What does the Miss Tibet beauty pageant tell us about what it means to be Tibetan in a globalized world? And what understandings of Tibetan culture does it convey? In this episode, Kenneth Bo Nielsen talks to Pema Choedon about representations of Tibet and Tibetan culture on the global stage from the vantage point of the Miss Tibet beauty pageant. While such ... Show More
Today
Catherine Reyes-Housholder, "How Women Win Presidential Elections in Latin America" (Temple UP, 2026)
Between 1990 and 2020, women candidates won only 6% of the world’s presidential races. How Women Win Presidential Elections in Latin America (Temple University Press, 2026) explains the factors, strategies, and perceptions that help (or hinder) women to democratically access thei ... Show More
1 h
Aug 25
Shelly Lundberg "How Economics Discovered Women: Bringing Gender Economics into the Twenty-First Century" (U California Press, 2026)
In the 1970s, as women started to enter the labor force in unprecedented numbers, economists began to examine their roles as economic actors. The result was the rise of gender economics, now a major subfield with powerful data and new methods comparing the economic lives of men a ... Show More
47m 22s
Aug 22
Jane Draycott, "Fulvia: The Woman Who Broke All the Rules in Ancient Rome" (Yale UP, 2025)
Fulvia was born into wealth, privilege, and prestige around the year 80 BCE, yet there was nothing inherently special about her—she was not a saint, an empress, or a queen. But during the years leading up to the fall of the Roman Republic, Fulvia was moving in the most powerful s ... Show More
1h 3m
Jul 2023
Gender, Drag and Beauty Pageants with Laurie Greene
I delve into the world of gender and drag performance and beauty pageants with Professor Laurie Greene, author of Drag and Beauty Pageants: Performing Femininity in the World’s Playground. We chat about playing into as well as subverting gender norms, camp sensibilities, and the ... Show More
34m 39s
Jan 2024
Intermediate | Beauty Pageant: It's a Mess
<p>When is a beauty pageant not a mess? All those bikinis, blow-dries, manicures, bleached teeth, body part enhancements. Ew. Our blogger finds out that the pageants of the computer world are no better. In this installment, join us as we see just how bad it can get. Life's to ... Show More
11m 31s
Dec 2023
Intermediate | Getting to Know the Beauty Pageant Judges
<p>Today we revisit the intrigue of the Chinese beauty pageant world... Do we detect a whiff of corruption, bribery, and scandal brewing? Of course! What would a ChinesePod lesson be without all of these? Join us in this podcast, as we follow along with our drama queens in this n ... Show More
12m 49s
Mar 2017
Mandala: Memory Palace and Simulated Worlds
<p>The mandalas of Tibetan Buddhism entice us as artistic expressions, meta symbols and conscience expressions of a complex spiritual cosmology. In this episode of the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast, Robert and Christian explore the nature of Tibetan Buddhism, the meaning within ... Show More
48m 44s
