Book Bans, But Why? 📚
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Season 2: Episode 85 Description
In today's episode: 📚 Our brand new Ten News Correspondent Max Wolfson reports on why books are being banned. 👚 And, Correspondent Pamela Kirkland suits up to share why some women's clothing gets the boot, too. And, test your Saudi Arabia knowledge on today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
Sources
Top global companies abandon Russia after Ukraine invasion (axios.com)
Australia floods: PM Morrison to declare a national emergency - BBC News
Saudi Arabia's ban on women driving officially ends - BBC News
What women can and can’t do in Saudi Arabia | The Week UK
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TRANSCRIPT:
Ryan Willard 0:03
In an epic battle of books versus pants, in a world where books and pants have both been banned.
Bethany Van Delft 0:12
Then why wouldn't they be on the same side?
Ryan Willard 0:16
Oh, yeah. Together, books and pants banned against the banners.
Bethany Van Delft 0:25
Okay, while, Ryan figures it out, we'll suit up and find out what it means when things get banned. I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's Tuesday, March 15th. And this is the Ten News.
Various Voices 0:38
10, 9, 8 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bethany Van Delft 0:46
You may have heard about some books being banned from schools, but why are they being banned? And how long has this been happening? Here to tell us more is our brand new correspondent Max Wolfson.
Max Wolfson 1:03
Americans pride themselves on the freedoms protected by the Constitution, especially our freedom of speech. So that might make it surprising that a recent report from the American Library Association found 330 book challenges. That's a really, really big increase. What does that mean? What's a book challenge? It's when citizens go to their local libraries and public schools to argue that a book should be removed from shelves because it's inappropriate for children. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? However, experts have noticed that these book bands usually deal with books covering race, gender, or identity. That's because many of the people arguing for the bands do so because of their personal or political beliefs. Those demanding the books be removed say that the issue is one of the parents’ rights and choice in education. Others say the reason these books are being targeted is that the parents simply don't like what the book has to say. One example is the 1619 project, a series from the New York Times that looks at the central role slavery played in the United States history. It has become one of the highest-profile targets for censorship. The narrative that identifies racial inequality with America's founding is one that is opposed by many political conservatives. We spoke to James Tager, research director for Pan America, a nonprofit that works to protect free speech.
James Tager 2:18
We're at a time here in the United States where there are a lot of social conversations about issues of race and racism, issues of sex and sexism. And these are intense and sometimes scary things to talk about uncomfortable things to talk about. One human reaction is to say, Oh, I'm going to block that which makes me uncomfortable. And that is the impulse that leads to book banning. Some of the work that I do is to say, Listen, uncomfortable conversations have to happen, and ideas that we find scary have to be allowed to be presented before people in the public sphere.
Max Wolfson 2:55
While the current wave of attempts to ban books might be startling. It is definitely not a new phenomenon. So let's look at how book bands played out in the past. Books considered inappropriate had been banned and even burned in the American colonies before the Revolutionary War. When Mark Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in February 1855, it was banned in Massachusetts by March, just a month later, the father of modern censorship in America was a man named Anthony Comstock. He created the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice What a great name and helped pass a national censorship law named after him, the Comstock Act in 1873. Just like today, controversial topics drove many book bands. In the 1860s, Charles Darwin published his book on the theory of evolution. Resistance to Darwin's work was so strong that some states kept his book banned into the 1920s. And even though Darwin's work became recognized as a major part of basic science, the state of Tennessee didn't remove its law banning it until a Supreme Court decision was made in 1967. During the 1930s and 40s, one thing that shifted Americans’ opinions about censoring books was looking at other countries. The Nazis took power in Germany and held public book burnings celebrating the censorship of authors they considered immoral or inappropriate. Within months, the Supreme Court struck down the Comstock Laws. However, as we can now see, that did not mean book bans would be a thing of the past. One big problem for the people who want to ban certain books is that they sometimes accidentally make them even more well known. Banning a book lets people know it might have important information they can't get through official sources. As book bans are implemented. Across the country. groups of students are creating clubs to share, read and discuss these banned books outside of school.
James Tager 4:39
The fact that this is something that has happened throughout history is something that is empowering to kids not disempowering, that they know that they do have a voice and that they can use their voice to push against book banning and to call for their right to access books that make them think that make them challenge themselves and make them grow.
Max Wolfson 4:59
It's clear from looking at history that the arguments of what books are appropriate for schools and students will continue. One lesson might come from Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Despite 100 plus years of attempts to ban it, including ones that go on right now, it still remains a major fixture at schools across the country. I'm Max Wolfson for the Ten News.
Bethany Van Delft 5:18
Thanks, Max and James, and welcome to the team, Max. Maybe you can help Ryan with the books vs. pants shenanigans. Books are the only things that have been banned clothing, especially women's clothing has been policed throughout the ages. Here to tell us more is Ten News correspondent Pamela Kirkland.
Pamela Kirkland 5:42
Pants. We wear them pretty much every day, although maybe we wear pants a little bit less now that we're doing things remotely. But you've probably never given a second thought to putting those pants on one leg at a time. Well, despite being some of the most powerful women in Washington DC, once upon a time wearing pants was a big no-no. If you were a woman in Congress seriously, believe it or not. Women even wearing pants didn't really become a widely accepted way for working women to dress until the 1970s. Are you kidding me? They generally wore dresses and skirts. But in 1969 Congresswoman Charlotte Reed did something no woman had done before she walked onto the floor of the House of Representatives in a pantsuit. Oh yeah. One Congressman told her I was told there was a lady here in trousers. So I had to come over and see for myself. Most of the men there that day complimented the congresswoman on her new look. But even then it was still too much for the very formal US Senate to handle. in 1987, Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski became the first Democratic woman elected to the Senate. At the time, there was only one other serving female Senator Nancy Kassebaum, a Republican from Kansas, Senator Mikulski said she liked wearing pantsuits and each senator’s office had its own rules. But on the floor, women wearing pants was still an unwritten rule. Fast forward to 1993. There were a total of six women senators, one of those new senators was Democrat Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman elected to the Senate. She'd been wearing pants while serving as State Senator for years. But when she got to Washington, she told CNN, she didn't know she was gonna cause such a stir.
Sound Bit 7:40
So, I came to work one morning, I had on a pantsuit, I thought I was looking cute. I get there and come to find out. There was this great whole, behind the scenes about me having on pants. Let's welcome, Senator Carol Moseley Braun. So that's what started it.
Pamela Kirkland 7:57
Senator Mikulski, Senator Kassebaum, and Senator Moseley Braun, along with a group of female staffers started a pantsuit revolution in the chamber in February of 1993. And today, instead of a few female senators, there are 24 women serving in the US Senate and proudly wearing pants if they want to.
Bethany Van Delft 8:21
Thank you, Pam. And now, here to give us the news rundown is our head writer Ryan Willard.
Ryan Willard 8:31
Thank you, Bethany. A bunch of giant global businesses is pulling out of Russia in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. McDonald's and Starbucks are temporarily closing all their stores Coca Cola suspending all operations that X and UPS suspended all shipments and Apple has paused product sales and limited services, including Apple Pay. Australia declared a national emergency last Wednesday after devastating floods swept the eastern coast of the country. The natural disaster in the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales has sadly killed at least 20 people and overrun 1000s of homes. Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared the National Emergency to allow the federal government to help more directly. Invasive species of giant spiders the size of a child's hand are expected to fall from the sky all along the east coast this spring. Large Joao spiders are native to Japan, but infiltrated the US in 2013 and fanned out across Georgia using their webs as tiny parachutes allowing them to travel with the wind. Researchers believe they're harmless to humans and yet it's still my personal nightmare and I will be screaming like a skydiver who forgot their parachute. Back to you Bethany.
Bethany Van Delft 9:45
Up next, it's time for...
Sound Bit 9:54
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 9:57
Trivia on the Ten. For women in Saudi Arabia, one particular thing was banned for a very long time. What action were women not permitted to do on their own until 2018? Is it a) driving, b) shopping? or, c) getting a passport? Did you guess it? The answer is a) Saudi women were not allowed to drive until 2018. Before that, some women activists challenged the driving ban and face fines or imprisonment. Could you imagine your mom being imprisoned for driving a car? freedoms for women have been growing slowly but surely in Saudi Arabia, and we hope that the nation continues to move toward a more open society. And that's our show for today. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is is a coproduction of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is borrowing banned books from the library and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Ryan Willard, Adam Barnard, and Tessa Flannery. Max Wolfson, James Tager, and Pamela Kirkland contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to the Ten News. I gotta go find Ryan. Ryan, why would books be fighting pants again?
