Transcripts For CSPAN2 Mattie 20240706 : vimarsana.com

CSPAN2 Mattie July 6, 2024

With devious television for serious readers keep watching for more of the latest nonfiction books. So to introduce tonights speakers mattie kahn is an Award Winning writer and editor. Her work been published in the new york times. The washington post, the atlantic, Harpers Bazaar vogue, vox and more. She was the culture she was a culture director at slammer where she covered womens issues and politics and a staff editor. She is joining conversation by julia the editorial director for features that box. Matty con is presenting her new book young and restless, the girl who sparked americas she had cancer what are the most foundational and under appreciated American Revolutionag teenage girls from the American Revolution itself to the Civil Rights Movement to Nuclear Disarmament and womens ovation movement to black lives matter in school strikes for climate matty con uncoverss unique strength from fandom to intimate friendship for organized and serious political groundwork for movements out of office sidelined him in the words of billie jean king, the young and restless honors the ferocious powers. In this brazen retelling of social movements matty con celebrates is leaders and visionaries of her recognition. We are so pleased to host this event at Harvard Bookstore tonight please join me in welcoming matty con and julia ribbon. [applause] thank you so much. Is this working . Im so excited to be here tonight i am a fan and friend of maddies and very lucky to be an early reader of this amazing book and i cant wait to share more about it. What is your elevator pitch for this book since maybe not everyone has read it yet that was a really great element fire host how did you come up with this idea . First of all thank you julia for doing this. I read the acknowledgments were basically every book i ever read so i sought a lot of pressure when is reading my own acknowledgment wondering if there was anybody else in the n world but in the hopes that maybe there is one you can see this acknowledgment and i didnt even know when i wrote them that she would agree to do this, that is a true friend. I worked as our host said as at l and glamour so i came into context with incrediblen young women and women across the cultural and political spectrum. I think if youre in a position like i was to work in an environment it starts being pretty normal and a young person who is organizing thousands and thousands of people across the country around the world that is sort of normal. But with a little bit of perspective i started to feel like there was something extraordinary happening with this generation of young Women Political climate strikes and on the frontlines of black lives matter in digital activism in ways that i found impressive than what i thought i might do is write a book about what wasat so special about this generation of neutrals and young women. And then i started researching and i received education and how long this work has beend going on and i felt inadequate so i spent a year end a half on the proposal and am glad my agent is not here tonight because she would definitely want that faster. And then it became italian of all of the social movements that formed america as told through the lens of teenage girls. In the project started with me in the scope and got bigger and bigger and ended up it is such a feat of research, yet this incredible archival work and original reporting which is what you do in your day job as well what did that process look like especially uncovering these stories that have not been told before. I think the timeline is helpful, i started writingti the book and during the Research Phase 20192018, 2020 and i started sitting down and outlining each chapter in detail in the spring of 2020 when there was nothing but time. So i have more concentrated hours to do research than i ever wouldvein wanted. And i think the way that i approach my work in a my journalism and writing in general to start as wide as possible. When i was thinking about what these chapters would be or the thing in the book one movement at a time i tried to read the most general and copperheads of history that i can possibly find and everything they want to know about this thing and i always used to say that my hidden talent was reading a huge 800 page book and finding where a womanth inventions inside and i want to read the book about her. The book follows the process ofs reading and researching and talking to as many people as i could about socialism in america and finding the random pause of a girl who had to be there and figure not everything i possibly could about that person and going deeper and deeper and emailing librarians who were the only people in their building that were very happy to go on a wild goose chase because what else did they have to do in july of 2020. In following my curiosity that was aic nice thing about having the file to be an amateur in this work is you ask a lot of questions and find people are happy to share. I love you and i learned so much in the amount that iso uncovered for me through this book and im grateful that you did that work for us. Was therere a story that you found particularly surprising or moving as you are doing this research . There was a lot of stories and surprised me you probably heard me talking before about the chinese immigrant heavily involved in the suffrage fighting for right that she knew even if she achieve the movement would not be extended to her as a noncitizen and i found your story very moving she led this massive march up fifth avenue in 1912 and she was so charismatic as a teenager and how she turned her audience, people would write in the newspaper and say you went to a talk and you left immobilized by the conversation and i love the idea of captivating inperson but i also think she was a good example of one of the other stories was an abolitionist during the civil war was the first woman in her very early 20s ever to address the house of representatives in congress these were two girls that wouldve been identified after time who tried their best to ease the platform that was unlikely because they were young and females but also could not help to brush up against the constraint of the platform like that where you are really given anachronistic lead microphone but youre not going to give a lot of power and i think reading those stories i knew into the book knowing that i would include but finding so much hard heartbreak in this idea of being so famous theymo are very committed. Not just applauding the next generation of people following them but finding out what people need. Young people bring energy to the movement and new ideas. They dont have a sense of whats possible and make a lot possible. Fear m of what cant happen or wontt happen. Rs older people bring prospective. Theyri bring the knowledge that one can be in the entire failure. El even if you feel like something is decentgrading. I really think you need both of those things. I feel its a mistake. Good for them. We are done now. You cant leave it to them. Im wildly impressed by the girls in the book. I wish they didnt have to do it alone. Yeah. Speaking of generational relationships, whatel patterns did you see emerge across time when you look at the earliest 1830s. We talkk about you know, climate activist of today. Yeah whate patterns have emerged. What is the same . What is different in. Young people have their advantage thinking their parents are hopelessly outdated. They felt like they were the first to strikeout on their own. Pr that feeling of inventionablety thatn young people can have, thats really amazingly the same. There is so much in the Civil Rights Movement of young people feeling like, these problems, these inequities they are waking up to it more than their parents did. Then they realize their parents saw it too. When she became much older did she see their generation didnt sa have a grandpa great leap forward. Its a great advantage to think you areit the first person to do it. I was reading those. There is nothing one of the fun things being a spectator wasia reading the diaries and journal oentries and letters to ease drop ongi girls discovering themselves and their power. I could do it for 100 more books. Al Nothing Better than realizing she has something to say. The way they are heard and what they are able to see and the people who are there to listen. That audience keeps getting bigger and that comes with a lot of power and comes with a lot of risk so when they were storming through new england she was making a lot of people mad and they were reading about it in news papers but not responding on t twitter. The y confrontation young people have is immediate and hard. I cant image personally. Id like to talk about what makes girlhood special. I work at teen vogue. You have worked a many womens magazines and written for them. Im always so surprised and impressed by the young women andll the stories we tell about them. Lets hear about that. Not necessarily in relation to activism but how we can receive girldom and how that started to be. When i first started the book i thought id start in the 1930s when a teen was prevalent. I thought id start in 1901 when they would coin the term haadolescent. There were girls earlier than that. I decided i could do what i want. Part of the reason i felt that latitude is girl conceived of themselves Something Special and unique. Muchg longer than they told them you are in a developmental phrase. The awareness of a new power coming into focus has been aroundnd since the 1830s. If you read the diaries you hear a lot of what it means to be a teen girl. When i was working on the book and would tell people about itno they would say no boys ever done anything. They have doneaz amazing work. They have fault in wars and joined all kinds of movements. I wanted to write about them because i felt like against all odds in terms of them being socialized. They developed characteristics that make them capable and savvy because of the obstacles they truly always face. Some more than others. A lot of real estate in the book is spend on the different experiences that black girls had com compaired to white girls. They have a sense of being underestimated and wanting to flex your power. There are soo many storeries in the cafeteria or school bleachers. Thats the experience of being a teen girl. You talk about something trivial and lit literal segregation. So far no one who has been a teen girl came away from reading it and didnt feel like how theyea spend their teen years oh, my god. I know that feeling. When it comes to activism there are two points you make that i love. One is in the chapter about civil a rights and how adults get embarrassed easily and what makes teen girls especially effective, is they dont have the sense of embarrassment. In the section you talk about what can a girl do verses a woman. Id love to hear about that divide and what makes girls effective protesters and activist. Julia specials in this. I dont sing but there was a time i had no problem singing loudly in public and that was when i wasas a teen girl. I think embarrassment that effects everybody not just women andpo girls is a powerful force for inaction. Feeling embarrassed to march or go to something there might not be a l lot of people there. U even tonight i hoped people would come. The sense of im doing it no matter what is the unique property i think of teen girls and on the book side of that the investment is doing things with your friends. There ise a teen girl that wants to do it totally alone. The freedom they find in that is different than growing up for sure. I also a think this comes up with other issues too is i think we as a culture tolerate a lot of loud emotion from young people we find suspect in women. So if a girl standing at a podium and sobbing and another the demonstration in washington throwing up, that happened on live tv. There t is a a lot of understandableen compassion. Admiration for that kind of display of feelings. I think anyone that watched a womanma run for office knows its not so welcome in an adult woman who is suppose to control herself. Compose herself in a certain way. Lessen her power as a communicator. The purity of expression we tolerate from young people makes themem feel authentic and also allows us to access a level of empathy we shut ourselves off from when we look at people who are being ambition in a way we dont like. Th thats a sad thing because there e isnt one person that doesnt have to bees a woman. I alsoon think it does give young women a powerful place in society. You mentioned friendship. I thinknk thats definitely something thats so special. Also do you want to come in, there are seats. Come sit. Good job julia. Moderating. It was such i an important part of my girlhood. It was such an important part of your girlhood. Id love to know about stories of friendship you found in the book and a particlar particular moment in activism. There was a great moment i loved. They asked if we needed to keep it in. There are three polish students thatat are going home from school and having planned a major demonstration on the campus. They are headed home in alabama. Oh sorry they are headed home in georgia. They are preparing to take it back together and they will be identifieds as activist and not face the most welcome reception. The night before they head back home they could spend their time doing any number of things. They found three blouses and red thread and made themselves matching shirts. I felt like i could cry and want to hug them through history. What can a teen girl understand more than arming yourself with that kind of protection. Who could possibly hurt a girl wearing matching shirts with her best friend. Wo id like to see you try. I like that idea of how you have a friendship and straighten the movement and i like the idea of fighting against the narrative of clarity in protest thats in our telling of history and saying know what they derive straight from and not leading people. Tell why us you thought this was important to include . Working in womens magazines will leave you with a chip on your shoulder art of the reason that people, sorry to say discredit that is your political analysis is sharing real estate with the latest and i felt with the advantage to come from a world that taught you that your cloths were powerful communicators and they arent listening to what you have to say. They help you get your message across if you notice a candidate is wearing a purple tie. You have participated in analysis. If you thought about what you should wear to a Job Interview you have done the work. We think about how to show up in the world i always quote to vanessa column she said the worldd is not run by naked people. Girls who are constantly assessing their relatives and they know who is cool and who is not. Who feels comfortable and who doesnt. They wheel that tool effectively. Sometimes, the badad thing is. If youat know thats what people will write about and notice, its losing out on one of your best tools one example i think illustrates that well there was a protest when a hushism immigration bill came up. Girls 15 to 20 went to the statehouse to protest and their would worese dresses. They got a ton of press and npr coffer coffered it when they asked them how did you decide, she said it was uncomfortable shes knows if she wants to make a statement its e part of that. We always say everyone wears cloths and eats i love that you brought that to the book so much. You mentioned g all of the girls get older. What did happen to so many activist . Did they stay activist . Did they feel there was repercussions. Im glad it didnt end in the 1940s. For most of the girls that come ofil age before the Civil Rights Movementfi there is no stay in the Civil Rights Movement. There werent a lot of places for them to be public figures at all a lot of the early stories aree hard. They were hard to research. I wanted different endings endings for thee girls in the book. They expand the opportunity to grow through Early Morning r education and careers. I never wanted it to be prescriptive. It was only for boys. She never ended up going. They said well leave the city but many others were able to go. She became a doctor. When i spoke to her. She said i feel like this is an extension ofiv the work. You dont have to be an activist to still have an impact on the community. The Amazing Things about what they fault for is it made it possible to be activist which some of them became or to become Community Doctors and be involved in their life that way. The book is kind of depressing oon the girl to woman transition front. I think the story of the progress we made possible. Agreed. You get to see a few hundred yearss of progress from the girls and from the world. Did researching the book and talking to teen girls now did that recast your own teen experience. I apologize to my mother. You are very close and i felt i owed her a sorry or two. When i because i was a teen work i thought a lot of it was done. Thats the luck of being born in a family that told me i could do whatever i wanted. I never had trouble voicing my opinion a lot of what we talked aboutt was ancient history. I got too the working world and experienced slights and you know i even find myself saying nothing terrible but making me question my own selfworth. You should. Have to experience it firsthand. I had a a lot of compassion for the person that saw the world fold. A lotot of people ask if things with worst now. Its hard to be a teen girl. I dont want to undersell that at all. I dont think at any time in the book is a time im nostalgic for. I feel is a better time to be a youngun woman. We are more aware of how entrenched the problems are ambulance make them feel anxious and sad. We dont want to pretend there cois a golden age. That wasal interesting. The book focused on progressive activist. For every teen girl therery is a girl fighting against the rights that shes fighting for. Could you tell us about the chose to focus on, you know, in the one direction. For every image captured. You hold an opposite protest rssign. The first answer is question. You spend five years writing a book. I wantednd to spend five years fighting with social progress. Thaty was my own preference. I also think i wanted to, you know there is sort of the negative space of the book is theer other book. Its the story of girls that have marched against abortion rights andch marched against desegregation. Those girlsgi exist. I mention them throughout. What i wanted to do was to show how progress in the country has been driven by teen girls. I didnt just want to say here is a teen girl involved in every moment but show you how they areen san bar. You look at the flip side. I dont think they

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