This week, we’re unwrapping (not literally) a little piece of local journalistic history: one of 150,000 condoms distributed by The Boston Phoenix. In 1987, the alternative weekly published an issue that included a condom—donated by Trojan—and a guide to safer sex with every newspaper. They intended to raise awareness of the burgeoning AIDS crisis, and to court some controversy at a time when contraception itself was still up for debate in heavily Catholic Boston. As usual on this podcast, the story behind the story is just as fascinating, and Ken’s got insider info on the unique logistical challenges posed by getting all those condoms into all those papers. Join us for a tale of courageous publishing—and shortsighted stapling—on this slightly-racier-than-usual #brattlecast.
Brattlecast #232 - Almanacs
The Farmers’ Almanac will publish its last edition this year, ending a run that began in 1818. So how will we know when to plant our crops going forward? Don’t worry: there’s still the Old Farmers’ Almanac, which is now functionally the Only Farmers’ Almanac. Today we’re talking about the once-crowded landscape of American almanac publishing and flipping through a few examples from the late seventeen and early eighteen hundreds. In addition to covering agriculture, there were popular almanacs on medicine, navigation, abolition, and Christianity—and even satirical almanacs that parodied the genre. Designed to entertain as well as inform, these volumes offer a fascinating look at the everyday lives of average Americans hundreds of years ago, plus a wealth of folksy wisdom that may still apply today. Listen to learn more about a disappearing genre on this bucolic new #brattlecast.