Fiber Nation

Latest Episodes:

Bonus Episode: "The Cloak of Invisibility" Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

What does it take to disappear? So-called cloaking technology is common on things like fighter jets, but recent advances at MIT have created flexible "fabric" surfaces capable of bending light. It might sound like Harry Potter hocus pocus, but it’s quite possible, in the next decade, to have clothing that makes the wearer invisible.

Find Show Notes here: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/cloak-of-invisibility/

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Everything Will Be Fine: Twisted Tales of Travel Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

You go on a trip, and stuff happens. You lose your luggage or miss your plane. But what if the stuff that happens is a little more epic? Like war zone, poisonous snakes, engines-falling-out-of-your-plane kind of epic? Could you roll with that?

Find Show Notes here: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/twisted-tales-of-travel/

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, Part 2 Feb 17, 2022

Show notes

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire lasted fewer than 30 minutes and killed 146 people, most of them young women. The disaster’s aftermath would lead to sweeping labor reforms and workplace safety regulations we still have today. It would transform Democrats into a progressive party. And it would, more than 20 years down the road, help elect Franklin D Roosevelt president, paving the way for the New Deal.

Show Notes here: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/triangle-factory-fire-part-two/

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, Part 1 Dec 16, 2021

Show notes

On a warm spring day in 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York. Within minutes it engulfed the top three stories of the factory building. 146 people died in the blaze; 123 of them young women who worked there. It was one of the worst industrial disasters in the United States.

The fire and its aftermath would transform US politics and shape the growing labor movement for decades. But to really understand the events of 1911, we need to go back two years and tell a much larger story than that of a single factory.

Show Notes here: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/triangle-factory-fire-part-one/

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Fiber Nation Knit Night: Reindeer Recipes and Attractive Cowpeas Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

We’re excited to announce another Fiber Nation Live Knit Night! Bring your knitting, and join us Wednesday, December 8 at 6 pm EST for a talk with Danielle Dreilinger, featured on the “Home Economics vs. Hitler” episode.

Since it’s the holiday season, we thought we’d change things up and talk about food, festive or otherwise. (Quite possibly otherwise.) Danielle will introduce us to some wonderful cookbooks and recipes from the Bureau of Home Economics, including 99 Ways to Share the Meat and Attractive Ways of Cooking Cowpeas. We might even tackle the history of Jell-o salad!

Notes and registration: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/fiber-nation-knit-night-reindeer-recipes/

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Lifting the Hem on Scottish Kilts Nov 18, 2021

Show notes

We look at the evolution of men’s fashion, and how it helped turn an obscure ethnic costume into one of history’s most famous garments. We talk about how tartan patterns became a marketing scheme in the 1800s, and, scandalously, we discover that the Scottish kilt we know today…may have been created by an Englishman.

Find our Show Notes here: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/scottish-kilts/

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The Sheep & Cattle Wars Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

The American West is this mythic place…the land of Wyatt Earp and Calamity Jane, cattle drives, and cowboys. Myths aside, it's also the land of the western range wars, where cattlemen and sheepmen battled over access to grass and water. Dozens of sheepherders were killed and 100,000 sheep were slaughtered, all before a Colorado congressman ended the violence in 1934. But a mere generation later, it's the sheep owners who had the last laugh.

Follow along on the show notes page: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/sheep-and-cattle-wars/

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The Crochet Coral Reef Sep 30, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we dive into a place where art, ecology, science, and math come together into something extraordinary. And we learn how a 2300-year-old geometric system was blown out of the water by a woman crocheting blobby things. Welcome to the Crochet Coral Reef.

Link to show notes: https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/crochet-coral-reef/

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I'm Sorry, Dave. I Can't Knit That. Aug 26, 2021

Show notes

Today’s episode is all about artificial intelligence—AI. What it is, what it ISN’T, what it can and can’t do. What happens when you try to teach a computer how to knit? Can a neural network match the creativity of a human? And what might happen if the Terminator became a knitwear designer?

Find Show Notes links here.

https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/ai-knitting-im-sorry-dave-i-cant-knit-that/

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Home Economics vs. Hitler Jun 24, 2021

Show notes

On today’s episode, we explore the radical origins behind home economics. Hear how it became important enough to have its own federal agency. And learn how one particular sewing magazine became a game-changer during WWII.

Find Show Notes here.

https://www.interweave.com/fiber-nation/home-economics-vs-hitler-sewing-wwii/

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