EP82: The Texas Two-Step and Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder

The psychological establishment has long pathologized diverse forms of sexual identity. In the mid-century, a brave movement of gays and lesbians fought back and claimed: no, actually, we’re healthy. But in the process, did they define other identities unhealthy? This is episode two of Cited Podcast’s returning season, the Rationality Wars. It tells stories about the political and intellectual battles to define rationality and irrational. For the rest of the series, visit citedpodcast.com. You will be able find this on all the relevant podcatchers (Apple, Spotify, etc.). If you use something else or you cannot find our feed, you can manually add our RSS feed.

Every protest movement has been dismissed as a mere ‘mindless mob,’ caught in a psychological frenzy. Where did this idea come from, and why does it last? As we mentioned last week, we are returning as Cited Podcast with a new season called the Rationality Wars. It tells stories about the political and intellectual battles to define rationality and irrational. You will find the first few episodes of our new season here, but not the entire season. For the rest of the series, visit citedpodcast.com. You will be able find this on all the relevant podcatchers (Apple, Spotify, etc.). If you use something else or you cannot find our feed, you can manually add our RSS feed.

This week, we play a trailer to introduce our new series, the Rationality Wars. The Rationality Wars tells stories about the political and intellectual battles to define rationality and irrationality. Behind every definition of rationality, somebody benefits, and somebody is harmed. We ask: what does it mean to be rational?; what does it mean to be irrational?; and most of all, who gets to decide? However, note that we’re launching this new season on our old podcast, Cited Podcast. We will be posting the first few episodes on the Darts and Letters feed so you do not miss out, but we will not post the entire season. So subscribe to Cited Podcast. Website: https://citedpodcast.com/ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/cited-podcast/id558228325 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6pMLdKYpGooLKis7aORHSi RSS: https://citedpodcast.com/feed/podcast/

There's a story you can tell about the post-Occupy left gravitating towards a more state-oriented kind of politics. However, this misses how autonomous and anarchist-inflected social movements have brought enormous energy, and enormous change. In this episode, we examine the theory and practice of anti-statist organizing, including the Kurds within the area formerly known as Rojava.

Psychedelics have gone from the counterculture, to the mainstream. However, can you turn take such an ineffable thing -- personal revelation, cosmic oneness, spiritual enlightenment, whatever people have called it -- and make it just another commodity? We look at the deep rifts in and around psychedelic medicine, as different camps vie for the future of these drugs.

The WEF is yet another example of the scrambled ideologues of our moment. Conservatives condemn the WEF, and news organizations like Rebel cover it doggedly; at the same time, left-leaning NGOs speak there, and progressive news organizations say little. On this episode, we examine the shifting politics around our global financial elites.

What's safer than baby powder? Parents have been using it for over 100 years to powder their baby's bottoms, and they've found one brand especially trustworthy: Johnson & Johnson. Yet, numerous studies have revealed the presence of trace amounts of asbestos in this talc-based powder. Thousands of parents now claim that this asbestos is responsible for their cancers. In settling these claims, J&J is using a proposing a bankruptcy move called the Texas Two-Step. Critics say is nothing more than a scheme to limit their liabilities. We examine the messy medical and legal history behind the beloved brand.

We're excited to announce Academic Edgelords. This is a scholarly podcast about scholarly provocateurs. Gadflys, charlatans, and shitposters sometimes get tenure, believe it or not. This is a leftist podcast that takes a second look at their peer-reviewed work, and tries to see if there’s anything we might learn from arguing with them. We start with the ultimate academic edglelord: Ted Kacynski, the domestic terrorist.

Could an artificial intelligence diagnosis what ails you? Medical futurists offer a vision of perfect personalized risk assessments, diagnoses, and treatment recommendations. Yet, recent stories belie this optimism. Many of these robot doctors are rather stupid, and they seem more interesting in cutting costs than providing care.

Paulo Freire offers activists and academics everywhere a lesson in what it means to be a radical intellectual. He is known as the founder of critical pedagogy, which asks teachers and learners to understand and resist their own oppression. On this episode, we look at the life and legacy of Freire.