released 6/4/2021

In his 1997 book, For Shame: The Loss of Common Decency in American Culture, cultural critic James Twitchell surveyed the confusing state of the evolution of shame and shamelessness. On one hand, once stigmatized behavior was frequently celebrated and valorized; on the other, the power of public shaming in the media and online flame-wars was anticipating the rise of cancel culture. This interview with Twitchell about the book examines a few of the themes in For Shame.

20 minutes

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