Why did American reformers and missionaries seek to eliminate prostitution worldwide at the end of the 19th Century and the start of the 20th? In this wide ranging conversation with Dr Eva Payne Assistant Professor of History at the University of Mississippi about her new book, Empire of Purity. We explore how ideas around empire, race, eugenics and the need to police sexuality combined to lead US private citizens and politicians to wage war against prostitution world wide, enforcing a sexual ab
Reading time:
1–2 minutes
Get the weekly analysis
One piece every week connecting current events to their historical roots — free, every Tuesday.
Subscribe free →Paid tier also available — deeper dives, full archive, essay guides.
Explaining History Podcast
For more than a decade, the Explaining History Podcast has helped listeners around the world make sense of modern history. What began in 2012 as a simple experiment—short, accessible episodes explaining major historical events—has grown into a long-running library of carefully researched, thoughtful explorations of the 20th and 21st centuries.
If this was useful, there’s more where it came from.
Every week I publish one piece connecting a current event to its historical roots — free, every Tuesday. Paid subscribers get two additional deeper dives and full archive access.
Subscribe to Explaining History →