Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry The Rise and Fall of Private Life - Tiffany Jenkins | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 157
Aug 10, 2025
Tiffany Jenkins, a writer, cultural historian, and trustee of the British Museum, dives into the evolution of privacy. She explores how societal shifts, from the 18th century to today, transformed personal and communal norms. The discussion covers urbanization's impact on social relationships and the challenges posed by Victorian hypocrisy. Jenkins also tackles the haunting legacy of abortion as a politicized issue, alongside the transition from inner self-examination to outward projections influenced by modern media.
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Servers Become Invisible Witnesses
- Tiffany Jenkins recounts servers hearing private conversations because patrons treat them as out-of-space.
- This social invisibility substitutes for physical privacy when strangers abound.
Letters On Paper, Files On Phones
- Louise Perry argues we simply migrated private letters into locked digital devices.
- She compares phone snooping to rifling through a letter drawer in past centuries.
Privacy Born From Religious Conflict
- Jenkins links the private sphere's birth to religious wars and a need for freedom of conscience.
- That legal protection of worship extended into intimate life and individual feelings.
