What I'm Yapping About

Abortion rights, religious cults, communal living, "Annie" as orphan ur-text, and the myth of benevolence in child welfare, plus two new book reviews

I looked up and it was the end of July and our tomato plants were popping off and I had five (!) new interviews to share—three written out with me as interviewer, two in audio with me as interviewee. Let’s go:

This lil bowl replenishes itself every other day now!

• For The Baffler on the occasion of the four-year anniversary of the death of Roe v. Wade, I spoke to Amy Littlefield, The Nation’s abortion access correspondent and author of the new book Killers of Roe, about the hidden figures who inflicted “a thousand stab wounds” to abortion access long before Dobbs, the mix of opportunism and true belief that continues to motivate the antiabortion movement, and the critical missteps the abortion rights movement made along the way.

• For Columbia Magazine, I spoke to to journalist Harrison Hill about his new book The Oracle's Daughter, which traces the traces the story of the Aggressive Christianity Mission Training Corps (ACMTC), a woman-led paramilitary religious cult that was founded in 1980s California, connecting the cult to currents in American religious culture.

• For BOMB, I spoke to my former Blue Stoop student and good friend Samantha Paige Rosen about editing the anthology Living, Together, which comprises 21 essays and interviews on living communally, building community, and leaning into interdependence.

and with me in the hot seat:

• I was delighted that Alex Steed invited me on the You Are Good podcast to offer context on the history of Little Orphan Annie, her creator’s politics, and the orphan problem propaganda the musical/movie spreads.

• My beloved MFA pal and author of the forthcoming hybrid memoir The Sound of Burning (preorder w/code 08SALE250 for half off now through 7/31) Kristi D. Osorio invited me on The Chat Room right here on Substack to talk about my book and the assumptions we have about family policing and orphanhood in our country. Of course we talked about Boy Meets World!!

  Unsettled Ground: A Conversation with Kristen Martin

And, as a bonus, two reviews:

• For The New Republic, I wrote about Zayd Ayers Dorhn’s book Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young, which offers a fascinating account of growing up as the son of two members of the Weather Underground, and coming to terms with new evidence that challenges the family myth he grew up with—that after he was born, his parents gave up on political violence. This one’s in print in the July/August (America 250-themed) issue, which is on newsstands now.

• For NPR, I reviewed investigative journalist Pamela Colloff’s Catch the Devil, a damning look at our country’s criminal legal system through the lens of one murder case and the trail of harm carved by one jailhouse witness—with the collusion of investigators and prosecutors.

I think that about covers your summer nonfiction reading recs! Back with more next month (which I realize starts in three days…).