Moral panic about masturbation and pornography is nothing new, but in the wake of Donald Trump's re-election, numerous conservative groups—many of whom have deep ties to the natalist movement—have started to ring the alarm bell once again. This week, June and Josh take a look at the early history of fear of masturbation, then jump forward to the present day to see how the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) reflects many of these paranoias and introduces problems of its own.

There's also a pretty significant detour into talking about the Zootopia abortion comic, if that's your thing.

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EPISODE ART: John Harvey Kellogg, a physician who founded the Kellogg Company with his brother Will in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1906. Kellogg believed that bland food such as unsweetened corn flakes could aid in reducing the urge to masturbate. He also was a notable eugenicist and co-founded the Race Betterment Foundation in 1914 to discourage interracial relationships.

AUDIO CLIPS:

16:07 – Tucker Carlson talks to Milo Yiannopolous about homosexuality

FURTHER READING/LISTENING:

The Worst of All Possible Worlds episode about Every Young Man's Battle (Apple Podcasts / Spotify / YouTube)
The Zootopia abortion comic

SOURCES:

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Website: joshboerman.com
Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world
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Stream: Traditional Scrench

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Bluesky: @junlper.beer
Other podcast: Kill The Computer
Writing: June's Substack

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