The story of how strawberries went from small forage item to one of the world’s most popular fruits – though they're technically not a true fruit – involves lots of crossbreeding experimentation, as you might expect, but also a bit of spy craft.

Research:

• “A Transatlantic Tango: The Story of the Strawberry. Royal Horticultural Society. https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/features/history-of-the-strawberry#:~:text=It%20is%20hard%20to%20believe,back%20on%20fortifications%20near%20Concepci%C3%B3n.
• Allen, Mike. “The 18th-Century Spy Who Gave Us Big Strawberries.” Atlas Obscura. Nov. 16, 2017. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/big-strawberries-spy-chile-france
• Barnes, Monica. “Frezier, Amédée François (1682-1773).” American Museum of Natural History. January 2008. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280567727_Frezier_Amedee_Francois_1682-1773
• Darrow, George M. “The Strawberry: History, Breeding and Physiology.” New York. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1966. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/strawberryhistor00darr/mode/1up
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "strawberry". Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Jun. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/plant/strawberry
• Folta, K.M., Barbey, C.R. “The strawberry genome: a complicated past and promising future.” Hortic Res 6, 97 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41438-019-0181-z
• Grubinger, Vern. “History of the Strawberry.” University of Vermont. June 2012. https://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/strawberryhistory.html
• Hancock, J.F. “Strawberries.” Oxford University Press. 2000.
• Petruzzello, Melissa. "list of plants in the family Rosaceae". Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Mar. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-plants-in-the-family-Rosaceae-2001612
• Sevilla, Elisa, and Ana Sevilla. “STRAWBERRY.” New World Objects of Knowledge: A Cabinet of Curiosities, edited by Mark Thurner and Juan Pimentel, University of London Press, 2021, pp. 207–12. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1vbd275.34
• “Strawberry Facts.” University of Florida Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. https://gcrec.ifas.ufl.edu/fruit-crops/strawberries/strawberry-facts/
• Sytsma, Kenneth J.. "Rosaceae". Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/plant/Rosaceae

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Dorothy Arzner wasn’t the first female film director in the U.S., but she was really the only one working in the studio system during most of the period that’s known as the Hollywood Golden Age. Her short career was still incredibly prolific.

Research:

• "Dorothy Arzner." Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, Gale, 2022. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631009688/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=19d5d3af. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025.
• Bryant, Sara. “Dorothy Arzner’s Talkies: Gender, Technologies of Voice, and the Modernist Sensorium.” Modern Fiction Studies , Summer 2013, Vol. 59, No. 2, Women's Fiction, New Modernist Studies, and Feminism (Summer 2013) Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26287651
• Casella, Donna R. “What Women Want: The Complex World of Dorothy Arzner and Her Cinematic Women.” Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media , SPRING & FALL 2009, Vol. 50, No. 1/2 (SPRING & FALL 2009). https://www.jstor.org/stable/41552560
• Chuba, Kirsten. “Francis Coppola Helps Paramount Dedicate Building to Pioneer Director Dorothy Arzner.” Variety. https://variety.com/2018/film/news/dorothy-arzner-paramount-building-francis-coppola-1202715056/
• D’Alessandro, Anthony. “Francis Ford Coppola & Paramount Dedicate Studio Building To Trailblazing Female Filmmaker Dorothy Arzner.” Deadline. 3/1/2018. https://deadline.com/2018/03/francis-ford-coppola-paramount-dorothy-arzner-jim-gianopulos-1202307320/
• Field, Allyson Nadia. “Dorothy Arzner.” Women Film Pioneers Project. https://wfpp.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-dorothy-arzner/
• Geller, Theresa L. “Arzner, Dorothy.” Senses of Cinema. 5/2003. https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/arzner/
• Kuperberg, Julia & Clara. “Dorothy Arzner, Pioneer, Queer, Feminist.” Wichita Films. 2022.
• Lane, Christina. "Directed by Dorothy Arzner." Velvet Light Trap, fall 1996, pp. 68+. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A90190315/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=04146780. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025.
• Levy, Carly. “Dorothy Arzner: The Only Female Director of the Golden Age.” Video Librarian. 4/21/2023. https://videolibrarian.com/articles/essays/dorothy-arzner-a-golden-age-era-female-director/
• Lewis, Maria. “Dorothy Arzner: mother of invention.” ACMI. https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/dorothy-arzner-mother-invention/
• Lugowski, David M. “Queering the (New) Deal: Lesbian and Gay Representation and the Depression-Era Cultural Politics of Hollywood's Production Code.” Cinema Journal , Winter, 1999, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Winter, 1999). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1225622
• Madsen, Axel. “The Sewing Circle : Hollywood's greatest secret : female stars who loved other women.” London : Robson. 1996.
• Mayer, So. “Dorothy Arzner: Queen of Hollywood.” BFI. 3/7/2015. https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/dorothy-arzner-queen-hollywood
• Norden, Martin F. “Exploring the work of Dorothy Arzner as a film-making teacher in southern California.” Film Education Journal. 2022. https://doi.org/10.14324/FEJ.05.2.01
• Norden, Martin F., editor. “Dorothy Arzner: Interviews.” University Press of Mississippi. 2024.
• Tangcay, Jazz. “Women Were Better Represented in Hollywood During the Silent Film Era, AFI Study Reports (EXCLUSIVE).” 1/6/2023. https://variety.com/2023/film/news/women-hollywood-silent-film-era-american-film-institute-afi-1235480998/
• Tatna, Meher. “Forgotten Hollywood: Dorothy Arzner.” Golden Globes. 2/16/2022. https://goldenglobes.com/articles/forgotten-hollywood-dorothy-arzner-articles-forgotten-hollywood-dorothy-arzner/
• Tietjen, Jill S. and Barbara Bridges. “How Women Were Pushed Out of Hollywood—and Fought Their Way Back In.” Excerpt from "Hollywood: Her Story" The Helm. 4/22/2021. https://thehelm.co/hollywood-herstory-book/

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This 2017 episode covers the early days of Hollywood, and its reputation for debauchery. When a high-profile director was murdered, it added to that image, and revealed that Taylor, like so many in Hollywood, had lots of secrets.

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Tracy talks about the difficulty of finding English-language writing about another strike she'd like to cover. Holly talks about why Kurt Vonnegut appeals so deeply to teenagers.

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Holly is joined by guest host Bryan Young for a live show at Indiana Comic Con, focused on the life and work of the author Kurt Vonnegut, known for his dark humor and dystopian visions of the future.

Research:

• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Kurt Vonnegut". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kurt-Vonnegut
• “Kurt Vonnegut Lecture.” Case Western Reserve University. 2004. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_RUgnC1lm8&t=551s
• Manikowski, Amy. “The Legacy of Kurt Vonnegut.” Biblio. https://www.biblio.com/blog/2022/11/the-legacy-of-kurt-vonnegut
• “Meet Kurt Vonnegut.” Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library. https://www.vonnegutlibrary.org/biography/
• Shields, Charles J. “And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, a Life.” St. Martin’s Griffin. 2012.
• Strand, Ginger. “How Jane Vonnegut Made Kurt Vonnegut a Writer.” The New Yorker. Dec. 3, 2015. https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/how-jane-vonnegut-made-kurt-vonnegut-a-writer
• Sumner, Gregory D. “Unstuck in Time: Kurt Vonnegut’s Life and Novels.” Seven Stories Press. 2011.
• Weide, Robert B. and Don Argott. “Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time.” IFC Films. 2021.
• Vonnegut, Kurt. “Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage.” Dial Press. 1999.

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The 1946 Oakland General Strike was part of a massive wave of strikes that took place in the U.S. in 1945 and 1946. Over two days in Oakland, California, and the surrounding area, thousands of strikers shut the city down.

Research:

• “Oakland General Strike (1946) (Part 2).” From Golden Lands, Working Hands. Part Seven: We Called It a Work Holiday. Written by Fred Glass. CFT. Via YouTube. 7/23/2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-yFDzKzLfE
• “Oakland General Strike (1946).” From Golden Lands, Working Hands. Part Seven: We Called It a Work Holiday. Written by Fred Glass. CFT. Via YouTube. 7/22/2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfUmIeCTJTA
• “World War II Homefront Era: 1940s: Post War Workers Protest Salary Cuts & Layoffs.” Picture This: California Perspectives on American History. Oakland Museum of California. https://picturethis.museumca.org/pictures/oakland-general-strike
• Barbash, Jack. “Chapter 6: Unions and Rights in the Space Age.” U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/chapter6
• Borden, Timothy G. "Strike Wave: United States." St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide, edited by Neil Schlager, vol. 2, St. James Press, 2004, pp. 273-277. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3408900275/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=033d396d. Accessed 25 Feb. 2025.
• Boyden, Richard. “The Oakland general strike.” Libcom.org. 11/4/2012. https://libcom.org/article/oakland-general-strike-richard-boyden
• Glass, Fred. “"We Called it a 'Work Holiday:" The 1946 Oakland General Strike.” From “Mission to Microchip: A History of the California Labor Movement.” June 2016.
• Glass, Fred. “Latham Square renovation commemorates the 1946 Oakland General Strike.” California Federatoin of Labor Unions. 8/3/2016. https://calaborfed.org/california-history/latham_square_renovation_commemorates_the_1946_oakland_general_strike/
• Miller, Gregory M. "Taft-Hartley Act." St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide, edited by Neil Schlager, vol. 2, St. James Press, 2004, pp. 292-295. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3408900280/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=014855b4. Accessed 25 Feb. 2025.
• National Labor Relations Board. “1947 Taft-Hartley Passage and NLRB Structural Changes.” https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/who-we-are/our-history/1947-taft-hartley-passage-and-nlrb-structural-changes
• National Labor Relations Board. “1947 Taft-Hartley Substantive Provisions.” https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/who-we-are/our-history/1947-taft-hartley-substantive-provisions
• New American Movement and Oakland Study Group. “The Oakland general strike of 1946.” California Revealed. Pacifica Radio Archives. https://californiarevealed.org/do/a5f71c35-85c9-4f8e-83f4-77e49cc287cc
• Rosalsky, Greg. “Price Controls, Black Markets, And Skimpflation: The WWII Battle Against Inflation.” Planet Money. 2/8/2022. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2022/02/08/1078035048/price-controls-black-markets-and-skimpflation-the-wwii-battle-against-inflation
• The National World War II Museum. “The Smith–Connally Act and Labor Battles on the Home Front.” 6/22/2023. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/smith-connally-act-and-labor-battles-home-front
• The Oakland Standard. “Notes on the 1946 General Strike.” https://vimeo.com/43192608
• Tomlin, Justin. “The 1946 Oakland General Strike.” Socialist Alternative. 2/10/2022. https://www.socialistalternative.org/2022/02/10/the-1946-oakland-general-strike/
• Weir, Stan. “Oakland 1946 General Strike.” FoundSF. https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Oakland_1946_General_Strike

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This late 2021 episode covers a strike in Flint, Michigan, which was at the heart of auto manufacturing for General Motors in 1936. And while the strike was largely centered around Flint, it also involved workers at GM factories all over the U.S.

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Holly and Tracy discuss the creepy nature of the Children's Morality Code project. Tracy covers the varied conflicts that Mary Hunter Austin had with numerous people.

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