Past Present

In this episode, Natalia, Neil, and Niki discuss the national tampon shortage and the history of feminine products. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:  A national tampon shortage has until recently been dismissed as a minor inconvenience or even a punchline. We all drew on this Smithsonian history of menstrual products. Niki referred to this Atlantic essay on the history of the tampon, and Natalia to Lara Freidenfelds’ book, The Modern Period: Menstruation in Twentieth-Century America.   In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History: Natalia shared about ProPublica’s new study of adult literacy and referred to this New York Times article about challenges to a popular literacy program. Neil recommended Sasha Issenberg’s book, The Engagement: America’s Quarter-Century Struggle Over Same-Sex Marriage. Niki discussed Christopher Mathias’ HuffPost article, “Living With the Far-Right Insur