Feel Familiar? Emotionally Intelligent History

Andrew L. Erdman
  • 5.0 (3)
  • History

"Feel Familiar? Emotionally Intelligent History" explores important but sometimes overlooked events from the past to gain a clearer understanding of the present day. It connects broad, macro-level developments in politics and society to relatable, individual feelings and thoughts.

  1. 2d ago

    Elks, Freemasons, and Knights of Pythias: Womanless Weddings and the Golden Age of Fraternal Orders

    There was a time when millions of men across America joined frats for (kind-of) grownups: Elks, Knights of Pythias, and scores of others. What helped them bond with and bromance one another? You guessed it: impersonating women. Lodges totally embraced Womanless Weddings and other drag artistry. What better way to keep icky, yucky girls away?! Plus, Stephen will talk about reviewing The Crying Game when he was in college. Guest: Stephen Robinson.  Voice Actors: Mary Birdsong, Katty Biscone, and John Rincon Full list of sources for Season Two. Theme Music: Kelly Dwyer. Logo Design: Mary Birdsong. Producer/Editor: Joshua Dudley.

  2. Sep 10

    Varsity Athletes and War Heroes: Drag on Campus and in the Trenches in the Time of World War One

    Starting in the 1890s, American college students formed all-male clubs to put on elaborate drag plays and musicals. Harvard had Hasty Pudding, the University of Michigan had the Mimes, and the University of Pennsylvania, Mask & Wig. Luminaries from Teddy Roosevelt to Jimmy Stewart were members of these much-admired organizations. None-too-woke college professors and deans worried it might turn college men queer. But students and alumni cheered them on. Then, during the First World War, American, British, and Canadian soldiers used canvas and gauze to make costumes for wartime drag shows beloved by both the brass and the enlisted men. Also, Stephen talks about the right's ongoing preoccupation with the movie White Chicks. Guest: Stephen Robinson.  Voice Actors: Mary Birdsong, Katty Biscone, and John Rincon Full list of sources for Season Two. Theme Music: Kelly Dwyer. Logo Design: Mary Birdsong. Producer/Editor: Joshua Dudley.

  3. Sep 4

    Thank You, God, We’ll Take it From Here: How Doctors and Scientists Put Themselves in Charge of Sex and Gender, and What it Meant for Drag

    Beginning in the 1800s, doctors, researchers, and men of science decided sex and gender was suddenly in their wheelhouse, not the church's. Now if you were queer or cross-dressed, you weren't a sinner, just sick or "inverted." Havelock Ellis, Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Sigmund Freud, and others brought sexuality into the modern age. That had some serious repercussions for men who dressed like ladies for a living. But real men weren't about to give up drag. In fact, it all set the stage for what was has been called the golden age of female impersonation in America. Also, Stephen recounts how the thick-flannel grunge look was hard at the hot, subtropical University of Georgia, and Joshua recalls catching R.E.M. in Newport News, Virginia all those years ago. Voice Actors: Mary Birdsong, Katty Biscone, and John Rincon Full list of sources for Season Two. Theme Music: Kelly Dwyer. Logo Design: Mary Birdsong. Producer/Editor: Joshua Dudley.

  4. Aug 28

    Dames, Wenches, and “High Yallers”: From Camp Queens to the Minstrel Show’s Tragic Divas

    With women playing women onstage, female impersonation took a turn for the comical, the campy, and the cartoonish. Legendary "dames" like Dan Leno and Bert Savoy pioneered the art of "false disguise." During the late 1800s, that most troublingly American entertainment genre, the blackface minstrel show, reinvigorated heartfelt, illusionistic drag and set the stage for the return of men in "beautiful" and compelling female roles. Speaking of camp, we'll also talk about Andy's longtime fear of getting hit by lightning which started at the all-boys summer camp where kids dragged-up to do theatre. Voice Actors: Mary Birdsong, Katty Biscone, and John Rincon Full list of sources for Season Two. Theme Music: Kelly Dwyer. Logo Design: Mary Birdsong. Producer/Editor: Joshua Dudley.

  5. Aug 20

    Shakespeare, the Restoration, and the Rise of the Actress: Men Insisting They Make Better Women Than Women

    Juliet, Ophelia, and Lady Macbeth were all originally written for and played by men. Then women broke onto the scene and, for a time, theatre bros around London argued that drag artists were better than actual women onstage. We also talk about M*A*S*H, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and drag at Andy's all-boys summer camp.  Theme Music: Kelly Dwyer. Logo Design: Mary Birdsong. Producer/Editor: Joshua Dudley.

  6. Aug 14

    Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire… and Sweet Home Alabama: How Men Use Drag to Show Their Power

    You thought drag and female impersonation was something subversive and perverse? Think again! In Golden Age Greece 2,500 years ago, then later in Roman times, men dressed up as women onstage to enjoy power and prestige, and to show what a woman ought to look like. Cut to our day: the Alabama legislature might have banned drag, but at least one of those lawmakers dressed-up as a fetching lady for "Womanless Wedding," a decades-long tradition among prominent men in Dixie whose origins and meanings we will explore.  Voice Actors: Mary Birdsong, Katty Biscone, and John Rincon Full list of sources for Season Two. "Wagner Bridal Chorus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"  Theme Music: Kelly Dwyer. Logo Design: Mary Birdsong. Producer/Editor: Joshua Dudley.

  7. Season 2 Trailer

    Season Two: Trailer

    Welcome to Season Two of "Feel Familiar? Emotionally Intelligent History." We're looking at how drag has served men, boys, dudes, patriarchs, generals, politicians, and businessmen very nicely from olden days to the twentieth century. Our guest is journalist and podcaster Stephen Robinson (PlayTyperGuy.com). You'll also hear voice acting from Mary Birdsong, Katty Biscone, and John Rincon.  We hope you'll love Season Two: "'Womanless': How Drag and the Manosphere Have Been Bros, from Ancient Greece to the American Deep South." ("Wagner Bridal Chorus," Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/") Season Two sources. Theme Music: Kelly Dwyer. Logo Design: Mary Birdsong. Producer/Editor: Joshua Dudley.

  8. Feb 21 ·  Bonus

    BONUS: A Conversation with Hannah Smith

    Join us to explore feelings, thoughts, culty mobs, angry people, and how our brain can deceive us, while our reflective mind can save us. Featured guest is therapist, author, and mental health educator Hannah Smith, MA, LMHC, CGP,  founder of Potential-Finders Network and its education branch, The Village Education & Growth Collective. Hannah is also the author Lasting Change: Overcoming the Grip of Anxiety, Depression, & Trauma with "User-Friendly" Neuroscience. Theme Music: Kelly Dwyer. Logo Design: Mary Birdsong. Producer/Editor: Joshua Dudley.

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"Feel Familiar? Emotionally Intelligent History" explores important but sometimes overlooked events from the past to gain a clearer understanding of the present day. It connects broad, macro-level developments in politics and society to relatable, individual feelings and thoughts.

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