Today, our hair is often a means of self-expression. But what if you had no control over what your hair expressed? And I’m not just talking about a bad hair day! In nineteenth-century America, hair conveyed something very different than what it does today.

In this episode of The Clio Dialogues, I am joined by my friend and former classmate (Go Bears!), historian Dr. Sarah Gold McBride to discuss the surprising American cultural history of hair. She explains that by taking seriously something so ordinary as hair, we can learn much about nineteenth-century ideas about race, gender, nationhood, and belonging.

In This Episode

• Why beards surged in popularity in the mid-nineteenth century
• What facial hair had to do with masculinity, citizenship, and political power
• How racial pseudoscience transformed the beard into a symbol of white male authority
• How Frederick Douglass used his photographed image as a challenge to racist ideas about Black bodies
• How nineteenth-century Americans attempted to “read” bodies
• Bearded women, P. T. Barnum, and anti-cross-dressing laws
• Why hair meant something fundamentally different to nineteenth-century Americans than it does to us today

About the Guest

Dr. Sarah Gold McBride is the author of Whiskerology: The Culture of Hair in Nineteenth-Century America, and a historian and award-winning Lecturer in the American Studies program at the University of California, Berkeley, where her research and teaching focus on the daily lives of ordinary people in the nineteenth-century United States, and the information and objects they found meaningful as they tried to understand race, gender, and national identity.

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Whiskerology: The Culture of Hair in Nineteenth-Century America

Bookshop.org or Amazon

Pre-order the Paperback (available November 17, 2026)

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**History runs on curiosity…and occasionally, caffeine.**

The Clio Dialogues is independently produced. If you'd like to help support future episodes, consider buying me a coffee. Every cup helps keep new conversations coming.

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Affiliate Disclosure

Some links in The Clio Dialogues show notes are affiliate links. As a Bookshop.org Affiliate and Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Those commissions help offset the costs of producing The Clio Dialogues, allowing me to continue bringing historical scholarship to a wider audience. Thank you for your support.

BONUS: If you order through my Bookshop.org link ~ not only will you get fascinating books, but you'll also be supporting the author, this podcast, and local independent bookstores. A win for all!

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The Clio Dialogues supports productive, respectful, freedom of expression.

My opinions are entirely my own and are never influenced by affiliate or guest relationships.

My guests’ opinions are entirely their own and may deviate from mine or yours, and that’s okay.

Books and products featured on this channel are selected because I believe they are relevant to the conversation and the knowledge is worth having. I will not recommend products I do not believe in.

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Description

Wine with dinner. A beer after work. A whiskey to seal the deal. These rituals feel timeless, but they are far more recent than most Americans realize.

In this episode of The Clio Dialogues, historian Lisa Jacobson explains how the repeal of Prohibition did not automatically restore alcohol's place in American life. Instead, breweries, wineries, distillers, advertisers, cookbook authors, physicians, government officials, and even Hollywood spent decades reshaping public attitudes toward drinking and creating the modern ideal of the "responsible drinker."

In this episode

• The stigmas attached to wine, beer, and whiskey after Prohibition
• How advertisers launched massive "consumer re-education" campaigns
• Why moderation became the new ideal of drinking
• How World War II transformed America's drinking culture
• Cookbooks, rationing, and teaching Americans to cook with wine
• The campaign for the "right to pleasure" and the "right to decent whiskey"
• What Hollywood films reveal about

Featured Guest

Lisa Jacobson is Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Buy the Book

Intoxicating Pleasures: The Reinvention of Wine, Beer, and Whiskey after Prohibition

Bookshop.org Amazon

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If you enjoyed this episode…

consider following or subscribing to The Clio Dialogues wherever you listen or watch. Reviews and shares make a real difference in helping thoughtful conversations about history reach new audiences. You can also join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Bluesky.

**History runs on curiosity…and occasionally, caffeine.**

The Clio Dialogues is independently produced. If you'd like to help support future episodes, consider buying me a coffee. Every cup helps keep new conversations coming.

***************

Affiliate Disclosure

Some links in The Clio Dialogues show notes are affiliate links. As a Bookshop.org Affiliate and Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Those commissions help offset the costs of producing The Clio Dialogues, allowing me to continue bringing historical scholarship to a wider audience. Thank you for your support.

BONUS: If you order through my Bookshop.org link ~ not only will you get fascinating books, but you'll also be supporting the author, this podcast, and local independent bookstores. A win for all!

Editorial Independence

The Clio Dialogues supports productive, respectful, freedom of expression.

My opinions are entirely my own and are never influenced by affiliate or guest relationships. My guests’ opinions are entirely their own and may deviate from mine or yours, and that’s okay. Books and products featured on this channel are selected because I believe they are relevant to the conversation and that the knowledge is worth having. I will not recommend products I do not believe in.

Send us Fan Mail

Episode Description

What if one of the world's most influential cultural industries wasn't built by publishers or artists alone?

Today, manga is a global phenomenon. It has inspired blockbuster films, anime, video games, conventions, cosplay, and a multibillion-dollar merchandise industry. But according to historian Andrea Horbinski, manga's remarkable success cannot be understood simply by studying famous creators or bestselling titles. Its history is also the story of ordinary readers who refused to remain passive consumers.

In this episode, we explore how children, amateur artists, and devoted fans shaped manga from its earliest decades, helping transform it from political cartoons into one of the world's most influential forms of popular culture. Along the way, we discuss the modern superfan economy, the blurred line between fans and creators, the rise of dōjinshi and Comiket, Osamu Tezuka's revolution in storytelling, and why manga's history offers surprising insights into today's online fandoms and creator communities.

In this episode

• Why manga's success has always depended on fans, not just creators
• Why reader demand kept Norakuro alive and transformed the industry
• How World War II nearly destroyed manga, and why readers brought it back
• Osamu Tezuka's role in expanding manga beyond comedy into tragedy and complex storytelling
• The emergence of gekiga and manga for older readers
• The gendered differentiation of manga in the postwar period
• The Showa 24 Group, Takemiya Keiko, and the reinvention of shōjo manga
• The historical roots of fan fiction, shōnen’ai (Boys' Love), and dōjinshi
• How Comiket revolutionized the relationship between fans and professional creators

About the guest

Dr. Andrea Horbinski earned her PhD in modern Japanese history with a designated emphasis in new media from the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Manga's First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905-1989. She won the 2026 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work.

Buy the Book

Andrea Horbinski, Manga's First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905–1989

Also mentioned: Marc Steinberg, Anime’s Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan

If you enjoyed this episode…

Follow The Clio Dialogues wherever you listen to podcasts, leave a review, and share this episode with someone interested in American history, constitutional law, immigration, or the history behind today's headlines.

**History runs on curiosity…and occasionally, caffeine.**

The Clio Dialogues is independently produced. If you'd like to help support future episodes, consider buying me a coffee. Every cup helps keep new conversations coming.

***************

Affiliate Disclosure

Some links in The Clio Dialogues show notes are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. In other words, if you purchase a book or other eligible item through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Send us Fan Mail