110: Ringing The Changes

In this episode, we hear a version of a paper I will be presenting at the PCB-AHA 2018 Conference, on change ringing and masculinity. Over the long 18th century, British men made clubs to practice a weirdly intricate form of bell ringing called change ringing. Why? I argue that it allowed middle classed men a public way to demonstrate their middle classed skills in a way that was distinctively cool. They showed off their conspicuous complexity--not the conspicuous consumption of the wealthy.