Why is book banning on the rise in the United States? Are the children in danger? And what does “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” have to do with all of this? This week, we tell the story of the modern book banning, the “Ed Scare” movement, and how adults project political messages onto children's literature.

You will learn:

• Why are books banned?
• How did today’s book banning movement start?
• What gives children’s books the power to compel adults to politically organize?
• How does this power change from pro or anti censorship perspectives?

Sections:

• 0:00 - Intro
• 1:48 - If You Give a Mouse a Cookie & Book Banning
• 12:00 - Debrief
• 43:19 - Announcements (and roasting M4L)

Follow us:

• TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@roughdraftmedia
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/roughdraftseattle/

Sources:

• [Washington Post, 2015] One of America’s most Popular children's books has a secret political messagehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/21/one-of-americas-most-popular-childrens-books-has-a-secret-political-message/
• [Slate, 2020] How a Classic Children’s Book Got Hijacked by the Culture Warshttps://slate.com/culture/2020/02/if-you-give-a-mouse-a-cookie-welfare-culture-wars.html
  [PEN America, 2023] Banned in the USA: Mounting Pressure to Censurehttps://pen.org/report/book-bans-pressure-to-censor/

Has your favorite artist had a thing or two to say about the ever-so-elusive club that makes up the Grammys? We are willing to bet that they have.

On January 4, 2024, Jay-Z accepted Dr. Dre’s Global Impact Award at the Grammys with a poignant criticism of the misrepresentation of Black artists, specifically his wife Beyonce. In his own words, “She has more Grammys than anyone and never won album of the year. Even by your own metrics that doesn’t work’.” We want to find out why.

This week we are adding some context to Jay-Z’s Grammy speech, and taking a deeper look into the tumultuous racial history of the Grammys.

You will learn:

• What did Jay-Z have to say about the Grammys? Why now?

• Who is behind the Grammys? - Who profits from the show? What is the Recording Academy?

• When did the Grammys start? - Why? What major changes have happened in its history?

Sections

00:00 - Welcome

01:50 - Jay Z’s Acceptance Speech

14:03 - Debrief

48:29 - Announcements

Follow us

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@roughdraftmedia

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/roughdraftseattle/

Sources

[Britannica] The Grammys

[NPR] When Will Black Artists be Ready to Break Up With the Grammys?

[NPR] A Deeper Look at Representation Issues at the Grammys

[Wikipedia] Grammy Awards

How did Florence Nightingale manage to stop British soldiers dying of infection before germ theory was discovered? This week we are sharing the story of the Mother of Nursing, the Lady with the Lamp, the one and only Florence Nightingale as we ask questions about medical history, patriarchy, and the history of women in STEM.

Sections

00:00 - Intro

00:15 - Florence Nightingale’s Story

08:25 - Debrief

34:54 - Announcements

Follow us

TikTok - @roughdraftmedia

Instagram - @roughdraftseattle

YouTube - @canitellyousmthpodcast

Featured images

[00:29] Map of the Crimean Peninsula

[06:55 & 16:23] Diagram of the causes of mortality in the Army in the East - Florence Nightingale

Sources

[Britannica] Florence Nightingale Biography

[Florence Nightingale] Notes on nursing: what it is, and what it is not.

[NIH] The little-known history of cleanliness and the forgotten pioneers of handwashing

[SAP] Reworking Florence Nightingale’s Diagram

You may be familiar with NASCAR, you may also be familiar with Prohibition, but how did these two worlds collide? This week Brendan and Claire take you deep into Appalachia where between 1919 and 1933, outlaws hired the best drivers to deliver their Moonshine, birthing the culture that would one day become NASCAR.

Sections

• 00:00 - Intro

• 00:55 - Prohibition & NASCAR

• 18:22 - Debrief & Discussion

• 37:09 - Announcements

Follow us

TikTok - @roughdraftmedia

Instagram - @roughdraftseattle

YouTube - @canitellyousmthpodcast

Featured images

• [03:01] Cop demonstrates a “bootlegging” technique

  Flashback: Oklahoma moonshiners and bootleggers whiskey stash raids

• [07:16] Wrecked bootlegger cars (Ford Model-T)

  The Dry Years: Selected Images Relating to Prohibition (Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress)

• [22:56] NASCAR fire suits

  Evolution of fire suits in NASCAR

Sources

• [History Channel] History of Stock Car Racing

• [Study.com] Bootlegging & the Prohibition | History & Facts

• [Britannica] Bootlegging | Definition, History, & Facts

• [NASCAR Hall of Fame] NASCAR’s Moonshine Roots

• [The Mob Museum] NASCAR Rooted in Prohibition Bootlegging

• [University of North Carolina] Prohibition, Bootlegging, & the Origins of NASCAR | Understanding the American South

• [History Channel] President Nixon signs legislation banning cigarette ads on TV and radio | April 1, 1970

• [Truth Initiative] What do tobacco advertising restrictions look like today?
  

If you’ve been to IKEA, you’ve likely noticed that every product name is Swedish. Now what if I told you that IKEA’s product names follow a set of rules created by its founder, Ingvar Kamprad? This week, Brendan and Claire put their IKEA product knowledge (and their Swedish) to the test with an IKEA Quizlet.

Socials

• Instagram - @roughdraftseattle

• TikTok - @roughdraftmedia

Sources (in order of reference)

• [Quartz] The secret taxonomy behind IKEA's product names, from Billy to Poäng

• [Wikipedia] List of countries with IKEA stores

• [Quizlet] IKEA Matching Game Flashcards

• [IKEA Museum] Read about BILLY bookcase from 1979

• [Lars Petrus] The IKEA Dictionary

• [Sticky Branding] IKEA's Surprisingly Brilliant Product Branding Strategy

Sections

• 00:00 - Intro
• 01:26 - IKEA product naming system
• 11:05 - IKEA Quizlet
• 24:10 - Debrief & discussion
• 35:31 - Wrap up

The BLM Garden in Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park was destroyed by the city on December 27th at 6am. This week, we bring you the story of how a beloved community garden was caught in the crossfire of Seattle mayor Bruce Harrel’s campaign to hide homelessness and other symptoms of poverty. Whether or not you’re from Seattle, this story will resonate with guerilla gardeners, DIYers, and community leaders everywhere.
Sections

• 00:00 - Intro

• 00:39 - What was CHOP/CHAZ?

• 02:56 - What happened to the BLM Garden?

• 11:02 - Debrief & discussion

• 34:31 - Future followup

Sources

• Black Star Farmers

• Petition · Save the Black Lives Memorial Garden in Capitol Hill, Seattle · Change.org

• Made in the CHOP, Seattle's BLM mural to become permanent

• Statement on the removal of the Cal Anderson garden - Parkways

• Meet the Farmer Behind CHAZ's Vegetable Gardens - The Stranger

• The City of Seattle Destroyed the Black Lives Memorial Garden - The Stranger

• Encampment Inspections & Cleanups - Human Services | seattle.gov

• Where to go when nature calls? Seattle has a public restroom problem

• Just 11 Percent of Encampment Residents End Up Sheltered After Sweeps; City Could Bring Back Neighborhood Corner Stores - PubliCola

• Encampment sweeps: What they are and how they are harmful | ACLU of Washington
  

The clip of Rep. Elise Stefanik grilling the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and UPenn about antisemitism on college campuses seems to have reached every corner of the internet. This week, Brendan and Claire break down the events that led to this clip, providing viewers with the necessary context to dissect the far-right agenda behind Stefanik’s line of questioning. Learn how viral clips such as this help spread misinformation, distracting us from pressing humanitarian issues.

Sections

• 00:00 - Intro

• 01:55 - Viral Elise Stefanik clip

• 05:16 - Adding context - 2023 Israel-Hamas War

• 08:12 - College campus protest culture

• 12:03 - Harvard student pro-Palestine letter

• 18:06 - December 5th Hearing (clip origin)

• 36:30 - Harvard’s antisemitic history

• 38:56 - Stefanik wants to oust college presidents

• 41:04 - Debrief

• 50:19 - Shoutouts

Sources (in order of reference)

• (How) will the revolution be retweeted?: information diffusion and the 2011 Egyptian uprising

• UW Center for an Informed Public

• Committee on Education and the Workforce

• Elise Stefanik - X (Twitter)

• Elise Stefanik - Wikipedia

• Elise Stefanik endorsement of Carl Paladino

• 'From the river to the sea': Why these 6 words spark fury and passion over the Israel-Hamas war

• German American Bund | Holocaust Encyclopedia

• Universities and antisemitism (Harvard) - Wikipedia

• The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton

• Rep. Elise Stefanik on X: "One down. Two to go. - X (Twitter)

• Ground News

Socials

• Instagram - @canitellyousmthpodcast

• TikTok - @canitellyousmthpodcast
  

What is gender essentialism? Who does it impact? In today’s first installment of Learning From Lesbians, we answer these questions (and more) with the guidance of our close personal friends, Emma and Sarah. Join us for a thoughtful discussion between a straight and a queer couple as we trace modern gender roles back to Pope John Paul II’s “The Theology of the Body,” a series of 129 lectures from 1979 to 1984.

Sections

00:00 - Intro

03:27 - What is gender expressionism?

25:10 - How it defines gender roles

33:07 - Questioning gender

43:45 - Debrief

Socials

TikTok - @canitellyousmthpodcast

Instagram - @canitellyousmthpodcast