This election season has drawn enormous attention to the anxiety that many Americans in economically-distressed rural places seem ...
Mather School, Dorchester Massachusetts
Education

Where American Public Schools Came From

How American public schools came to be taxpayer-funded.
Old wedding photo
Education & Society

Marriage: Not What It Used to Be

Marriage and relationship advice has changed as the institutions evolve.
A woman in the kitchen of her mobile home in New Ulm, Minnesota, 1974
Business

Class and the Glass Ceiling

Feminism and "women's work" have looked very different for U.S. women depending on their class.

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