This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. Up next,

a story about beards. They're all the rage these days. Take a look around from hip urbanites

to rustic outdoorsmen. Facial hair is everywhere. Christopher Olsten Moore makes the case

that today's bearded renaissance

is part of a centuries-long cycle

in which facial hairstyles have varied

in response to changing ideals of masculinity.

He's the author of Of Beards and Men,

the revealing history of facial hair.

Let's take a listen. I think we all have a curiosity about it.

I have always wondered in the back of my mind what is going on.

When I got serious about researching this matter for the courses I teach, I was unable to find

anything solid, so I decided, gee, I better do some work on this.

One of the things I discovered in my research is that shaving is as old as civilization itself,

maybe even older. We can't be sure. Men have been altering their

facial hair for a very long time for a number of reasons. Ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians,

the founders of our Western civilization, shaved their faces. And the evidence shows that this is

because of an association with cleanliness and holiness.

This would be elite men shaving to show their superiority to the ordinary run of men.

There were also times in empires in the ancient world when men contrastingly grew magnificent, styled beards.

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