Episode 20: Remembering Anarcha

From childhood, we're taught that honesty is the best policy. Yet in everyday life, we hedge, soften our words, and leave things unsaid. This week, we talk with psychologist Steven Pinker about why indirect speech is such a fundamental part of human relationships. How long can yo ...  Show more

Think about the last time a piece of music stopped you in your tracks, or a novel kept you up late at night. Why do these experiences feel so powerful? Psychobiologist Daisy Fancourt says engagement with the arts can help to regulate our emotions, build resilience, and support lo ...  Show more

J. Marion Sims is hailed as the father of gynecology, but his legacy is tainted by his experimental surgeries on enslaved women. In this classic episode, Cristen and Caroline contextualize Sims' controversy, diagnose medicine's racist past and honor the unsung mothers of gynecolo ...  Show more

By 1848, Dr. J. Marion Sims had gone from just experimenting on enslaved women, to becoming an enslaver himself. His quest for fame while finding a cure for vesico-vaginal fistulas meant performing inhumane surgeries on the women he held captive. Women whose plight would remain u ...  Show more

After a failed start to his medical career, Dr. J. Marion Sims settled in Alabama to continue his training. There he found success and started his own practice — specializing in the treatment of enslaved women and their children. But as Sims’ business grew, so did his ego. His de ...  Show more

<span style="font-weight: 400;">A doctor from Guadeloupe dedicates his life to honoring the memory of his island’s enslaved ancestors, and fights to make sure their names will not be forgotten.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">A transcript of this episode is avail ...