Today in the studio we have a collection of letters and speeches from one of the most colorful political figures in Massachusetts history. James Michael Curley served four terms as Mayor of Boston, a single term as Governor, and five months, for mail fraud, in Danbury federal prison. An Irish Catholic from a working class background, Curley frequently clashed with the city’s WASP establishment, becoming known for his wit, generosity, and corruption. He got jobs for constituents, built beaches and parks during the Great Depression, and even took the civil service exam on behalf of a friend (technically that’s cheating). Listen to learn more about Mayor Curley’s fascinating career, and to decide if his story has any relevance to our current political moment.
Brattlecast #68 - Reading it for the Articles
It almost sounds like a joke: a braille Playboy. Although the magazine is arguably most famous for its photography, it also publishes serious literature, journalism, and interviews. In the 1970’s, when the Library of Congress began translating magazines into braille, Playboy quickly became one of its most popular offerings. The braille edition contained no descriptions of Playboy’s photos, but it still featured enough explicit romantic advice and off-color humor to earn the ire and censorship efforts of a handful of conservative congressmen, leading to a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of its vision impaired readers. All this fascinating history is here in the studio with us today, at a time when, poetically, the internet and new technologies are in the process of rendering both adult magazines and braille itself obsolete.
