Nostalgia Trap

On Episode Two of The Nostalgia Trap, I finally get the opportunity to meet and chat with Laura Tanenbaum, a professor of English at LaGuardia Community College whose work I've enjoyed on Jacobin, her own blog The Golden Notebooks, and in some of the most rewarding Facebook political battles of the past year. Laura and I talk about her years growing up in Chicago among a science-oriented family, her complicated feelings about 90s culture and films like Fight Club, and her interdisciplinary approach to teaching and writing.

Conner Kilpatrick, writer and editor of Jacobin magazine, discusses his childhood in Texas, the influence of G.I. Joe on his political beliefs, growing up in Texas during the 80s and 90s, depolysisation and globalization after the Cold War, the impact of evangelical Christians on holidays, technological transformations and political awakening, opposition and disillusionment, childhood perception of socialism and graduate school, exploring Jackman as a floating signifier, the benefits of the New Deal and the impact of leftist politics, and family roots and political affiliation.