
Episode 694 • • 8:39 - 13:27
694: Bend it Down
Bill Clinton and the Genesis of Modern American Hugging
John C. Dvorak presents a theory that modern American hugging culture originated with President Bill Clinton. Dvorak argues that Clinton's frequent public hugging set a new cultural and moral tone for the nation, a practice continued by George W. Bush and modified into a "hip-hop hug" by Barack Obama. The discussion links presidential behavior to shifts in national social greetings and physical contact norms.
