The world lost a legend recently, and we wanted in some small way to pay tribute to the great Dolly Parton. So we’re playing you an episode from a series we had a small part in back in 2017, Dolly Parton’s America.
The series kicked off with a simple question: How did the queen of the boob joke become a feminist icon? Helen Morales, author of “Pilgrimage to Dollywood,” gave us a stern directive – look at the lyrics! So we dive into Dolly’s discography, starting with the early period of what Dolly calls “sad ass songs” to find remarkably prescient words of female pain, slut-shaming, domestic violence, and women being locked away in asylums by cheating husbands. We explore how Dolly took the centuries-old tradition of the Appalachian “murder ballad”—an oral tradition of men singing songs about brutally killing women—and flipped the script, singing from the woman’s point of view. And as her career progresses, the songs expand beyond the pain to tell tales of leaving abuse behind.
How can such pro-woman lyrics come from someone who despises the word feminism? Best to let Dolly tell you herself. EPISODE CREDITS:
Reported by - Jad Abumrad and Shima Oliaee
Produced by - Jad Abumrad
with help from - W. Harry Fortuna
Original music from - Alex Overington
Sound design contributed by - Alex Overington
and Edited by - Suzie Lechtenberg
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Museums are purging their collections of looted treasures. Can they also get something in return? And what does it mean to be a museum in the 21st century? (Part 3 of an updated series originally published in 2023.)
SOURCES:
Patricia Allan, museum consultant, former curator of world cultures for the Glasgow Museums.
Andrea Bayer, deputy director for collections and administration at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
Victor Ehikhamenor, Nigerian writer and artist.
Patty Gerstenblith, professor emeritus of law at DePaul University College of Law.
Tom Wilkening, professor of economics at the University of Melbourne.
RESOURCES:
"After Seizures, the Met Sets a Plan to Scour Collections for Looted Art," by Robin Pogrebin and Graham Bowley (The New York Times, 2023).
"Nigeria Benin Bronzes: Buhari Declaration 'Blindsides' Museum Officials," by Barnaby Phillips (B.B.C., 2023).
"Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns Policy," by the Smithsonian Ethical Returns Working Group (2022).
"Protecting Antiquities: A Role for Long-Term Leases?" by Michael Kremer and Tom Wilkening (Working Paper, 2015).
EXTRAS:
“Stealing Art Is Easy. Giving It Back Is Hard,” series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
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First up on the podcast, will it ever make economic sense to produce drugs and biomedical supplies in space? Associate Online News Editor Michael Greshko discusses his story on the researchers attempting to make biomanufacturing in space a reality, with News intern Julia Vaz.
Next on the show, producer Kevin McLean chats with Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen, a professor in the department of birds and mammals at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, about how narwhals have helped collect hard-to-reach oceanographic samples. Data collected by these long-toothed cetaceans revealed far more warm Atlantic water is pressing into the fjords of East Greenland than previously thought.
Finally, the latest in our book series on biographies. This month, books host Angela Saini talks with writer Priyambada Jayakumar about her biography of M. S. Swaminathan.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
Image credit: Vast
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan talks about confidence, luck, and why it takes 35 drafts to get to the finish line.
If you'd like to see the video version of Better in Person, you can watch it on YouTube or Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Think about the last time a piece of music stopped you in your tracks, or a novel kept you up late at night. Why do these experiences feel so powerful? Psychobiologist Daisy Fancourt says engagement with the arts can help to regulate our emotions, build resilience, and support long-term well-being. She joins us to talk about this research, and to share practical ways to bring more creativity into our everyday lives.
Once you've listened to this episode, be sure to check out our companion conversation, "The Healing Arts," on Hidden Brain+. In that episode, Daisy shares how the arts are being incorporated into healthcare, and how these interventions are shaping patient outcomes. If you're not yet a Hidden Brain+ subscriber, you can listen with a free seven-day trial by going to support.hiddenbrain.org or apple.co/hiddenbrain.
Did you know that physicians once treated feelings of nostalgia as an illness? We explore how our understanding of nostalgia has evolved over the last several hundred years on our new YouTube channel. Check it out, and be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any of our upcoming videos.
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