Easy A: The SuperRad Story of Home Economics

If you grew up in the U.S., you might remember home economics class
as the source of deflated muffins and horrifically distorted sewing
projects. You might, like Jonah Hill’s character in Superbad, have
thought of home ec as “a joke” that everyone takes “to get an A.”
But it wasn’t always so—and, in fact, the field of home economics
began as a surprisingly radical endeavor. This episode, we talk
with Danielle Dreilinger, author of the new book The Secret History
of Home Economics: How Trailblazing Women Harnessed the Power of
Home and Changed the Way We Live. How did women a century ago use
home economics as a backdoor to build careers as scientists? How
did home ec trailblazers electrify rural towns, design the modern
kitchen, and create the first nutritional guidelines? And what does
Sputnik have to do with the field's decline? Can today's home ec
once again meet the lofty goals set by its founders? Learn more
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