History Professor Nina Kushner asks her students to study who determines what activity is deemed illicit. Kushner developed an interest in this area after watching her mother, a Rhode Island legislator, lobby for bills to support gay rights and reproductive rights. 

“Sometimes the history of sexuality is backward, right? So things actually get more strict, not less strict. We always assume that we’re getting more and more progressive and we’re not.”

Kushner recommends Notches, an international history of sexuality blog, to anyone interested in learning more.

Challenge. Change. is produced by Andrew Hart and Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.