By Evan Kleiman on Kcrw
From the article,
Home economics classes typically evoke thoughts of the bland and sterile — insipid foods, domestic pandering, and ill-fitting A-line skirts. But the women who pioneered home economics knew the subject could be far more than that. They believed that improving the home could, and would, improve society. Was the backbone of home economics moral, scientific, or both? It's a question that journalist Danielle Dreilinger asks, as her research about the history of the subject veers far from the cooking and sewing you may remember in high school classrooms. Dreilinger discusses her work and her new book, “The Secret History of Home Economics: How Trailblazing Women Harnessed the Power of Home and Changed the Way We Live.”