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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.

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.
scrap heap
Politics & History

Putting Garbage Out of Sight

Recycling has always been something most people would prefer to keep at arm's length.
Wren Library, Cambridge University
Education

Political Correctness Redux

The conservative anti-PC movement of the 1990s has its roots in a backlash against the Civil Rights movement.
Hastings Muskogee Hatchery 1911
Business

When Refrigeration Was Controversial

What the ordinary egg has to do with your refrigerator.
Green Dragon Tavern
Politics & History

A Brief History of US Drinking

In 1770, the average colonial Americans consumed about three and a half gallons of alcohol per year, about double the modern rate.
42nd Street 1980s
Education & Society

Is There Really a Link between Mental Illness and Homelessness?

"Housing first” programs are helping cut homelessness in big ways. How significant is the link between mental illness and homelessness?
Riverdale Courts, Toronto
Education & Society

The Social Engineering of Affordable Housing

Pushes for affordable housing, and even social engineering be it Silicon Valley in 2016, or Toronto in 1912.
Clinton welfare reform
Business & Economics

Why Welfare Reform Didn’t End Welfare Stigma

20 years after welfare reform, stigma surrounding cash benefits remains.
19th century police
Politics & Government

The Birth of the “Policed Society”

Over the course of the nineteenth century policing became increasingly professionalized.

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