The Tea with Myriam Francois

Nazi Science is Back!

Nov 7, 2025
Join historian Subhadra Das, an expert on eugenics and scientific racism, as she explores the alarming resurgence of eugenic ideas. From political figures like Trump leveraging misinformation to Sydney Sweeney's controversial ad, Das highlights how these narratives subtly permeate culture. She warns about the dangers of medical practices targeting marginalized groups, critiques economic policies as modern eugenics, and calls attention to the role of tech in perpetuating elitist narratives around 'genetic perfection.' Resistance begins with awareness!
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INSIGHT

Eugenics Was Once Legitimate Science

  • Eugenics was mainstream, practiced by scientists and institutions, not merely pseudoscience.
  • Later genetic advances disproved its core claims, but its social influence persisted.
ANECDOTE

Curating Galton Sparked Deeper Inquiry

  • Subhadra Das became interested after curating the Galton Collection at UCL and seeing the scale of eugenic influence.
  • She realized eugenics extended far beyond Nazism and never fully disappeared.
INSIGHT

Nazis Didn’t Invent Eugenic Practices

  • Nazi eugenics was extreme but had precedents and parallels in US sterilization laws.
  • Buck v. Bell (1927) legalized sterilization and demonstrates continuity beyond Germany.
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