Episodes
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Breastfeeding is a sacred relationship between a mother and child, where she continues to nourish it with her body. You might say there’s nothing more beautiful, unless your nursing someone else’s kid. Then to some, it’s sexual assault.
Breastfeeding calls out many complicated emotions, even when it’s with mother and child. But how did it get that way. In today’s episode we explore the sweeping cultural and societal changes that took breastfeeding from a normal part of the reproduction cycle to something much more taboo.
We’ll dig into this history to understand how these changes led to where we are today. That’s what you’re in for today, on Impolite SocietyEmail us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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Today, we’re talking about cousins. Kissing cousins specifically, and some of the genetic malformations it may or may NOT produce.
If you live in America, the thought of kissing cousins probably makes you cringe. But outside of the Western world and throughout a lot of time, that wasn’t always the case. Throughout many wealthy families and cultures, it was and is considered par for the course. How was this taboo born and when did it really get it’s wings? That’s what you're in for today on Impolite Society.
https://www.science.org/content/article/how-early-christian-church-gave-birth-today-s-weird-europeanshttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/science/cousins-marriage-family-tree.html?auth=login-google1tap&login=google1tap
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/there-s-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html
https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/what-scientists-found-after-analyzing-cases-of-inbreeding-in-the-uk
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/graphics/cousins_042505.html?noredirect=on
https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/go-ahead-kiss-your-cousin
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2605922/
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/02/15/cousin-marriage-is-probably-fine-in-most-cases
https://www.nature.com/articles/hdy201325
https://www.the-sun.com/news/7232766/dupont-family-inbreeding-legacy-cousins-marriage/
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/prehistoric-humans-are-likely-to-have-formed-mating-networks-to-avoid-inbreeding
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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Today we’re digging into the world of diapers and the adults who love them. We’ll dig into how adults role play being babies and how they put the lovers in diaper lovers. We’ll also take a look inside the mind of an adult baby to try to understand what draws them to the diaper lifestyle.
We’ll cover all this with many more messytidbits along the way. That’s what you’re in for today on Impolite Society.
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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Fashion is a complicated world. Youthful women, beautiful clothes, and the whiff of culture and privilege is a heady mix. It’s no surprise that the trends and fads in fashion have had us chasing our tails for eons. But before there was heroin chic and body positivity movements, fashion was shaping our health in a completely different way. Turns out it’s not just the culture of fashion that’s toxic.
Today we’re exploring the deadly fashion trends of centuries past. Industrial waste, poison hats, and columns of fire are on the docket today and it might make you think twice about what threads you decide to rock at your next big social function.
That’s what you're in for today on Impolite Society.
00:00 The World of Fashion: A Toxic Legacy03:25 Historical Fashion: From TikTok Trends to Deadly Dyes
06:23 Aniline Dyes
19:17 Fiery Hoop Skirts
26:13 Felt Hats and Mercury Poisoning
37:00 The Legacy of Scheele's Green
46:06 Reflecting on the Dangers of Fashion and Industrial Chemicals
48:25 Share the Podcast and Stay Informed
Sources:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/toms-river-excerpt-on-aniline-dye/https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/MMG/MMGDetails.aspx?mmgid=448&toxid=79#:~:text=Aniline%20is%20irritating%20to%20the,acute%20or%20delayed%20hemolytic%20anemia
https://mollybrown.org/death-by-crinoline/
https://thecowkeeperswish.com/2018/08/06/the-crinoline-fires/
https://www.famsf.org/stories/poisons-part-i-the-mercurial-world-of-felt
https://corrosion-doctors.org/Elements-Toxic/Mercury-mad-hatter.htm
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/05/02/scheeles-green-the-color-of-fake-foliage-and-death/
https://www.jezebel.com/the-arsenic-dress-how-poisonous-green-pigments-terrori-1738374597
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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Secret sea labs, extraterrestrial intelligence and LSD experiments…. No this isn’t the plot of a new spy movie. This is the story of a very real experiment that took place in the U.S. virgin islands in the 1960s.
Join us as we tell the story of a scientist and intellectual who became obsessed with unlocking the secrets of language and the young, star-crossed lovers who would get entangled in the messy affair. This is a story of strange science, unorthodox experiments and interspecies love. And you’re going to hear it all today, on Impolite Society.
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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Stories are unique to the human race. They inspire us, delight us, and cast the familiar world around us in a whole new light. Everyone has been wrapped up in a good story at some point in their lives- curled up with a book you can’t put down, binge watching television shows late into the night, or being so obsessed with a story you find yourself dreaming about it. And every one of us, at some point, has thought, “What if….”
Today we are entering the online world of fanfiction: what is it, who writes it, and why the subject matter often leans to the dark, the sexual, and the taboo.
That’s what we’re in for today on Impolite Society.
Sources:
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/02/surprising-18th-century-origins-fan-fiction/606532/
https://reporter.rit.edu/views/fanfiction-legal-battle-creativity
https://noraphoenix.com/2018/03/26/introduction-into-mpreg/
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/questions-about-mpreg-you-were-embarrassed-to-ask
https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/comments/v9h4ae/analysis_of_the_top_fandoms_on_ao3_percentages/
https://screenrant.com/fan-ships-highest-number-fanworks-ao3-ranked/#keith-amp-lance-voltron-legendary-defender
https://archiveofourown.org/tagsEmail us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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La petite mort. This phrase, meaning the little death, is an old school French euphemism for Orgasms. But, what happens when our pursuit of these little deaths results in the big one? Around the globe, thousands die each year from these autoerotic fatalities, and those are just the ones where the family let the coroner put that down on paper.
So how does the five finger shuffle turn deadly? Today we're talking about masturbation and all the ways the grim reaper might catch you with your pants down. We'll explore the famous cases from the medical journals and how you can avoid a similar fate.
This episode is not for the squeamish, so buckle up because that's what you're in for today on Impolite Society.
Sources:
https://usstore.tenga.co/pages/globalreport2021https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3177356/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11453096/#:~:text=We%20report%20a%20case%20of,a%20sufficient%20amount%20of%20air.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/mar/23/drugsandalcohol.uknews2
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35315374/
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/autoerotic-fatalities-power-hydraulics#:~:text=This%20article%20describes%20two%20cases,used%20a%20frontend%20loader%20shovel.
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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In the 1950s, the Canadian government forced many Inuit people into high artic settlement camps. But one man refused to go, no matter how much his children and grand children begged. The family was scared of what would happen if he refused to cooperate. In a desperate plan to force his hand, his family abandoned the man in his igloo. They took everything- all the food, the furs, and tools- in the hope that he would have no choice but to join them in their journey to the camp. All they left him with was his two dogs and the clothes on his back.
But a determined man can win any battle. The man went outside, pulled down his seal skin trousers, and defecated into his hand. And as the feces began to freeze, he shaped it into the form of a blade.
Human feces is a noxious substance, but there is more than one way you can be killed by poop. Today we’re talking shit- what it’s made of, what diseases it carries, and the wildest ways humans have used poop as a deadly weapon. That’s’ what you're in for today, on Impolite Society.
Sources:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/vdx4ad/brown-death-a-history-of-poop-as-a-weapon-111https://www.britannica.com/science/feces
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X19305371
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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Between the covers of a medical school anatomy textbook, you'd expect to find all of the knowledge we've accumulated on the human body over the millennia. Every bone, muscle, and tendon accounted for. But there's one organ that's missing.
Throughout history, the clitoris has been ignored, misidentified, and deemed vestigial. Even today, 90 percent of the organ is left out of the textbooks. Is this pleasure producing part of the female anatomy some leftover hand me down from male genetics or something entirely different?
Like the clitoris, the truth can be hard to find. That's why we're exploring anatomy, embryology, and physiology to learn more about this hot button topic and find out if the clit is simply just a teeny tiny penis. That's what you're in for today on Impolite Society.Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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Christmas bells, candy canes, and hot cocoa by the fire - that’s the idealized American Christmas scene. Our traditions are designed to give everyone in the family the warm fuzzies and in America, the worst thing that could ever happen at Christmas is a lump of coal in your stocking.
But this isn’t the case in the Old Country. Europe is the source of many of our grim fairy tales and even Christmas has its own unique cast of monsters. Tales of cannibalism, horse skulls, slaves, and worse all make an appearance in the holiday traditions around the world. Today we’re exploring the yuletide lore that your parents definitely didn’t tell you before bed.
That’s what you're in for today on Impolite Society.
Sources:
https://www.slate.com/articles/life/holidays/2011/12/zwarte_piet_holland_s_favorite_racist_christmas_tradition_.html
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0015587042000231264
https://www.medievalists.net/2019/12/the-yule-cat-of-iceland-a-different-kind-of-christmas-tradition/
https://witchlike.wordpress.com/2020/01/05/frau-perchta-witch-of-twelfth-night/
https://www.wales.com/about/culture/mari-lwyd
https://medium.com/@jahernandez_writes/the-tale-of-p%C3%A8re-fouettard-66260dc44890
https://www.visiticeland.com/article/meet-the-icelandic-yule-troll-family
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIXscGcdGyk
https://www.americanacademy.de/attacking-zwarte-piet/
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/12/22/572569325/caga-ti-a-catalan-log-that-poops-nougats-at-christmas
https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/holidays-christmas/pooping-man-catalan-nativity-scene.htm
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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We’ve all thought about having plastic surgery, at least casually. And if you haven’t, fuck off. Just right now. Fuck off, go away, you must be a perfect human with a perfect body and no insecurities. We don't want your kind here. For the rest of us, a good way to cure yourself of wanting any of this shit done is to hear more about it. Because getting a new nose sounds great- until you watch it being done.
So let’s jump into the gory details of three of the most common cosmetic producers to try to understand why we are so repulsed and fascinated by plastic surgery. That’s you’re in for today on Impolite Society.
Sources:https://medihair.com/en/plastic-and-cosmetic-surgery-statistics/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2VtqmLxhbE
https://science.howstuffworks.com/anesthesia4.htm
https://www.plasticsurgery.org/news/blog/what-is-capsular-contracture-and-how-can-it-be-treated
https://www.plasticsurgery.org/cosmetic-procedures/breast-augmentation/implants
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/tumescent-anesthesia
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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Today we're talking about the infamous groupie lifestyle and how you might be able to bed a rock star yourself.
We explore the stories of iconic figures of the groupie heyday from Sable Star to Sweet Connie to get an eye-opening view of groupie-dom. We're talking about the golden days of rock and roll in the '70s to the evolution of groupies in the digital age and uncover how fandom and lust cross paths in this scandalous subculture.
That's what you're in for today on Impolite Society.Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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During World War II, America executed only one soldier for desertion: Edward D. Slovik,. Slovik would be the first and only soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War. This episode delves into the dramatic circumstances surrounding Edward's refusal to fight and his request for a court-martial, which lead to his dramatic sentencing.
Join us as we discuss how the details of Slovik's case were kept hidden from public view for years, and the emotional toll this took on Slalovik's family. The story of Edward D. Slovik serves as a stark contrast to how other nations treated their own soldiers and offers a glimpse into a largely unknown chapter of American history.
00:00 Introduction to World War II Desertion
00:46 The Story of Edward D. Slovik: The Only U.S. Soldier Executed for Desertion
02:48 The Hosts' Personal Take on the Topic
03:21 Edward D. Slovik's Early Life and Background
05:43 Slovik's Entry into the Military and Initial Desertion
07:50 The Consequences of Slovik's Actions
12:25 Slovik's Trial and Execution
18:48 Reflections on Slovik's Case and the Aftermath
49:11 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsEmail us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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Join us as we explore the world of body snatchers, grave robbers, murder syndicates and international smuggling that is the human bone trade. Through this trade, humans beings are turned into medical grade skeletons before being sold to the highest bidder.
Journey through the bone factories of India, hallowed halls of Georgian medical colleges and the lobbies of the modern bone traders as we explore the legal (and less so) side of selling human remains.
That's what you're in for today, on Impolite Society.Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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Halloween is a time of trick, treats, and culturally insensitive costumes. A bad Halloween costume can do more than just make you look lazy- it can get you cancelled. Native Americans, Geishas, and Southern Belle costumes have gotten people cooler than you cancelled by social media. Should the classic witch's hat be added to the list of cancellable costumes?
The origin of the witch's hat is a historical ball of string, and it's been said that witch hats were inspired by anti-Semitic laws in medieval Europe. Let's look into the witch's hat. When it was first seen atop a witch's head, what inspired it, and if you are wearing an anti-Semitic dog whistle this year for your night of tricks and treats.
That's what you're in for today on Impolite Society.
Sources:
https://jewishunpacked.com/the-weird-jewish-hats-of-medieval-art-antisemitic-trope-or-fashion-statement/https://recollections.biz/blog/a-short-history-of-witches-hats/
https://www.themarysue.com/the-history-of-the-witch-hat/
https://worthwich.com/classroom/witch-hat
https://www.vice.com/en/article/xw9egk/witches-hats-alewife-brewster-history
https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/10/the-history-of-the-witch-s-hat-origins-of-its-pointy-design.html
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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It was a sticky summer afternoon when it appeared. A nearly seven foot bronzed Baphomet at the foot of the Arkansas State Capitol. And, just as quickly, it was gone. For a handful of hours the goat headed, winged figure sat vigil outside the white stone building. For many, it represented the forces of evil itself. Darkness, chaos, and the void.
But to the members of the Satanic Temple, those behind the statue's appearance, the Baphomet is a symbol of equality, tolerance, and reconciliation. The use of Satan and Satanic imagery is sure to shock. After all, that's kind of the point.
But, who is Satan? And more importantly, who are his modern day followers? We'll dig into the history of the Beast, and some of the biggest sects of those who follow the Prince of Darkness to learn about their beliefs and vision for the world.
That's what you're in for today on Impolite Society.Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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We're sorry.
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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It's been a wild ride and we have enjoyed it! Email us at [email protected] and we will actual get your email!
Laura and Rachel will be back eventually. In the meantime, check us out on Nerds Talking the Podcast.Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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Nothing quite gets under our skin like when we feel like someone thinks they’re better than us. But yet, the odds are that you think you’re better than the average person.
Today we’re talking superiority. We’ll explore how humans evolved to rank each other and dig into the theories on why we tend to put ourselves higher in those rankings. We’ll also look at what happens when that feeling of superiority goes too far.
All to answer to our rude question: Do you think you’re better than me, or something?
That’s what’s coming your way today, on Impolite Society.
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
SOURCES:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201703/why-some-people-think-theyre-superiorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_rank_theory
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5494206/#R89
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5494206/#R6
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00123/full
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230726570_The_better-than-average_effect
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6029792/
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1997-43182-001
https://www.livescience.com/26914-why-we-are-all-above-average.html
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/03/a-hidden-problem-at-the-heart-of-psychopathy/555335/
https://www.verywellmind.com/the-difference-between-a-narcissist-and-a-sociopath-5181518
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-sociopath-380184
https://cultureplusconsulting.com/2015/06/04/ethnocentrism/
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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Today we’re looking into the sex lives of others to see how much everyone else is doing the deed. We dig into sexy surveys to learn who gets it the most and how often really is “normal”. We also look at how sex affects our mood to see if there’s an optimal amount for peak happiness and relationship bliss.
All to get to the bottom of our rude question today: Is everyone having more sex than me?
That’s what you're in for today, on Impolite Society.
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
SOURCES:
https://relationshipsinamerica.com/relationships-and-sex/how-often-do-americans-have-sexhttps://gssdataexplorer.norc.org/variables/5057/vshow
https://www.statista.com/statistics/245194/most-sexually-active-countries-worldwide/
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2022/03/31/sex-decline-americans
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-017-0953-1
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550615616462
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2018331/Is-cuddle-better-sex-New-research-says-hugs-hanky-panky-keeps-couples-together.html
https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2015/may/more-sex-does-not-lead-to-happiness.html
Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.
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