Stuff You Missed In History Class: Behind the Scenes Minis—Jane and the Clicker (September 5, 2025)

Episode Overview

In this Behind the Scenes Minis episode, hosts Holly Frey and Tracy V. Wilson reflect on two distinct topics covered earlier in the week: Jane Cunningham Croly (aka Jenny June), a pioneer in women’s organizations and journalism, and the invention and cultural impact of the television remote control (“the clicker”). The conversation is filled with personal anecdotes, nuanced reactions, and historical asides, offering listeners a deeper, candid look at the research process and the social contexts surrounding both subjects.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Jane Cunningham Croly (Jenny June) and Women's Clubs

[03:00–15:03]

• Naming Panic and Identity Confusion
  Tracy shares initial confusion upon receiving Holly’s email titled “Jenny June” due to another historical figure with the same pseudonym, raising concerns about accidentally repeating an episode topic.

  • “I opened my email this morning and I just saw a file name called Jenny June, I was like, oh no. Did we accidentally repeat an episode topic? No, it is in fact a different person.” – Tracy (04:06)

• Jane Croly’s Personality & Writing Style
  Holly describes her mixed feelings toward Croly—admiring her energy and drive, but often finding her snobbish or condescending. Croly’s language is called out as stilted, shaped by her time and personal background.

  • Holly analogizes Croly’s tone to Imelda Staunton’s acting.
  • Croly’s brother’s remark on her “physical timidity” sparks confusion about 19th-century language ambiguity.
    • “Her brother said a couple of different times…‘her physical timidity was great and at times painful.’…Is he literally saying she was shy and that was painful…or some physical ailment?” – Holly (04:19)

• Women’s Club Movement & Double Standards
  The episode discusses how Croly’s founding of Sorosis, a women’s club, was met with skepticism in the press—questioning its purpose in a way rarely directed at men’s clubs.

  • Holly enthuses over a contemporary letter to the editor arguing that only women’s initiatives are questioned for their “social benefit.”

• Croly’s Contradictions and Prescriptions
  Both hosts remark on Croly’s advice—often patronizing—about women, teaching, and domesticity. Holly points out Croly’s demanding standards for homemaking, especially as laid out in her cookery book, noting the disconnect between Croly’s advocacy for women and her sometimes restrictive or elitist advice.

  • “Her writing is often very condescending. And it is…It’s like the advice columnist kind of thing. She was very well respected, but she definitely took that to heart and was like, I’m the expert on all the things. So you are clearly a ding dong, my darling child.” – Holly (09:09)

• Relating to Domestic Chores
  Discussion turns lighthearted as the hosts joke about the exhaustive schedules Croly promoted (e.g., ironing sheets and linens). Both admit little patience for such domestic fastidiousness now.

  • “No one cares if your sheets are ironed.” – Tracy (11:30)

• Ironing as a Modern Relic
  The hosts share their rare use of irons, emphasizing a generational shift in expectations and priorities for home care.

2. The Television Remote Control (“Clicker”) and Cultural Change

[19:14–40:48]

• History and Earlier Adoption Than Expected
  Tracy is surprised to learn that TV remotes date back to the 1950s (not the '70s or '80s as they expected based on personal recollection), mainly because remote controls were luxury items for decades.

• Technology in Their Own Families
  Both hosts reminisce about early television technology:

  • Tracy recalls physical dials and the tactile memory of changing channels before remotes.
  • Holly remembers Saturday morning cartoon blocks (Smurfs/Snorks), and both hosts discuss TV-watching rules from childhood.

• How Remote Controls Changed TV and Attention Spans
  Holly cites James Gleick’s book, Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything, to highlight the impact remotes had on TV production:

  • “Every television programmer works in the shadow of the awareness that the audience is armed.” – via Holly quoting James Gleick (24:21)
  • Remote controls made shows “snappier and more engaging,” prefiguring today’s short attention spans, now bemoaned as a byproduct of smartphones and TikTok.

• Agency and Accessibility
  Tracy describes fighting to maintain remote control technology in speech devices for accessibility, underlining how important such agency is for independence (22:27–23:36).

  • “This is one of the very limited ways that my mother can have control over her own environment. And if you take this away from her, she is reliant on other people in a way that she would not have been…” – Tracy (22:57)

• Changing Domestic Roles and Sedentarism Panic
  The hosts discuss the moral panic that remote controls (and TV dinners before them) would make people sedentary or “ruin life,” but argue such social changes are always multifactorial (26:28–27:04).

• Technical Tangents
  Holly expresses joy that early remotes (like the “space command”) required no batteries, musing that such an option would be snapped up quickly today (35:02).

3. Remotes, Media Habits, and MTV

[31:33–35:08]

• Eugene McDonald’s Belief About Muted Ads
  Holly recalls Zenith founder Eugene McDonald's belief in the 1950s that if commercials were muted, they would become ineffective and vanish—an idea subverted decades later.

• MTV’s Silent Commercials Experiment
  Holly tells of MTV running silent commercials in the 1980s, which paradoxically led to higher engagement since viewers would return to the room to investigate the sudden quiet.

  • “They actually got better viewer engagement on commercials because people would get up, go in their kitchen…when they heard no sound…they would run back in thinking something was wrong.” – Holly (32:00)

• Personal Media Rituals
  Holly and Tracy contrast their current TV habits:

  • Holly’s household keeps multiple TVs on, often muted, for background—and mourns losing Cartoon Network to premium cable, with Golden Girls now a go-to fallback.
  • Tracy prefers TV off except for intentional viewing.
  • Holly: “TV is never turns off at our house…Keep it on all the time here. The cats like to watch it at night.” (37:14)
  • Tracy: “It's off most of the time…Otherwise, it's off a lot of the time.” (37:30)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Croly/Jenny June’s Writing:
  “Her writing is also not an easy read. Aside from it being of the time. It’s extra. The phrasing does not read naturally to me at all.” – Holly (09:41)

• On Conundrums of Women’s Work:
  “If a woman starts an enterprise, the first thing that gets asked is, who are you helping? How is this of benefit to anybody? What is the point of this? But men can start a club and you're like, cool...Like, nobody asked them what their bigger purpose and social benefit is.” – Holly (06:32)

• On Agency via Remote Technology:
  “If you take this away from her, she is reliant on other people in a way that she would not have been…” – Tracy (22:57)

• On Remotes and TV Culture:
  “Now every television programmer works in the shadow of the awareness that the audience is armed.” – Holly quoting James Gleick (24:21)
  “You have to recognize that there is rarely just one thing that is responsible [for social change]. And when you oversimplify, you are creating a problem of understanding…” – Holly (26:28)

• On Changing Domestic Rituals:
  “No one cares if your sheets are ironed.” – Tracy (11:30)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:00 – Tracy’s panic about “Jenny June” and name confusion
• 04:19 – Holly discusses Croly’s complex personality and writing
• 06:23 – Women's clubs, Sorosis, and double standards in the press
• 08:57 – Discussion about Croly’s condescending advice to women
• 11:30 – Rejecting Croly’s domestic fussiness (ironing sheets)
• 19:14 – Beginning of remote control discussion
• 24:21 – James Gleick quote on remotes and TV programming
• 26:28 – Sedentarism panic and cultural change
• 31:33 – Muted commercials: Eugene McDonald and MTV
• 36:05 – Remotes without batteries and technical simplicity
• 37:14–39:40 – Remotes and present-day TV rituals in Holly and Tracy's homes

Episode Tone

• Conversational, candid, frequently humorous and self-deprecating
• Occasional jumps between earnest critique (especially on gender and accessibility) and friendly banter
• Rich with personal anecdotes relating history to the hosts’ lived experiences

For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode offers a freewheeling but insightful “backstage” view of two subjects: the contradictions and legacy of journalist and women’s club founder Jane Cunningham Croly, and the cultural shift set in motion by the humble television remote control. Expect a mix of historical digressions, thoughtful analysis about agency (for women and for those needing accessible technology), some gentle mockery of 19th-century fussiness, a touch of nostalgia for unruly TV habits, and the ongoing struggle to make sense of history’s quirks.

By the end, listeners will come away with a deeper appreciation of the complexities behind both Croly’s work and the “clicker” that changed the way we interact with our screens—and each other.