Steven Mintz and Peter Stearns – The American Child

Have a child? Want to have a child? Listen to this podcast episode. The book—The American Child: The Transformation of Childhood Since World War II—by Steven Mintz and Peter Stearns, draws on a wealth of sources to bring an historical perspective to the profound transformations that have occurred in American childhood over the last 70 years, and their impact on children’s well-being.

The authors, award-winning historians, analyze how shifts in family life, education, and culture have reshaped childhood for good and not-so-good. And they suggest ways the less-than-good impacts can be improved upon.

Steven Mintz is a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a past president of the Society for the History of Children and Youth and the author of many prizewinning books including Huck's Raft: A History of American Childhood. He has chaired the Council on Contemporary Families, a non-partisan non-profit that fosters understanding of how and why families are changing, what needs and challenges they face, and how to meet those needs.

Peter Stearns is Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at George Mason University, where he also served as provost for 14 years. He has written extensively on the history of childhood, including Anxious Parents and Childhood in World History, now in its 4th edition. In 2022, he was awarded Scholar of Distinction by the American Historical Association. He also has several kids and grandkids, which provides its own perspective.

Attentive to issues of diversity in class, ethnicity, gender, nationality, and race, the authors place contemporary controversies—rising rates of anxiety, depression, ADHD diagnoses, and emotional distress—in an historical context and challenge simplistic and astigmatic explanations that blame single causes such as social media, the internet, or the decline of marriage. They look instead at the transformations in schooling, childrearing practices, children's play, kid's culture, and other areas. Their analysis reveals the deeper structural, cultural, and historical forces driving the challenges and opportunities facing children, as well as their parents and society.

The publisher, Oxford University Press, says that the historical perspective these two use “shows that concerns about the ‘kids these days’” as some disparagingly say, “are as old as civilization itself, but in truth, today's young people are healthier than in the past and less likely to drink, smoke, or engage in reckless sex. The digital age has enabled them to learn, grow, and connect with the world in ways that were previously unimaginable.

There is greater acceptance and understanding of diverse backgrounds, identities, and orientations, giving many children more freedom to express themselves and find communities that support them. Many young people are more politically knowledgeable and socially aware than previous generations, speaking out about climate change, gun control, and social justice.”

But as most everyone knows, everything is not perfect. Autism, attention deficit disorders, allergies, obesity, learning disorders, and online bullying, as well as suicidal ideation and self-harm, have become more prevalent. School shootings and the 24/7 news cycle make the world seem even more dangerous for children. This book sorts through all these things from an historical perspective and with a thorough-going analysis.

You can order their book, The American Child, directly from Oxford University Press here.

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Key Takeaways

• Childhood has fundamentally transformed since WWII— with less unstructured play, narrower independence, and a stronger influence of...

Since publishing his first book of fiction in 1980, Richard Bausch has produced ten collections of stories and thirteen novels. The tenth of those story collections, The Fate of Others, appeared this year. Already, he is working on his next novel. Here, he discusses the stories in this most recent collection, the novel he is working on, and a few of the stories from previous collections, revealing along the way how he does his work, where his stories come from, and the elements of craft he employs to achieve the level of success he aims for.

Over the course of his career, Richard Bausch has won numerous awards, including the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, the REA Award for Influence on the Short Story as a Form, two National Magazine awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

His work has appeared numerous times in The Best American Short Stories volumes, The Pushcart Prize anthologies, and The O.HenryAwards collections. His earliest stories first appeared in publications like The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Harper’s. Three feature-length motion pictures have been made from his writings. Currently, he teaches at Chapman University in Orange, California. Earlier, he taught at George Mason University and then at the University of Memphis.

Key Takeaways:

• How playful first lines can spark entire stories
• Why context matters more than “one true sentence” in short fiction
• The role of surprise in deepening the bond between writer and reader
• Themes of fate, love, and resilience that shape The Fate of Others

#UpstartCrowPodcast #RichardBausch #ShortStoryFiction

“In almost every good story, there is a moment that it all really turns on. And sometimes you don’t even know what it is until a reader points it out later. That’s the intimacy of fiction—the writer is as surprised writing it as the reader is discovering it.” - Richard Bausch

Hosted by William Miller

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Be sure to check out our website for more information about our hosts, guests, and ways you can support the show: https://upstartcrow.org/

Thank you for listening to Upstart Crow, a part of Watershed Lit Radio

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Copyright 2025 - Upstart Crow Podcast - All Rights Reserved

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Recorded & Produced by Jon D PodCom

Veteran journalist Jerry Mitchell discusses his work that led to four reopened murder cases from the Civil Rights era including those of Medgar Evers and the three men whose story was told in the movie Mississippi Burning, with the resulting trials leading to convictions of the murderers.

Historian Robert Luckett joins to discuss the sorts of changes in society, public awareness, and the justice system that allowed for the trials’ outcomes—including the addition to the juries of blacks, both men and women, and on the white side, the addition of women. They also discuss another well-known case from that time that stands out for its lack of a conviction, the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a case many liken to the George Floyd case of modern times.

As the Till case nears its 70th anniversary, Jerry and Robert discuss what these outcomes and situations mean for the country’s future and what might determine the course of that future.

Jerry Mitchell, a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius” award, worked for three decades for the Clarion-Ledger Mississippi newspaper and in his book Race Against Time details the reporting he did while with the Clarion-Ledger that led to re-opening four major murder cases from the Civil Rights era, and the trials that ended with convictions. He founded the non-profit Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, dedicated to exposing injustices, investigating cold cases, and giving voice to the voiceless. Currently he is associated with Mississippi Today, an on-line non-profit news outlet that boasts one of the largest newsrooms in Mississippi.

Robert E. Luckett Jr. is a history professor at Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., where he also directs the Margaret Walker Center and the COFO Civil Rights Education Center. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and carefully researched works, including a book that focuses on Joe T. Patterson, the Mississippi attorney general from 1956 to 1969. Robby and his work on Patterson were the focus of Upstart Crow episode No. 21. The book, Joe T.

Patterson and the White South’s Dilemma: Evolving Resistance to Black Advancement, offers a close read on the life and work of a dedicated white segregationist.

Hosted by William Miller

“To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.”

–William Faulkner

Special thanks to Liz Egan of Millsaps College for the introductions and help with logistics.

#CivilRightsJustice

#EmmettTillLegacy

#InvestigativeJournalism

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Be sure to check out our website for more information about our hosts, guests, and ways you can support the show: https://upstartcrow.org/

Thank you for listening to Upstart Crow, a part of Watershed Lit Radio

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Copyright 2025 - Upstart Crow Podcast - All Rights Reserved

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Recorded & Produced by Jon D PodCom