What Have We Got in our POCKETSES? Find out with Hannah Carlson!

Featured : HANNAH CARLSON, Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close Okay, million dollar question: Who gets pockets, and why? It is definitely peculiar and frankly, I have a lot of questions. Why do men’s clothes have so many pockets and women’s so few? And why are the pockets on women’s clothes often too small to fit phones, if they even open at all? GOOD NEWS: Hannah Carlson, a lecturer in dress history at the Rhode Island School of Design, can finally tell us! This book reveals the issues of gender politics, security, sexuality, power, and privilege tucked inside our pockets. (Cue Gollum) #GiveMePocketsOrGiveMeDeath.Filled with incredible images, this microhistory of the humble pocket tells us a lot about ourselves: How is it that putting your hands in your pockets can be seen as a sign of laziness, arrogance, confidence, or perversion? Walt Whitman’s author photograph, hand in pocket, for Leaves of Grass seemed like an affront to middle-class respectability. When W.E.B. Du Bois posed for a portrait, his pocketed hands signaled defiant coolness. And that’s just the beginning. We’ll tackle the past, the present, and the future—with Hannah as our guide. So stuff your own pockets with treats and pull up a chair—Let’s get to the bottom of a sartorial mystery!

Episode was recorded live August 15, 2025.

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