The Seventies #3: Finding Yourself In The 'Me Decade' (Patreon)

In this episode of Lexual Does The 70s, I'm tackling how and why Americans more than ever before turned inward and also became increasingly divided. You may also be surprised to know just how much in common 1970s Americans have with us now-- from our reactions to political misconduct, to tribalism and identity politics, to yoga, astrology, and plastic surgery! 

Also, enjoy this quote from a 1978 The New Yorker article on exercise that didn't make it into the final edit:

These people are almost a race apart. Their behavior doesn’t seem to conform to the urges that govern the rest of us. They stop smoking and drinking without hitch or pain or plaint. They become vegetarian and give up all that dangerous dairy stuff, not because they believe it’s right but because they prefer it that way. Their direction comes from within. “They will,” says Kostrubala, “get up and walk out of theaters, not because the play is bad but because they find the air unbearable.”

Next up is Cults, Crime, and Culture, premiering sometime around the ides of March! 

Sources and Additional Reading

The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics (Bruce J Schulman)

The 1970s: A New Global History From Civil Rights to Economic Inequality (Thomas Borstelmann)

Fault Lines: A History of The United States Since 1974 (Kevin Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer)

The Hidden 1970s: Histories of Radicalism (Edited by Dan Berger)

Cosmetic Surgery's New Image: No Longer Only for the Rich

1979: Iran and America

The Fit Body: On the Emergence of Fitness Culture and the Fitness Center

An Intimidating New Class: The Physical Elite,‖ New York Magazine

How Yoga Became A $27 Billion Industry -- And Reinvented American Spirituality

Why Young People Are So Into Healing Crystals

The Communes of The 1970s: Who Joined and Why

The Political Palate: Reading Commune Cookbooks

Japanese‐Americans Recall Wartime Camps

The Sounds of The 1973 Wounded Knee Occupation

How The Death Of A 12-Year-Old Changed The City Of Dallas