William Shakespeare is widely considered one of the greatest poets and playwrights in the history of the English language.
However, over the last two centuries many people have begun to wonder if William Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon, England was indeed the person who wrote the works which have been attributed to him.
If you look at the evidence or the lack thereof, they aren’t necessarily crazy for thinking it.
Race, while drawn from the visual cues of human diversity, is an idea with a measurable past, an identifiable present, and an uncertain future. The concept of race has been at the center of both triumphs and tragedies in American history and has had a profound effect on the human experience. Race Unmasked: Biology and Race in the Twentieth Century (Columbia UP, 2018)revisits the origins of commonly held beliefs about the scientific nature of racial differences, examines the roots of the modern idea of race, and explains why race continues to generate controversy as a tool of classification even in our genomic age. Surveying the work of some of the twentieth century's most notable scientists, Race Unmasked reveals how genetics and related biological disciplines formed and preserved ideas of race and, at times, racism. A gripping history of science and scientists, Race Unmasked elucidates the limitations of a racial worldview and throws the contours of our current and evolving understanding of human diversity into sharp relief.
About the author: Michael Yudell is a public health ethicist, award-winning historian, and professor and Vice Dean at the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. He is the co-editor of the Columbia University Press Series Race, Inequality, and Health and the author of several books, including Race Unmasked, for which he won the Arthur J. Viseltear Award from the American Public Health Association.
About the interviewer: Hussein Mohsen is a PhD/MA Candidate in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics/History of Science and Medicine at Yale University. His research interests include machine learning, cancer genomics, and the history of human genetics. For more about his work, visit http://www.husseinmohsen.com.
Players across the National Women’s Soccer League have recently gone public with stories of verbal, emotional, and sexual abuse and harassment. Following these reports of abuse, the league cancelled all five games scheduled for last weekend. And when games resumed on Wednesday, the saga culminated with dramatic moments of silent protests at all league matches. Meg Linehan, who covers the world of women’s soccer for The Athletic, joins us to discuss the developing story.
And in headlines: the Senate voted to raise the country’s debt ceiling for now, Pfizer-BioNTech asked the FDA to authorize its vaccine for emergency use in kids 5-11, and Biden signs an executive order today to protect national monuments shrunk in size by Trump.
Show Notes:
The Athletic: “‘This guy has a pattern’: Amid institutional failure, former NWSL players accuse prominent coach of sexual coercion” – https://bit.ly/3oJ5TVs
What to know about the next step in allowing younger children, ages 5 to 11, to get a COVID-19 vaccine, the latest action to avoid a debt disaster in the U.S., and deadly flooding in Alabama.
Plus: why more than a dozen former NBA players are now facing federal charges, why Tesla is moving its headquarters, and what you may get to see if you look up at the sky tonight…
Rhode Island mom Nicole Solas says she is just one of many parents “with legitimate concerns about our kids’ education.”
Solas drew national attention earlier this year when her local school board in South Kingstown, R.I., threatened to sue her over public record requests she made to learn what her local school district was teaching students. The school board ultimately opted against taking legal action against her.
But Solas made headlines again in August, when a teachers union, the National Education Association Rhode Island, filed a lawsuit against her over the records requests.
Solas made the requests to determine whether her child would be taught about gender identity and critical race theory ideology, two controversial issues that have led to an increase in parental attendance at school board meetings across the country this year.
Parents “simply want to know what their kids are learning, and they want to have a say if what their kids are learning is not appropriate,” she says.
Solas is actively speaking out against Attorney General Merrick Garland's order to the FBI and federal prosecutors to meet with federal, state, and local leaders to look into a “disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence” allegedly being made against “school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.”
Garland’s directive came less than a week after the National Association of School Boards asked President Joe Biden for assistance looking into whether threats against school board members and other school leaders could be classified as "domestic terrorism.”
Solas joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to share her personal story of speaking out against her local school board, and to discuss Garland’s order.
We also cover these stories:
Congress reaches an agreement to raise the debt ceiling.
Former President Donald Trump asks a federal judge to order Facebook to reinstate his account.
Texas will appeal a federal judge's injunction against the state’s pro-life Heartbeat Act.
PHPUgly streams the recording of this podcast live. Typically every Thursday night around 9 PM PT. Come and join us, and subscribe to our Youtube Channel, Twitch, or Periscope. Also, be sure to check out our Patreon Page.
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If that's something you've been too afraid to say lately, this is the episode for you! Andrew breaks down the history of the debt ceiling, and why it is as pointless as it is potentially catastrophic! And a wildcard segment on Texas SB 8 being enjoined.
Come see Thomas and others (like Ross and Carrie!) for California Freethought Day! It's online this year! Info here.
How did humans evolve some key cooperative behaviors like sharing? NPR Science Correspondent Jon Hamilton reports back from a bonobo sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where scientists are trying to answer that very question. (Encore episode)
If you have something nice to say - email the show at shortwave@npr.org!
Authors Joshua Prager and Leni Zumas each explore the real world implications of abortion politics, through fiction and non-fiction. First, in a conversation with Michel Martin, Prager talks through his book The Family Roe: An American Story, centered on the woman who was the baby at the center of the landmark Roe v. Wade trial. Then Leni Zumas and Scott Simon discuss Zumas' novel Red Clocks, set in a time where fetal personhood legislation has outlawed not only abortion, but also in-vitro fertilization.
