I am a cultural historian of the 20th-century US, with a focus on gendered popular culture – particularly popular therapeutic cultures and the media cultures that sustain them.
My book "The Language of the Heart: Twelve-Step Recovery from AA to Oprah" was published in 2009 by University of North Carolina Press. I'm the co-editor (with Timothy Aubry) of "Rethinking Therapeutic Culture" (U. Chicago, 2016). My public-facing work has appeared in places like "Bitch: Feminist Responses to Popular Culture," "Inside Higher Ed," and "Raritan: A Quarterly Review."
In 2012, with my colleague Joe Spillane, I co-founded "Points: the Blog of the Alcohol and Drugs History Society," where I now serve as Managing Editor Emerita. My current project "Feminists on Drugs: A History" is under contract with the University of Chicago Press.