How America's oldest fat camp — and the inspiration for Disney’s "Heavyweights" — became the symbol of a health intervention that enjoys worldwide popularity despite no evidence that it improves anyone's health. Support us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PayPalGet Maintenance Phase T-shirts, stickers and moreLinks!The Epic Family Feud Behind an Iconic American Weight-Loss Camp for KidsTwo teenagers placed in foster care after weight loss plan failsCalls to set up fat camps for obese children in ScotlandChildhood obesity: are new treatment centres the solution?Weight-loss Camps and Their Effect on Childhood Obesity Psychosocial outcomes in a weight loss camp for overweight youthInside Britain’s First Ever Residential “Fat Camp” Working at Camp Shane: Employee ReviewsMissing campers, falsified documents and other issues revealed in CT weight-loss camp investigationKids Weight Loss Camp That Closed Has History of ViolationsWeighty Problems by Laura BackstromThe Actually Terrible Things that Happen at Fat CampSupport the show

Matthew Walker's "Why We Sleep" was one of the most popular and acclaimed wellness books of 2017. There's just one problem: Much of it isn't true. Thanks to University of Ottawa Postdoctoral Fellow Dylan Smith for helping us with the research!Support us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PayPalGet Maintenance Phase T-shirts, stickers and moreLinks!Walker's TED TalkAlexey's blog post: Matthew Walker's "Why We Sleep" Is Riddled with Scientific and Factual ErrorsWalker’s ResponseTrouble With TEDDoes daylight savings kill people?Why We Sleep: A Tale Of Institutional FailureIs Matthew Walker’s “Why We Sleep” Riddled with Scientific and Factual Errors?Up All Night: The science of sleeplessnessExploring the Necessity and Virtue of SleepWhy Do We Sleep?Siesta in Healthy Adults and Coronary Mortality in the General PopulationA Chronobiological Evaluation of the Acute Effects of Daylight Saving Time on Traffic Accident RiskHas Adult Sleep Duration Declined Over the Last 50+ Years?Americans Are Sleeping More, If Not Necessarily BetterHigh-profile sleep researcher loses paper for duplicationSupport the show

It's a sexual health episode! This week, Mike and Aubrey dive into the hotly debated medical history of vibrators and ask: who fact-checks the fact-checkers? Note: A previous version of this episode included language that referred to “the female downstairs,” implying both that gender is linked to genitals (it isn’t) and that vibrators were used primarily by cis women (they weren’t). We love our trans listeners and we don’t want to do anything that makes them feel excluded, so we’ve removed the sections where that language appeared. We'll be discussing this and our approach to handling feedback in more detail soon. Thanks to everyone who wrote in to let us know! — MikeSupport us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PayPalGet Maintenance Phase T-shirts, stickers and moreLinks!The Technology of Orgasm by Rachel MainesBuzz by Hallie LiebermanSignior DildoHysteria! trailerVibrators had a long history as medical quackery before feminists rebranded them as sex toysA Failure of Academic Quality Control: The Technology of OrgasmHow Gosnell Duncan Changed the Sex Toy Game ForeverVictorian Doctors Didn't Treat Women With Orgasms, Say Historians (Almost) Everything You Know About the Invention of the Vibrator Is WrongSupport the show

For nearly four decades, Americans have heard a simple story about health, longevity and obesity. This week, we learn it's a little more complicated. Thanks to Katherine Flegal, Paul Campos, Jeff Hunger and Jason Salemi for helping us research and fact-check this episode! Support us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PayPalGet Maintenance Phase T-shirts, stickers and moreLinks!Katherine Flegal’s “The obesity wars and the education of a researcher”Walter Willett's " Evidence does not support benefit of being overweight on mortality"Flegal’s 2005 paperFlegal’s 2013 articleWillett’s 2016 meta-analysisThe infamous 2004 CDC paperFat: A Cultural History of ObesityPaul Campos's "The Obesity Myth"Walter Willett’s Food Fight           The obesity research that blew upFlawed methods and inappropriate conclusions for health policy on overweight and obesity: The Global BMI Mortality Collaboration meta-analysisDoes Body Mass Index Adequately Convey a Patient’s Mortality Risk?The Weight of Medical Authority: The Making and Unmaking of Knowledge in the Obesity EpidemicObesity: An Overblown Epidemic? Commentary: On ‘public health aspects of weight control’Obesity And Its Relation To Health And DiseaseDoes Being Overweight Really Reduce Mortality?Individual and Aggregate Years-of-life-lost Associated With Overweight and ObesitySupport the show

At the height of her "Murder She Wrote" fame, Angela Lansbury released a home workout video full of synth music, peach jumpsuits and ~sensuality~. This week, we’re exploring the anti-Goop-ness of Angela’s fitness book and video, "Positive Moves."!  It gets a little heavy toward the end, but we promise: No one was canceled in the making of this episode. Support us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PayPalGet Maintenance Phase T-shirts, stickers and moreLinks!Positive Moves video on YouTube (cued up to “moving freely”)Positive Moves bookWhat is Gaslighting? The 1944 film Gaslight is the best explainer.Support the show

In the sequel (sorry) to our first installment, we take a deep dive into Rachel's wildly problematic books and deeply weird downfall. Along the way we discuss allyship etiquette, MLMs and Ronald Reagan. We remain convinced that getting matching tattoos was the right decision for us.  Support us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PayPalGet Maintenance Phase T-shirts, stickers and moreLinks!The infamous Tik TokSavy Writes Books' video essaysThe Rise & Fall of Rachel HollisThe Divine Rise of Multilevel MarketingKaitlyn Luckow's "Girl, It’s Okay To Be Dirty: A Look At Toxic Self-Help"Multilevel-marketing companies like LuLaRoe are forcing people into debt and psychological crisisJesus never called us to chase after power, money, and fame “Girl, Wash Your Face” Is A Massive Best-Seller With A Dark MessageYour Brain Is Not an Onion With a Tiny Reptile InsideInfluencer Rachel Hollis Is Facing Accusations She Is Plagiarizing On Her InstagramSupport the show

Girl, stop reinforcing the status quo.Support us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PayPalGet Maintenance Phase T-shirts, stickers and moreVideos!The infamous Tik TokMomfession: I get up at 5 amThe "bikini mom" talkHow To Start A PodcastSupport the show

Last year, spiritual leader Marianne Williamson made headlines when she ran for president.  But 10 years earlier, she wrote a bestselling book that promised to teach readers how to “surrender" their weight forever. This week, Mike and Aubrey take a deep dive into Williamson’s life story and her 2010 book, “A Course in Weight Loss."  Along the way we talk nonprofit drama, Eleanor Roosevelt and gays for Marianne. Plus, Mike’s got a message for the twinks.Support us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PayPalGet Maintenance Phase T-shirts, stickers and moreVideos!Marianne Williamson on ForgivenessA Course in Weight LossA Course in Weight Loss, Chapter Two A Course in Weight Loss, Chapter 7A Course in Weight Loss, Chapter 8Links!Who is Marianne Williamson? Her 2020 presidential campaign and policies, explained The Divine Miss WFaith: Marianne Williamson Is Full of ItThe Gospel According to Marianne Williamson “No One Decides to Run for President Impulsively”: Marianne Williamson Explains Her Magical ThinkingMarianne Williamson has almost everything Marianne Williamson is a controversial AIDS-crisis figure for gay men.Into America's Spiritual Void With Marianne WilliamsonWhy Marianne Williamson’s most famous passage keeps getting cited as a Nelson Mandela quote Thanks to  Doctor Dreamchip for our lovely theme song!Support the show

How Nestlé executives, global health institutions and a very racist white lady seeded a series of nutritional misconceptions we're still living with today. Special thanks to John Nott for helping us out with this episode! Here's his papers on the history of protein and the British Empire.“No one may starve in the British Empire”: Kwashiorkor, Protein and the Politics of Nutrition Between Britain and Africa“How Little Progress”? A Political Economy of Postcolonial NutritionSupport us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PayPalGet Maintenance Phase T-shirts, stickers and moreLinks!Cicely Williams’ dissertationDariush Mozaffarian's "History of Modern Nutrition Science"The Incidence Of Protein-Calorie Malnutrition Of Early ChildhoodAn Error of Medicine? Kwashiorkor and the “Protein Gap”Childhood Malnutrition In Developing Nations: Looking Back and Looking ForwardThe Politics of ProteinThe Impact of Colonialism on Health and Health Services in TanzaniaBreast-Milk and the World Protein GapThe Influence of Colonialism on Africa’s Welfare: An Anthropometric StudyFood, Colonialism and the Quantum of HappinessRevisited: Is Subclinical Protein Deficiency A Significant Public Health Concern?Listening to the Ga: Cicely Williams’ Discovery of Kwashiorkor on the Gold Coast“Milking the Third World: Humanitarianism, Capitalism and the Moral Economy of the Nestlé Boycott”The Controversy Over Infant FormulaWar on Want’s “The Baby Killer “75 years of Kwashiorkor In AfricaThe Rise and Fall of Protein Malnutrition in Global HealthSupport the show

Over the last 30 years, fatness has been defined as a risk factor for disease, then a disease in itself, then a global epidemic. What caused this rapid shift? Who’s gonna join our group of B-roll vigilantes? And did we just hear Morgan Freeman?Support us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PayPalGet Maintenance Phase T-shirts, stickers and moreBooks!Fat Politics Killer Fat The End of the Obesity Epidemic Folk Devils and Moral Panics Moral Panics Links!American Obesity Association PSAAMA Recognizes Obesity as a Disease Regarding Obesity as a Disease: Evolving Policies and Their Implications For Researchers on Obesity: Historical Review of Extra Body Weight Definitions Obesity task force linked to WHO takes “millions” from drug firms Medicare’s search for effective obesity treatments: diets are not the answer Research: How Americans’ Biases Are Changing (or not) Over Time Satcher: Obesity Reaching Crisis Levels Do Photographic Images of Obese Persons Influence Antifat Attitudes?Did the American Medical Association make the correct decision classifying obesity as a disease? What exactly is a disease? The “Childhood Obesity Epidemic”: Health Crisis or Social Construction? Fears of a fat planet overblown, skeptics say An Unjust War: The Case Against the Government’s War on Obesity Expanding Definitions of Obesity May Harm Children Support the show