This 2022 episode covers how Courbet was iconic even in his own lifetime. He flew in the face of artistic convention, ushered in a new movement of Realism in France, and became embroiled in the country’s political turmoil.  

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Tracy shares her intentions to cover Peter Kropotkin years ago, and also unpacks some of the positive and negative aspects of his life.

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After returning to Russia, Kropotkin was captured and imprisoned. But his life took many turns from there, and in 1902 he published his book book “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution.”

Research:

• "Peter Alekseevich Kropotkin." Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, Gale, 1998. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631003701/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=ed5ae018. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.
• Adams, Matthew S. “Rejecting the American Model: Peter Kropotkin’s Radical Communism.” History of Political Thought , Spring 2014, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Spring 2014). https://www.jstor.org/stable/26227268
• Avrich, Paul, Miller, Martin A. "Peter Alekseyevich Kropotkin". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Feb. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Peter-Alekseyevich-Kropotkin. Accessed 23 March 2026.
• Avrich, Paul. “Kropotkin in America.” International Review of Social History , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , April 1980 , pp. 1 – 34 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020859000006192.
• Davis, Mike. “Kropotkin and Climate Change.” Transnational Institute of Social Ecology. 1/4/2018. https://trise.org/2018/01/04/kropotkin-and-climate-change/
• Kinna, Ruth. “Kropotkin's Theory of Mutual Aid in Historical Context.” International Review of Social History , AUGUST 1995, Vol. 40, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44583751
• Kropotkin, P. “Fields, Factories, and Workshops: or Industry Combined with Agriculture and Brain Work with Manual Work.” G.P. Putnam’s Sons. New York and London. 1913.
• Kropotkin, P. “Memoirs of a Revolutionist.” London. Swan Sonnenschein & Co. 1906.
• Kropotkin, P. “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution.” New York. McClure Phillips & Co. 1902.
• Kropotkin, Peter Alexeievich. "Memoirs of a Revolutionist." Terrorism: Essential Primary Sources, edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, Gale, 2006, pp. 11-13. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3456600019/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=f35f5dcf. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.
• Kropotkin, Peter. “Anarchism.” Encyclopedia Britannica 11th 1911.
• Kropotkin, Peter. “The Conquest of Bread.” New York. Vanguard Press. 1926.
• Macauley, David. "Anarchism." Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy, edited by J. Baird Callicott and Robert Frodeman, vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2009, pp. 38-40. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3234100023/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=d3a1d4db. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.
• Montpetit, Mathilde. “Peter Kropotkin’s Memoirs of a Revolutionist (1899).” The Public Domain Review. 1/13/2026. https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/kropotkin-memoirs/
• Moron, Gary Saul. “Kropotkin’s dead goose.” The New Criterion February 2022.
• Prince P. A. Kropotkin. Nature 106, 735–736 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/106735a0
• Quinn, Adam. “’Abolish the Monopolizing of the Earth’: Nature, Science, and the Environmental Politics of Transnational Anarchism.” Radical History Review. Issue 145 (January 2023). DOI 10.1215/01636545-10063606
• Saytanov, Sergey V. “The Anarchist Who Stood Up to Lenin and the Bolshevik Coup of October 1917.” History News Network. July 19, 2015. https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/the-anarchist-who-stood-up-to-lenin-and-the-bolshe
• Vollaro, Daniel. “When Anarchists Speak of Thoreau.” The Thoreau Society Bulletin, Spring 2016, No. 293 (Spring 2016). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44651625
• Wills, Matthew. “Peter Kropotkin, the Prince of Mutual Aid.” JSTOR Daily. 2/4/2025. https://daily.jstor.org/peter-kropotkin-the-prince-of-mutual-aid/

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Peter Kropotkin was incredibly influential in the development of anarchism in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Part one of this subject focuses on the formative moments in his early life that contributed to his becoming an anarchist communist.

Research:

• "Peter Alekseevich Kropotkin." Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, Gale, 1998. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631003701/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=ed5ae018. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.
• Adams, Matthew S. “Rejecting the American Model: Peter Kropotkin’s Radical Communism.” History of Political Thought , Spring 2014, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Spring 2014). https://www.jstor.org/stable/26227268
• Avrich, Paul, Miller, Martin A. "Peter Alekseyevich Kropotkin". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Feb. 2026, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Peter-Alekseyevich-Kropotkin. Accessed 23 March 2026.
• Avrich, Paul. “Kropotkin in America.” International Review of Social History , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , April 1980 , pp. 1 – 34 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020859000006192.
• Davis, Mike. “Kropotkin and Climate Change.” Transnational Institute of Social Ecology. 1/4/2018. https://trise.org/2018/01/04/kropotkin-and-climate-change/
• Kinna, Ruth. “Kropotkin's Theory of Mutual Aid in Historical Context.” International Review of Social History , AUGUST 1995, Vol. 40, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44583751
• Kropotkin, P. “Fields, Factories, and Workshops: or Industry Combined with Agriculture and Brain Work with Manual Work.” G.P. Putnam’s Sons. New York and London. 1913.
• Kropotkin, P. “Memoirs of a Revolutionist.” London. Swan Sonnenschein & Co. 1906.
• Kropotkin, P. “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution.” New York. McClure Phillips & Co. 1902.
• Kropotkin, Peter Alexeievich. "Memoirs of a Revolutionist." Terrorism: Essential Primary Sources, edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, Gale, 2006, pp. 11-13. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3456600019/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=f35f5dcf. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.
• Kropotkin, Peter. “Anarchism.” Encyclopedia Britannica 11th 1911.
• Kropotkin, Peter. “The Conquest of Bread.” New York. Vanguard Press. 1926.
• Macauley, David. "Anarchism." Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy, edited by J. Baird Callicott and Robert Frodeman, vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2009, pp. 38-40. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3234100023/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=d3a1d4db. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.
• Montpetit, Mathilde. “Peter Kropotkin’s Memoirs of a Revolutionist (1899).” The Public Domain Review. 1/13/2026. https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/kropotkin-memoirs/
• Moron, Gary Saul. “Kropotkin’s dead goose.” The New Criterion February 2022.
• Prince P. A. Kropotkin. Nature 106, 735–736 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/106735a0
• Quinn, Adam. “’Abolish the Monopolizing of the Earth’: Nature, Science, and the Environmental Politics of Transnational Anarchism.” Radical History Review. Issue 145 (January 2023). DOI 10.1215/01636545-10063606
• Saytanov, Sergey V. “The Anarchist Who Stood Up to Lenin and the Bolshevik Coup of October 1917.” History News Network. July 19, 2015. https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/the-anarchist-who-stood-up-to-lenin-and-the-bolshe
• Vollaro, Daniel. “When Anarchists Speak of Thoreau.” The Thoreau Society Bulletin, Spring 2016, No. 293 (Spring 2016). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44651625
• Wills, Matthew. “Peter Kropotkin, the Prince of Mutual Aid.” JSTOR Daily. 2/4/2025. https://daily.jstor.org/peter-kropotkin-the-prince-of-mutual-aid/

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This 2021 episode examines the Haymarket Riot, one of the many interconnected events and people and movements that are all integral to defining the basic idea of what a full-time job is in the U.S. 

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Holly talks about Gladys Bentley's gender presentation, and the trouble with Maceo Sheffield. She and Tracy also discuss James Braid's ethics in both medicine and hypnotism.

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Braid is known for his work in hypnotism. But he was also a surgeon with a reputation for pioneering new treatments before he became fascinated with the scientific underpinnings of mesmerism.

Research:

• Braid, James, and Arthur Edward Waite, ed. “Braid on hypnotism. Neurypnology; or, The rationale of nervous sleep considered in relation to animal magnetism or mesmerism and illustrated by numerous cases of its successful application in the relief and cure of disease.” London. George Redway. 1899. https://archive.org/details/braidonhypnotism00brai/page/n7/mode/2up
• “Clubfoot.” Cleveland Clinic. July 6, 2023. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16889-clubfoot
• Crabtree A. “1784: The Marquis de Puységur and the psychological turn in the west.” J Hist Behav Sci.2019;55:199–215. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhbs.21974
• Fletcher, George. “James Braid Of Manchester.” The British Medical Journal, vol. 2, no. 3590, 1929, pp. 776–77. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25334090
• Hull, Clark L. “Hypnotism in Scientific Perspective.” The Scientific Monthly, vol. 29, no. 2, 1929, pp. 154–62. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/14677
• “Hypnotism.” Yorkville Enquirer. Feb. 23, 1860. https://www.newspapers.com/image/339341468/?match=1&terms=James%20Braid
• Lafontaine’s Third Conversazione on Mesmerism.” The Manchester Times and Manchester and Salford Advertiser and Chronicle. Nov. 20, 1841. https://www.newspapers.com/image/406088965/?match=1&terms=lafontaine
• Loudon, I. “Why are (male) surgeons still addressed as Mr?.” BMJ (Clinical research ed.) 321,7276 (2000): 1589-91. doi:10.1136/bmj.321.7276.1589
• Macklis, R M. “Magnetic healing, quackery, and the debate about the health effects of electromagnetic fields.” Annals of internal medicine 118,5 (1993): 376-83. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-118-5-199303010-00009
• Martin, Christy. “Mesmerized.” Science History Institute. Dec. 6, 2011. https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/mesmerized/
• Bramwell, J. Milne. “Hypnotism and treatment by suggestion.” New York. Da Capo Press. 1982. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/hypnotismandtre00bramgoog/page/n6/mode/1up
• Rouse, Tyler. “The brief and strange history of mesmerism and surgery.” Hektoen International. Winter 2019. https://hekint.org/2018/12/24/the-brief-and-strange-history-of-mesmerism-and-surgery/
• Sandby, George. “Mesmerism and its opponents.” London. Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. 1848. https://archive.org/details/mesmerismandits01sandgoog
• “Sudden Death of Mr. James Braid, Surgeon.” The Guardian. March 26, 1860. https://www.newspapers.com/image/257847287/?match=1&terms=James%20Braid
• Weidow, Brandy, M.S. “James Braid.” Ebsco. 2024. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/health-and-medicine/james-braid
• Yeates, Lindsay Bertram. “James Braid: Surgeon, Gentleman Scientist, and Hypnotist.” University of New South Wales, Sydney. 2013. https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/entities/publication/7573cb34-ceb9-41bb-a8b1-0951e93fdd10

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Gladys Bentley was a part of the Harlem Renaissance as a performer – she played piano and sang in ways that drew huge crowds starting in the 1920s, and she was completely out as a lesbian. But her story takes some surprising turns.

Research:

• Adkins, Judith. “These People Are Frightened to Death.” Prologue Magazine. National Archives. Summer 2016. Vol. 48, No. 2. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2016/summer/lavender.html
• Britannica Editors. "rent party". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Nov. 2016, https://www.britannica.com/topic/rent-party
• Chase, Bill. “House Rent Parties Were an Institution.” New York Age. Oct. 29, 1949. https://www.newspapers.com/image/40993834/?match=1&terms=Gladys%20Bentley
• Church, Moira Mahoney. “If This Be Sin: Gladys Bentley And The Performance Of Identity.” University of South Carolia. (Theses and Dissertations.) 2018. https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5705&context=etd
• “Colored Detective Lieutenant Acquitted of Murder Charge.” Philadelphia Tribune. Aug. 4, 1927. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1135383911/?match=1&terms=Maceo%20Sheffield
• The Doll House advertisement. Dec. 12, 1947. https://www.newspapers.com/image/580248504/?match=1&terms=Gladys%20Bentley
• “Gladys Bentley, Entertainer, Dies.” Alabama Tribune. Montgomery, Alabama. February 12, 1960. https://www.newspapers.com/image/554602763/?clipping_id=66402293
• “Harlem’s Gladys Alberta Bentley, Friend Of Cary Grant, Stanwyck, And Others, Way ‘Out’ Ahead Of Her Time.” Harlem World. June 24, 2023 https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/harlems-gladys-alberta-bentley-friend-of-cary-grant-stanwyck-and-others-way-out-ahead-of-her-time/
• “J.T. Gipson Dead.” California Eagle. July 17, 1952. https://www.newspapers.com/image/693556889/?clipping_id=172230200
• Levette, Harry. “Movie Lots Gossip.” The Call. Aug, 22, 1952. https://www.newspapers.com/image/957555211/?match=1&terms=%22Never%20Married%20to%20Gladys%20Bentley%22
• Moses, Alvin. “Alvin Moses Says.” Chicago Defender. Dec. 30, 1944. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1135809373/?match=1&terms=Gladys%20Bentley
• “New York Police Launch Drive on Harlem Cafes.” The Chicago Defender. March 17, 1934. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1136311398/?match=1&terms=Gladys%20bentley
• Onion, Rebecca. “An Affectionate 1932 Illustrated Map of Harlem Nightlife.” Slate. April 15, 2016. https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/04/e-simms-campbell-s-1932-illustrated-map-of-harlem-nightlife.html
• Roy, Rob. “’8 to the Bar,’ Style Gladys Bentley Made Famous, a World Favorite Today.” The Chicago Defender. May 14, 1955. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1135895140/?match=1&terms=Gladys%20Bentley
• Russonello, Giovanni. “Gladys Bentley.” New York Times. Overlooked. 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/obituaries/gladys-bentley-overlooked.html
• Shah, Haleema. “The Great Blues Singer Gladys Bentley Broke All the Rules.” Smithsonian. March 14, 2019. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/great-blues-singer-gladys-bentley-broke-rules-180971708/
• “Wales Padlock Law Censors Risque Theater.” EBSCO. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/social-sciences-and-humanities/wales-padlock-law-censors-risque-theater
• Wilson, James F. “Bulldaggers, Pansies, and Chocolate Babies PERFORMANCE, RACE, AND SEXUALITY IN THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE.” University of Michigan Press. 2010.
• Winchell, Walter. “On Broadway.” Evening Courier. Feb. 6, 1933. https://www.newspapers.com/image/480106281/?match=1&terms=%22Gladys%20Bentley%22
• Yaeger, Patricia. “Editor’s Note: Bulldagger Sings the Blues.” PMLA, vol. 124, no. 3, 2009, pp. 721–26. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25614318

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This 2022 episode covers Moms Mabley, whose career lasted more than six decades. She was hugely influential, and inspired so many comedians and other performers who came after her.

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Holly and Tracy discuss the idea of autosuggestion and positive self-talk. Tracy shares her thoughts on writings about the Pompey stone. 

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The Pompey Stone was discovered in the early 1820s, and was believed to be hundreds of years old. It turned out to be a hoax, but a fairly benign one.

Research:

• Barber, John Warner and Henry Howe. “Historical collections of the state of New York : containing a general collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, &c. relating to its history and antiquities, with geographical descriptions of every township in the state ; illustrated by 230 engravings.” New York : S. Tuttle. 1841. https://archive.org/details/historicalcollec01barbg/
• Beauchamp, W.M. “The Pompey Stone.” The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal April-June 1911: Vol 33 Iss 2. https://archive.org/details/sim_american-antiquarian-and-oriental-journal_april-june-1911_33_2/page/7/ 
• Clark, Joshua Victor Hopkins. “Onondaga, or, Reminiscences of earlier and later times : being a series of historical sketches relative to Onondaga, with notes on the several towns in the county, and Oswego.” Syracuse, N.Y. : Stoddard and Babcock. 1849. https://archive.org/details/onondagaorremini00clar/
• Conlon, John Thomas. “The Beginnings of Catholicism in New Netherland.” United States Catholic Historical Society 1933: Vol 23. https://archive.org/details/sim_united-states-catholic-historical-society-records_1933_23/page/171
• Crowell, Kathy. “Early Development of the Town of Pompey.” Dwight H. Bruce (ed.), Onondaga's Centennial. Boston History Co., 1896, Vol. I, pp. 595-608; 627-631.. https://onondaga.nygenweb.net/POMPEY/EARLYDEV.HTM
• Homes, Henry A. “The Pompey (N.Y.) Stone with an Inscription and Date of A.D. ” Transactions of the Oneida Historical Society at Utica. 1881. https://archive.org/details/transactionsofon00onei/page/83/mode/1up
• Huguenin, Charles A. “The Pompey Stone.” New York Folklore Quarterly. Spring 1958: Vol 14 Iss 1. https://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-folklore-quarterly_spring-1958_14_1/
• O’Connor, Thomas F. “An Alleged Spanish Entrada into New York.” Mid-America : an historical review. Chicago, Ill. : Loyola University. 1943. https://archive.org/details/midamericahistor25unse/
• “Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society at the Semi-annual Meeting in Boston, April 29, 1863.” Boston. John Wilson and Son. 1863.
• Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe. “Notes on the Iroquois, or, Contributions to American history, antiquities, and general ethnology.” Albany : E.H. Pease. 1847. https://archive.org/details/bp_1739112/
• Squier, E. G. “Antiquities of the state of New York; being the results of extensive original surveys and explorations, with a supplement on the antiquities of the west.” Buffalo, G. H. Derby. 1851. https://archive.org/details/antiquitiesofsta00squi/
• “The Pompey Stone.” Harper's Weekly 1879-12-20: Vol 23 Iss 1199. https://archive.org/details/sim_harpers-weekly_harpers-weekly_1879-12-20_23_1199/page/983/mode/1up

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