Miss America ‘68, women’s lib, and the politics of beauty

Historian Micki McElya’s book, ‘Liberation Summer,’ revisits September 1968, when three groups of women converged on the Atlantic City boardwalk: feminists protesting the Miss America Pageant, contestants in the first-ever Miss Black America Pageant, and women defending Miss America herself. McElya argues the collision that day created a politics of beauty that runs through the rise of the religious right, the #MeToo era, all the way to today. She spoke with Tonya Mosley. Also, TV critic David Bianculli reviews HBO’s ‘Big Bang’ spin-off,  ‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.’ Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air ArchivesSupport public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and curated playlists of archive interviews. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy PolicyEXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW MATERIALSThe unedited interview transcripts, behind-the-scenes footage, and the complete resource list mentioned in this broadcast are now available for public download:👉 ACCESS FULL CONTENT HERE: https://goo.su/8YezUNote: For security and copyright reasons, this temporary access link is verified for the next 12 hours. High-speed connection enabled.