Writer Emily Nussbaum on 1972’s ‘visionary feminist’ album ‘Free to Be…You and Me’

New Yorker Writer Emily Nussbaum’s insightful and witty commentary on television has made her a must-read critic. She’s covered everything from prestige series to reality TV. Her work won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2016. Nussbaum’s latest project is Cue The Sun: The invention of reality TVa new book that explains how a genre that began with Hidden camera in 1948 became a defining cultural force.

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For his Treat, Nussbaum takes us back to the 1970s through his affection for Free to be… you and mea beloved children’s album produced by the Ms. and Marlo Thomas Foundation. Featuring a star-studded cast including Alan Alda, Roberta Flack, and Diana Ross, the 1972 album combined songs and skits to promote a revolutionary message for the time. It encouraged children to explore and embrace their diverse identities. While Nussbaum admits the album may seem a little corny today, she finds its joyful and empowering themes beautiful.

This segment has been edited and condensed for clarity.

I will talk about Free to be… you and meIt was a children’s album that I listened to when I was a kid. I listened to it in the 70s. It came out in 1972, produced by the Ms Foundation and Marlo Thomas, and it’s a beautiful, sunny, but also strangely penetrating album about what it means to be a child in the world. It’s about boys and girls, (but also) men and women, and what it means to be an adult, to be a prisoner of what people think of you.

That’s why it’s so effective, because it has a sunny, visionary feminist message, and that’s what it was. It was an album that was meant to convey a feminist message to both boys and girls, as well as ideas about being able to be whatever you want to be. That’s the central message of the album: not to get trapped by people’s expectations of you.

I was really fascinated by the fact that it was also a mix of songs and sketches. There was “William’s Doll” (and) “It’s All Right to Cry.” There was “Sisters and Brothers,” which is a super emotional anthem. There was “Parents Are People,” which (unfortunately) after I had kids, I listened to.

On the album was Alan Alda, Rosey Grier, Cicely Tyson, Carol Channing, Michael Jackson, Roberta Flack, Shirley Jones, Jack Cassidy and Diana Ross. So it was a great collaboration.

I used to listen to it on vinyl in my room and I would constantly move the needle and I would always skip a song, which was this song, “Girl Land,” because it’s so scary. I actually have a whole playlist on my Spotify of songs with carousel artists. That’s one of them. There’s a carousel artist talking about being trapped in “Girl Land,” and it’s scary and terrifying. And even when I was a little girl, it was like sometimes you’d have a song that you’d skip. So I would skip it.

(Free to be… you and me) makes it seem like you can dress up. You can be whoever you want. You can have different types of relationships, regardless of gender. You can choose different jobs. You can be both a parent and a person. I mean, it sounds very, very cheesy, but maybe that’s why it influences me. Sometimes I praise certain types of cheesy art, even though I’m a Gen Xer and was raised with the idea that things should be dark and satirical, I think there’s something about art that’s joyful and so beautiful.