Internet Archive
Glimpses of Tanya Ransom It isn’t often that I get to see my father perform. Actually, it’s a pretty rare occurrence. I think the last time I saw him perform was when I was seven years old. Maybe 8, I...
View ArticleDressing in the Past to Learn in the Present
The Mary Sue ran a piece about a young woman named Stella Ehrhart yesterday. She does historical costume for school every day. By which I mean that she dresses as different historical figures each day...
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World AIDS Day
I grew up in a world most people will never see. My childhood was one where I knew about chest tubes, how to use syringes, running jokes about biohazard signs. I learned what sex was at the same time...
View Article“They’re Trying to Help a Dead Girl”
The hacking collectivist group Anonymous released a video of the Steubenville football players who took a 16-year-old girl from house to house and sexually assaulted her. They simultaneously posted...
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In the Shadow of Illness
I don’t remember ever being told my father was dying. I must have been too young when I internalized this information. I think I always knew he was sick, and since my dad was an AIDS educator, it...
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Why I Study Burlesque History
The first time I presented my research on obscenity law and burlesque, there was an old man sitting at the back of the room listening to my presentation (and the other two in the panel). During the...
View ArticleNews in Censorship: Banning Anne Frank
Some of you may not be aware of the fact that I do research on obscenity law as a part of my academic career which means I keep track of banned books and obscene materials in the news. Today I read...
View ArticleAccessing History
I am a trained historian. I love history. I bask in the eras I study, I immerse myself in the language of times past, in fact, I’m enough of a historian that I get paid to write alternate history....
View ArticleLoving History Never Made Anyone an Historian
When I was a kid I loved Sherlock Holmes, and thus the Victorian era, more than anything. I dressed up as Holmes for Halloween multiple years, as I grew older I collected Victorian clothes, dressed in...
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Raise A Glass to Freedom
When I was 11 years old I read a book by David McCullough. It was about John Adams. I devoured the tale of our country’s beginnings, completely fascinated by the idea that freedom could be fought for...
View ArticleThe Privilege of Survival
There’s a phrase going around a lot. People are saying it to make each other feel better, but to me, it’s not making anything better. In fact, it’s making things worse. “We survived Reagan.” My father...
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