Attempts to restrict what kids in school can read are on the rise. But American book-banning started with the Puritans, 140 years before the United States
By Chris Klimek, Host, “There’s More to That,” October 5, 2023
:focal(700x527:701x528)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/f7/e9/f7e9b6ca-a881-4e06-ba68-5bb158cde94e/smithmag-podcast-ep7-bookbanning-article.jpg?w=474&ssl=1)
The American Library Association reports that 2022 saw more attempts to have books removed from schools and public libraries than in any prior year this century—indeed, it documented nearly twice as many attempted bans in 2022 than in 2021. Notably, the common thread in these aggressive efforts is the subject that binds the most-challenged titles: Most of them address themes of LGBT+ identity or gender expression. On our latest episode of the Smithsonian magazine podcast “There’s More to That,” I talk with journalist Colleen Connolly about Thomas Morton’s New English Canaan, the first book ever to be suppressed in North America. What did the Puritans find so threatening about it, and how has this book echoed through subsequent centuries? Then I’m joined by Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress, for a wide-ranging conversation about the history of book bans in the United States, how a resurgent wave of book bans in many states differs from those of prior eras and why organized attempts to prevent specific people from reading specific books usually fail.
Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-banned-books-in-america-180983011/
