-The weirdest claims made by “Designer Vagina” websites.
-Civil War underwear.
-Japanese-American internee letters found hidden in wall.
-The historian’s curse.
-New study shows disabled parents often lose custody of their children.
-Girls in juvenile detention face health care issues.
-Is neuroscience under attack?
-What age you begin menstruation may have future health implications.
-The not-so-happy history behind your Black Friday shopping tradition.
-Teenage boys and body image.
-The most awesome kitchen computer from 1969.
-10 NYC street corners – then and now.
-Stalin’s daughter and the FBI.
-Strangest modern-day menstruation myths.
-Is neuroscience helping vegetative patients communicate with their doctors?
-The history behing the father of the modern cigarette.
-Eugenics and Nikola Tesla.
-How not to run a secure archive.
-Recording of Lee Atwater’s infamous 1981 interview released for the first time.
-Is your illness named after a Nazi?
In the past few weeks, I have witnessed excessive misuse of history to justify political opinions. The presidential election seemed to bring out the historian in everyone, much to my chagrin. Generally, I try to avoid debating people on social media (a wise suggestion for everyone), but I couldn’t stand it anymore during the election returns. Way too often people used quotes taken completely out of context (as I’m screaming, “But context matters for understanding that properly!!!”). On every Facebook status that made me cringe, I put in my two cents and tactfully acted as a caped crusader correcting gross historical inaccuracies and rabid attacks on the historical profession. The responses were depressing. The lack of rational discussion I expected to a degree, but the low level of respect for historians was shocking. I wondered, as many of us often do, how to maintain the accessibility of history to the public and yet still retain authority over our expertise?
President Obama’s recognition of Americans’ struggles while voting seemed unexpected, even with all of the news reports about long lines, defective voter machines, and other voter irregularities.What is even more astonishing, and at this point, pretty tone deaf, is that the Supreme Court may hear another case challenging Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Shelby County, Alabama aspires to have the provision overturned on the grounds that it is archaic and unnecessary in an “American that elected and reelected Barack Obama as its first African-American president.” Section 5 forces particular states with histories of voter disenfranchisement to seek “preclearance” from the Department of Justice before changing voting rules. Conservative justices, according to Adam Serwer writing for Mother Jones, argue that the law discriminates against white southerners despite the fact that Section 5 applies to “all or parts of” Western and Northern states such as New York, New Hampshire, California, and Arizona, nor does it single out white individuals. States and “political subdivisions” are the regulated entities.
Genetic counseling, as the previous two posts in this series suggest, has a lot to offer for navigating the tricky decisions things like prenatal testing and preimplantation genetic diagnosis raise. Well, in this post I’d like to make things a little more complicated. Enter the sheer messiness of history. I still believe genetic counseling is the best approach we have right now for helping prospective parents with hard choices, but it has a complicated — and not so distant — past that continues to shape counselors’ ways of interacting with clients.
-Mick Jagger’s love letters up for sale.
-Does a court have the power to order an abortion?
-New risks for women who suffer from depression during pregnancy.
-A 64-year-long project to memorialize Crazy Horse.
-Abandoned suitcases of insame asylum patients.
-Just for laughs – US Presidents in mom jeans.
During the presidential election there were a number of speculations about Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s views on women, including horror stories circulated about his “shameful” behavior while serving as an elder in the LDS church. This led some to assume that the LDS church as a whole is poisonous for women.
As I watched Call the Midwife, I recalled my own personal memories and relationship with the National Health System (NHS). […]
-Handy tips for your annual James K. Polk party.
-How WWII GI’s shaped Britain’s view of America.
-Colonial bones and Hurricane Sandy.
-New Deal utopian town turns 75.
-Cave from Island of the Blue Dolphins located.
-Archeologists uncover Europe’s oldest prehistoric town.