E213 - The History of Americans’ Global War on Prostitution w/ Eva Payne

American Prestige

Daniel Bessner & Derek Davison

History, Politics, News

4.8 • 705 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Subscribe now for an ad-free experience. Subscribers at the "Top Secret" tier get a one-year digital subscription to the Nation! Danny and Derek welcome to the program author Eva Payne to talk about her book Empire of Purity: The History of Americans' Global War on Prostitution. They discuss American sexual exceptionalism, the legal definition of “prostitution” vs modern conceptions of sex work, the late 19th century new abolition movement and racial hierarchies therein, how Americans interfaced with state-regulated prostitution systems in places like India and the Philippines, the sexual imagery used in justifying US aims in the Spanish-American War, the notion of “white slavery” in sex work, prostitution control in World War I and how it affected things domestically after that conflict, eugenic thinking around prostitution reform, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to American Prestige.
0:03.2	To listen ad-free, you can subscribe at Americanprostagepod.com.
0:08.3	Find the link in our show notes.
0:11.2	Oh, that's my prime delivery.
0:12.8	Oh, already.
0:13.8	Only one thing can match the buzz of Primes fast delivery.
0:17.4	And that's the buzz of Primes entertainment.
0:20.1	What are we watching?
0:38.7	Heads of state, that new action comedy with Idris Elber as the Prime Minister, John Sina as the president, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, as their only hope. Looks like a blast. From fast delivery to explosive entertainment, it's on Prime. For only $899 a month, join now. Content includes limited ads, subscription auto-renews.
0:40.0	For more information, go to amazon.com.
0:41.0	U.K. slash prime.
0:46.0	That's kind of conversation to your soul.
0:49.0	That's conversation.
0:51.3	To your soul.
1:09.2	And then... Hello, Prestige Head and I'm here, I'm Danny Bestner, here as always with my friend and comrade, Derek Davidson,
1:11.8	and we're very excited to welcome to the podcast today, Eva Payne, Eva's the author of Empire of Purity, the History of American's Global War on
1:18.6	Prostitution, and also an assistant professor in history at the University of Mississippi. So,
1:23.9	Eva, thank you so much for joining us. It's a pleasure to be here with you both.
1:28.7	It's a very apropos day to do this book because we are recording the day after Anora won
1:34.7	the Oscar for Best Pictures.
1:36.8	So there is a god.
1:39.2	This demonstrates that.
	...

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