Eugenic thinking has never gone away

Eugenic thinking has never gone away

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How to Defeat Authoritarianism | Idi Amin's Uganda

After seizing power in a 1971 coup, Ugandan military commander Idi Amin promised a return to democracy — but he delivered a brutal dictatorship. Known for his erratic and sadistic behaviour, Amin’s reign was defined by ethnic purges, forced expulsions and total economic collapse. ...  Show more

Unpacking the contradictions in America's ideals

What has become of the America that has for so long been held up as a shining example of ideals? In conversation at the 2026 Aspen Ideas Festival, documentary maker Ken Burns and American scholar and author Eddie Glaude unpack the vexed contradictions at the heart of American dem ...  Show more

Recommended Episodes

Bad Blood - 1. You’ve Got Good Genes
Seriously...

In this 6-part series, we follow the story of eugenics from its origins in the middle-class salons of Victorian Britain, through the Fitter Family competitions and sterilisation laws of Gilded Age USA, to the full genocidal horrors of Nazi Germany. Episode 1: You’ve Got Good Gene ...  Show more

Bad Blood: You've got good genes
Discovery

We follow the story of eugenics from its origins in the middle-class salons of Victorian Britain, through the Fitter Family competitions and sterilisation laws of Gilded Age USA, to the full genocidal horrors of Nazi Germany.Eugenics is born in Victorian Britain, christened by th ...  Show more

Special Episode: Angela Saini & Superior
This Podcast Will Kill You

Listeners of this podcast are likely no strangers to the horrifying history of eugenics, a topic that has made an appearance in our episodes on epilepsy, Huntington’s disease, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, and many others. We have touched on eugenic policies that prohibited ...

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The Eugenicist Origins of Evangelical Family Values
Straight White American Jesus

Dr. Audrey Clare Farley stops by to discuss her article, "The Eugenics Roots of Evangelical Family Values," which outlines how the family values discourse so prevalent in Evangelical culture has its origins in eugenics. Eugenics was a junk-science movement started in the early 20 ...  Show more