The History of Hysteria

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Female hysteria was like a huge thing that, you know, dates back centuries and it became really a really popular diagnosis in the 19th century when this kind of idea of the frail woman took over. There were all sorts of treatments for it that involved some of which involved like early vibrator treatments,. This describes me when you say vibrator treatments. It's not the word I'm looking for, but the kind of frail woman, the ideal of this frail woman kind of took over.

We double-dip a bit in this week's show, reading two short stories and proving that you don't have to have a ton of time to read something thought-provoking. The theme is "female authors writing about controversial-at-the-time ideas," and the stories are The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

One is about a misdiagnosed "hysterical" woman slowly going insane through lack of mental stimulation, one is about a seemingly innocuous small town that is slavishly devoted to its own traditions. Both remain subversive and retain their impact even today.

Oh yeah and we also talk about which grocery store animal mascot would win in a fight.

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