On The Podcast: Rep Sweats, Or, 'I Don't Know If I Like This, But I Need It To Win' Kat and Gene hash out something they've been mulling over for a while: that feeling of obligation that you have to root for something, because it's theoretically for you.

Kind of a 1930s version of what NPR CodeSwitch has called "rep sweats"

Black Protestants and Latter-day Saints followed programs like Wings over Jordan and Music and the Spoken Word closely—listening every week, rooting for them, cringing at their flaws, trying to shape them

But one of my key points: even when these programs reached broad audiences, they often mattered most to the communities they represented (even though the industry often assumed Black listeners didn’t have the $$ for radios and so didn’t imagine them as part of the audience).

The programs I wrote about were designed to appeal to a cross-section of the audience—and they did. They weren’t crossovers (bc the radio market wasn’t yet segmented like the recording industry) but their mass appeal was a forerunner to Motown, the Golden Gate Quartet, Nat King Cole, etc.

At the same time, when they could get on the air, radio often served as a “trapdoor” (Susan J. Douglas) for developing an appreciation of other cultures—partly because radio detached sounds from bodies and was both free and potentially private (no material evidence of what you listened to).

This is part of what made it so hard for racial, religious, and ethnic minorities to break into the industry—they were seen as incapable of appealing to a broad audience.

Radio didn’t really begin to recognize and cater to distinct market segments until the late 1940s. Before that, broadcasting was imagined to appeal to a BROAD audience and therefore targeted the “average American” (thought to be white, middle-class, Protestant, etc).

You totally should—I’d love to hear your thoughts! As for segregated music, part of it comes down to the different timeframe between these 1930s/1940s programs and the emergence of CCM.

Ultimately, this history underscores the complex promise and peril of cultural representation for underrepresented groups. /7

doi.org/10.1017/rac....

Using network records, newspapers, listener letters, and a few extant recordings, the article illustrates the subtle yet integral role of sound in forming racial and religious identities, including the emerging category of “American religion.” /6

Examining these marginalized programs reveals a more racially diverse radio audience than commonly assumed, as well as how nonwhite Americans listened closely and sought to influence these programs. /5

The result was a set of flawed yet beloved programs that both challenged and reinforced the assumed whiteness of network radio and of the nation it purported to reflect. /4

To get on the air and to stay there, groups like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Wings over Jordan had to skillfully navigate the demands of white industry executives and multiracial audiences. /3

Though often dismissed as inconsequential, I show how broadcasting’s so-called Sunday morning “religious ghetto” became home to network radio’s largest concentration of nonwhite performers prior to the 1950s. These exceptional programs shaped how Americans heard race and religion. /2

My newest article is out! It argues that racial and religious outsiders, such as Black Protestants and white Latter-day Saints, used sacred music to break into powerful networks' exclusive programming lineups during the height of radio's national influence 🗃️ #amrel #radio

Fascinating 👇

Black Protestants & white Latter-day Saints infiltrated networks’ programming lineups, producing sounds that challenged & reinforced assumed whiteness of network radio and the nation, forming racial and religious identities, including the emerging category of “American religion.”

"Changes to centers and institutes were initially projected to save $4.8 million."

Bill Belichick's annual salary is $10 million.

Confronting the Rainbow Panic The erasure of LGBTQ+ stories from the National Park Service and other government websites has a long history.

Earlier this year, @wendylrouse.bsky.social was one of the first to sound the alarm about federal censorship of historical work. Today at #AHAPerspectives, she writes about what happened with her own article on the NPS website and the longer history of LGBTQ+ erasure. 🗃️

W.E.B. Du Bois on Robert E. Lee:

“Either he knew what slavery meant when he helped maim and murder thousands in its defense, or he did not. If he did not he was a fool. If he did, Robert Lee was a traitor and a rebel–not indeed to his country, but to humanity and humanity’s God.”

This is so ridiculous — she’s apparently down to talk with folks if anyone is interested.

@snmrrw.bsky.social , @acluva.bsky.social
@bobbyallyn.bsky.social

#Facebook appears to have kicked this education professor off its platforms bc she quoted Harvey Milk. #meta apparently considers calling for “a safe and supportive environment” for all young people a form of child exploitation.

Happy Pride Month from our corporate overlords! 🌈 #pride #pride2025

Groups Are Told That Federal Humanities Grants Are Canceled (Gift Article) Letters informed grant recipients that funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities would be redirected to furthering “the president’s agenda.”

“We are in danger of not being able to help this next generation of American citizens understand the nation’s past,” said Cathy Gorn, the exec. dir. of National History Day. “There’s a lot to lose here.”

Canceled remaining National History Day funding: $825,000 🗃️

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/a...

Opinion | Trump’s War on D.E.I. Is Really a War on Civil Rights The genius of the right-wing crusade against D.E.I. is that the term is amorphous enough that it can mean many different things to many different people.

"[For the Right], D.E.I...is the mere presence of a woman or nonwhite person or disabled or transgender person in any high-skilled, high-status position. And their alternative isn’t some heretofore unknown standard of merit; it is the reintroduction of something like segregation."

(gift link)

Stonewall page on the National Park Service website: "By the time of Stonewall... we had 50 to 60 gay groups in the country. A year later... 1500." Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGB civil rights and provided momentum for a movement.

UPDATE: The National Park Service have now removed “queer” and the “Q+” from the web page for stonewall, along with any mentions of transgender people.

A national park service webpage about Stonewall. "Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (LGBQ+) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGBQ+ civil rights and provided momentum for a movement."

‼️ The National Park Service has REMOVED mentions of transgender people being involved with Stonewall. Not only did the remove the world "Transgender" but changed "LGBTQ+" to "LGBQ+".

The federal government is attempting to erase us and take away our history.

This pride, we riot.

Trump administration set to purchase $400 million worth of armored Teslas That's according to a public State Department procurement document. It comes as ethics experts raise conflict of interest questions about the chief executive of Tesla, Elon Musk, who is a top White Ho...

A public State Department procurement document for fiscal year 2025 listed the purchase for $400 million. It comes as ethics experts raise conflict of interest questions about Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is a top White House official.

Checks and balances are apparently as outdated as balancing a checkbook #civics #ConstitutionalCrisis

Every professor should join the AAUP right now if you haven't. www.aaup.org

Also join your local campus workers union, or any other union relevant to your work (they do different things!).

If the government won't protect us, and our administrations won't protect us, we need to protect each other.

Each executive order is terrible on its own, but the cumulative effect is the impression that POTUS is the government and everything else—Congress, courts, local gov, etc — doesn’t matter.

Wow, love the design!