Podcast appearances and mentions of beth linker

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with historian Beth Linker, Samuel H. Preston Endowed Term Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of the History and Sociology of Science, about her recent book, Slouch: Postural Panic in Modern America (Princeton University Press, 2024). Slouch examines the history of conceptions of “bad posture” as they arose over the course of the 20th century. The book is a beautiful example of taking a perhaps seemingly small topic and showing how it connects to many, both surprising and well-known, themes in history. The pair also discuss a few of the potential projects Linker may be turning to next, all of which sound fascinating. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with historian Beth Linker, Samuel H. Preston Endowed Term Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of the History and Sociology of Science, about her recent book, Slouch: Postural Panic in Modern America (Princeton University Press, 2024). Slouch examines the history of conceptions of “bad posture” as they arose over the course of the 20th century. The book is a beautiful example of taking a perhaps seemingly small topic and showing how it connects to many, both surprising and well-known, themes in history. The pair also discuss a few of the potential projects Linker may be turning to next, all of which sound fascinating. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with historian Beth Linker, Samuel H. Preston Endowed Term Professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of the History and Sociology of Science, about her recent book, Slouch: Postural Panic in Modern America (Princeton University Press, 2024). Slouch examines the history of conceptions of “bad posture” as they arose over the course of the 20th century. The book is a beautiful example of taking a perhaps seemingly small topic and showing how it connects to many, both surprising and well-known, themes in history. The pair also discuss a few of the potential projects Linker may be turning to next, all of which sound fascinating. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society

Welcome to Episode 80 of the Movement Logic podcast! In this episode, Laurel and Sarah are joined by Dr. Beth Linker, PhD. Beth Linker, a former physical therapist, is an author and professor of the history of science, disability, and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her most recent book, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America, reveals the little-known and surprising origins of our fears and ideas about poor posture. In this episode you will learn: How Dr. Linker transitioned from physical therapist to professor and author, and (then also) yoga teacher Where her interest in posture first began The most surprising discovery she made while writing her book on the history of posture The origin of physical therapy That the modern postural yoga practice is not a centuries old practice How opinions about good and bad posture influence the judgment calls made on people's competence and character The relationship between posture-shaming and disability discrimination. The difference between posture correction and posture modification The value of posture modification for different individuals What a positive shift might look like with regards to changing society's attitudes toward posture inactivity.Sign up here for our FREE Live Strength Class (and sample our Bone Density Course) on September 19th at 8:30am PT/11:30am ET with free replay!Reference links:Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America, by Beth LinkerYoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice Episode 73: Posture Panic Pt. 1Episode 76: Posture Panic Pt. 2

WAKE UP! KK is in for Greg! Beautiful long weekend, busy across southern Manitoba, and yay Bombers! (1:40); Olympics 2024: Canada's McIntosh, Katzberg reflect on golden accomplishments (9:20); Olympics - the not-so-common sports we get hooked on, whether to watch or play! (16:40); Posture chat to tee up our 8:05 -- How's your posture? Ours are terrible (24:45); POSTURE! Brett has horrible posture, bordering on hunchback, so let's discuss good posture -- Author asks 'what is good posture?' - Beth Linker, author of "Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America" (31:40); SPORTS!! Weekend recap... Olympics / Bombers - Bob Irving! (38:30); More on less than common sports or games... Including two that are ridiculously fun to watch (49:05); Winning tale on less than common sports or games (55:55); Folklorama! First Nations Pavilion (59:50).

Beth Linker, a former physical therapist, is an author and professor of the history of science, disability, and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her most recent book, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America, reveals the little-known and surprising origins of our fears and ideas about poor posture. Her writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, Time, Psyche, The New England Journal of Medicine, and U.S.A. Today.  Get the book here: click here!Beth's website: bethlinker.com

Welcome to Season 5 and Episode 73 of the Movement Logic podcast! In this first part of our much-requested three-part series "Posture Panic," Laurel and Sarah dive into the history of posture. They discuss Beth Linker's book, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America, providing insights and context to how posture has been perceived and addressed through history starting around the turn of the century up until now.You will learn: The origins of "Posture Panic" around the turn of the century. How Darwin's theories influenced the medicalization of posture. The fear that human spines weren't "ready" for bipedal stance, contributing to back pain and other issues. Why we believe it's important to move like animals and babies, and where these beliefs came from. The intersectional impact of posture panic, affecting different races, classes, ages, and genders. The critique of evolutionary anthropology and its perpetuation of race science. The parallels between historical posture scrutiny and current fitness and diet trends like paleo, primal, and Crossfit. How "primitive" and "natural" marketing terms are often used inappropriately and simplistically. The evolution of posture surveillance from top-down to peer-based monitoring, emphasizing self-surveillance. The controversial practice turned scandal of nude posture photography in colleges. The historical use of posture as a symbol of civility and its implications for modern fitness standards.Sign up here to get on the Wait List for our next Bone Density Course [https://mailchi.mp/8c60a64eba9b/waitlist] in October 2024!Reference links:Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America, by Beth LinkerEpisode 62: Make McGill Make SenseLaurel and Sarah's interview on the Conspirituality Podcast - Episode 205: Dismantling Movement DogmaEpisode 60: Dismantling Long & Lean Pt. 1Episode 63: Dismantling Long & Lean Pt. 2Episode 66: Dismantling Long & Lean Pt. 3

Beth Linker'ın Slouch: Modern Amerika'da Duruş Paniği kitabı üzerinden duruş bozukluğu, bunun neden fobi hatta patolojik hale geldiği ve duruş konforu için tasarımlar üzerine konuşuyoruz. 

The politics of the body: movement and posture. Laurie Taylor talks to Matthew Beaumont, Professor in English Literature at UCL, about how race, class, and politics influence the way we move: You can tell a lot about people by how they walk. Through a series of dialogues with thinkers and walkers, his book explores the relationship between freedom and the human body. Also, Beth Linker, Associate Professor in the Social Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania discusses the posture panic which once seized America - a decades-long episode in which it was widely accepted as scientific fact that Americans were suffering from an epidemic of slouching, with potentially catastrophic health consequences. Tracing the rise and fall of this socially manufactured epidemic, she reveals how this period influenced the 20th century eugenics movement and the belief that sitting or standing up straight was a sign of moral rectitude.Producer: Jayne Egerton

Many of us have been told to "sit up straight and stop slouching" by a parent or teacher, and erect posture is synonymous with physical and mental health. But where did this idea come from, and is it supported by evidence? University of Pennsylvania Professor Beth Linker is a physical therapist turned medical historian who has been studying the rise of concern about "correct" posture. Her new book is called, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America.

Guest host David Common speaks with political analyst Dahlia Scheindlin about how recent international court developments are playing out in Israeli society amid the war with Hamas, political journalist Stephen Maher charts the turbulent trajectory of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, columnist and Indigenous studies professor Niigaan Sinclair explores how Winnipeg helps tell the story of Canada, and medical historian Beth Linker sets the record straight on posture.Discover more at https://www.cbc.ca/sunday

Probably all of us have, at one time or another in our younger years, been told to stand up straight. If you're part of Generation X or the early Millennial cohort, you probably had to undergo an exam during middle school for scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine. If you're a Baby Boomer, you might have had to take a posture test upon entering college — or even to pass one before you could graduate. But where did this concern for proper posture come from? Beth Linker, a historian and sociologist of science at the University of Pennsylvania, explores this question in her new book Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America.Linker finds that the modern scientific and medical obsession with poor posture emerged in the wake of Charles Darwin's 1859 On the Origin of Species, which posited that what truly differentiated humankind from apes was not intellect but bipedalism. By the turn of the twentieth century, many scientists and public health officials worried that slouching would lead to degeneration and disease. A famous 1917 study found that nearly four-fifths of Harvard's freshman class had poor posture, which sparked the widespread adoption of posture exams in schools, workplaces, and the military, along with public and commercial efforts to correct deficient stances. Poor posture became what Linker calls “a sign and signal for everything from sexual deviancy and racial degradation to unemployability and chronic disease… Posture examinations became a way for government officials, educators, and medical scientists to evaluate not only overall health but also moral character and capabilities at the individual and population levels.”In fact, what Linker calls the “posture panic” wasn't based on any real connection between a person's posture and their morality, their abilities, or their long-term health — although she argues that scientific study of the effectiveness of posture correction was inhibited by the 1990s scandal over the Ivy League's past practice of taking nude posture photographs of entering freshmen. In this podcast, Linker discusses the history of posture panic, the widespread adoption of student posture exams that later excited public speculation about nude photos of George W. Bush and Hillary Rodham (among others), the way that the disability rights movement and the demise of in loco parentis ended the practice of university posture exams, and how we ought to regard posture science in hindsight.

For decades, bad posture was seen as everything from a moral failing, to a health risk, to a military vulnerability. In her new book, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America, University of Pennsylvania historian of medicine Beth Linker discusses how concerns over standing up straight touches eugenics, pseudo-science, and power posing. Plus, Columbia University students inveigh against presumed exclusionary practices at a proposed Tel Aviv campus while supporting a campus in Beijing schooling more Chinese students than any other college. And Chris Hayes of MSNBC argues we've all been paying too much attention to college protests. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | MikePesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In January 1995, the New York Times Magazine published a bombshell story with the headline: "THE GREAT IVY LEAGUE NUDE POSTURE PHOTO SCANDAL." The article revealed that, from the 1940s through the 1960s, elite colleges had taken naked photos of thousands of freshmen, including future luminaries like George Bush, Bob Woodward, Meryl Streep, and Hillary Rodham. For years, the schools had teemed with anxious, tawdry rumors about both the purpose and fate of the photos. Who had them? What were they really for? And where did they end up?On this episode, we get the real story behind the photos from science historian Beth Linker, whose new book, "Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America," dives deep into the era's widespread obsession with standing up straight, and how researchers tried to connect posture to people's health and character. We also hear from historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela about how America came to be both more obsessed with exercise than ever — and, yet, also unhealthier. Her book is "Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America's Exercise Obsession"Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Beth Linker's book Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America provides a detailed historical analysis of America's obsession with posture, from Darwin's evolutionary theories to the mid-20th century. Guest: Dr. Beth Linker, Department Chair and Professor of History and the Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania and Author of “Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seg 1: Is our posture as important as we think? Beth Linker's book Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America provides a detailed historical analysis of America's obsession with posture, from Darwin's evolutionary theories to the mid-20th century. Guest: Dr. Beth Linker, Department Chair and Professor of History and the Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania and Author of “Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America” Seg 2: Would you give up your phone for a bottle of wine? With the goal of encouraging face-to-face conversation and dining, a restaurant is giving customers a free glass of wine if they give up their phone. Guest: Scott Shantz, CKNW Contributor Seg 3: View From Victoria: Mike DeJong goes Federal Mike de Jong has announced he is going into Federal politics, which is not a surprise as he hinted at it more than a year ago. Guest: Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun Columnist Seg 4: Should Boeing's 787 Dreamliners be grounded? A Boeing engineer testified before a Senate subcommittee regarding serious safety concerns within Boeing's manufacturing processes. Guest: Dr. David Woods, Professor of Cognitive Systems Engineering and Human Systems Integration at Ohio State University Seg 5: Living in Stanley Park for 3 decades Stanley park is the crown Jewel of Vancouver, but the park has secrets that many of us know nothing about including a few residents that have been there for over 30 years. Guest: Alissa Thibault, Global News Reporter Seg 6: How is TransLink going to spend its new provincial funding? BC is allocating up to $300 million in new capital funding to assist TransLink in expanding its bus fleet. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming highlighted that this investment will help alleviate overcrowding and reduce wait times across the region. Guest: Kevin Quinn, CEO of TransLink Seg 6: What is Canada's role in the international gun trafficking trade? Nine individuals, including several Air Canada employees, have been charged in connection to a $20-million gold heist at Toronto Pearson Airport that occurred on April 18, 2023. Guest: Dr. Noah Schwartz, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of the Fraser Valley and Author of “On Target: Gun Culture, Storytelling, and the NRA” Seg 7: Why was Jontay Porter banned from the NBA? Jontay Porter, a player with the Raptors, has been issued a lifetime ban from the NBA following an investigation that found he breached several anti-gambling rules. Guest: Doug Smith, Sports Reporter for The Toronto Star Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There was a time when the nation was gripped by an epidemic that leaders felt went to the moral core of the country: bad posture. In her new book, “Slouch,” University of Pennsylvania historian Beth Linker recounts how curved spines, rounded shoulders, and slumped backs were considered reflections of moral fitness, the ability to hold a job, and even intelligence. We'll talk to Linker about this “posture panic” that contributes to the ableism we see today, and we'll hear from you: How's your posture? Guests: Beth Linker, author, "Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America"; professor of history and sociology of science, University of Pennsylvania

In 1995, a scandal erupted when the New York Times revealed that the Smithsonian possessed a century's worth of nude "posture" photos of college students. In this riveting history, Beth Linker tells why these photos were only a small part of the incredible story of twentieth-century America's largely forgotten posture panic--a decades-long episode in which it was widely accepted as scientific fact that Americans were suffering from an epidemic of bad posture, with potentially catastrophic health consequences. Tracing the rise and fall of this socially manufactured epidemic, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America (Princeton UP, 2024) also tells how this period continues to feed today's widespread anxieties about posture. In the early twentieth century, the eugenics movement and fears of disability gave slouching a new scientific relevance. Bad posture came to be seen as an individual health threat, an affront to conventional race hierarchies, and a sign of American decline. What followed were massive efforts to measure, track, and prevent slouching and, later, back pain--campaigns that reached schools, workplaces, and beyond, from the creation of the American Posture League to posture pageants. The popularity of posture-enhancing products, such as girdles and lumbar supports, exploded, as did new fitness programs focused on postural muscles, such as Pilates and modern yoga. By 1970, student protests largely brought an end to school posture exams and photos, but many efforts to fight bad posture continued, despite a lack of scientific evidence. A compelling history that mixes seriousness and humor, Slouch is a unique and provocative account of the unexpected origins of our largely unquestioned ideas about bad posture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In 1995, a scandal erupted when the New York Times revealed that the Smithsonian possessed a century's worth of nude "posture" photos of college students. In this riveting history, Beth Linker tells why these photos were only a small part of the incredible story of twentieth-century America's largely forgotten posture panic--a decades-long episode in which it was widely accepted as scientific fact that Americans were suffering from an epidemic of bad posture, with potentially catastrophic health consequences. Tracing the rise and fall of this socially manufactured epidemic, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America (Princeton UP, 2024) also tells how this period continues to feed today's widespread anxieties about posture. In the early twentieth century, the eugenics movement and fears of disability gave slouching a new scientific relevance. Bad posture came to be seen as an individual health threat, an affront to conventional race hierarchies, and a sign of American decline. What followed were massive efforts to measure, track, and prevent slouching and, later, back pain--campaigns that reached schools, workplaces, and beyond, from the creation of the American Posture League to posture pageants. The popularity of posture-enhancing products, such as girdles and lumbar supports, exploded, as did new fitness programs focused on postural muscles, such as Pilates and modern yoga. By 1970, student protests largely brought an end to school posture exams and photos, but many efforts to fight bad posture continued, despite a lack of scientific evidence. A compelling history that mixes seriousness and humor, Slouch is a unique and provocative account of the unexpected origins of our largely unquestioned ideas about bad posture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

In 1995, a scandal erupted when the New York Times revealed that the Smithsonian possessed a century's worth of nude "posture" photos of college students. In this riveting history, Beth Linker tells why these photos were only a small part of the incredible story of twentieth-century America's largely forgotten posture panic--a decades-long episode in which it was widely accepted as scientific fact that Americans were suffering from an epidemic of bad posture, with potentially catastrophic health consequences. Tracing the rise and fall of this socially manufactured epidemic, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America (Princeton UP, 2024) also tells how this period continues to feed today's widespread anxieties about posture. In the early twentieth century, the eugenics movement and fears of disability gave slouching a new scientific relevance. Bad posture came to be seen as an individual health threat, an affront to conventional race hierarchies, and a sign of American decline. What followed were massive efforts to measure, track, and prevent slouching and, later, back pain--campaigns that reached schools, workplaces, and beyond, from the creation of the American Posture League to posture pageants. The popularity of posture-enhancing products, such as girdles and lumbar supports, exploded, as did new fitness programs focused on postural muscles, such as Pilates and modern yoga. By 1970, student protests largely brought an end to school posture exams and photos, but many efforts to fight bad posture continued, despite a lack of scientific evidence. A compelling history that mixes seriousness and humor, Slouch is a unique and provocative account of the unexpected origins of our largely unquestioned ideas about bad posture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/medicine

In 1995, a scandal erupted when the New York Times revealed that the Smithsonian possessed a century's worth of nude "posture" photos of college students. In this riveting history, Beth Linker tells why these photos were only a small part of the incredible story of twentieth-century America's largely forgotten posture panic--a decades-long episode in which it was widely accepted as scientific fact that Americans were suffering from an epidemic of bad posture, with potentially catastrophic health consequences. Tracing the rise and fall of this socially manufactured epidemic, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America (Princeton UP, 2024) also tells how this period continues to feed today's widespread anxieties about posture. In the early twentieth century, the eugenics movement and fears of disability gave slouching a new scientific relevance. Bad posture came to be seen as an individual health threat, an affront to conventional race hierarchies, and a sign of American decline. What followed were massive efforts to measure, track, and prevent slouching and, later, back pain--campaigns that reached schools, workplaces, and beyond, from the creation of the American Posture League to posture pageants. The popularity of posture-enhancing products, such as girdles and lumbar supports, exploded, as did new fitness programs focused on postural muscles, such as Pilates and modern yoga. By 1970, student protests largely brought an end to school posture exams and photos, but many efforts to fight bad posture continued, despite a lack of scientific evidence. A compelling history that mixes seriousness and humor, Slouch is a unique and provocative account of the unexpected origins of our largely unquestioned ideas about bad posture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

In 1995, a scandal erupted when the New York Times revealed that the Smithsonian possessed a century's worth of nude "posture" photos of college students. In this riveting history, Beth Linker tells why these photos were only a small part of the incredible story of twentieth-century America's largely forgotten posture panic--a decades-long episode in which it was widely accepted as scientific fact that Americans were suffering from an epidemic of bad posture, with potentially catastrophic health consequences. Tracing the rise and fall of this socially manufactured epidemic, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America (Princeton UP, 2024) also tells how this period continues to feed today's widespread anxieties about posture. In the early twentieth century, the eugenics movement and fears of disability gave slouching a new scientific relevance. Bad posture came to be seen as an individual health threat, an affront to conventional race hierarchies, and a sign of American decline. What followed were massive efforts to measure, track, and prevent slouching and, later, back pain--campaigns that reached schools, workplaces, and beyond, from the creation of the American Posture League to posture pageants. The popularity of posture-enhancing products, such as girdles and lumbar supports, exploded, as did new fitness programs focused on postural muscles, such as Pilates and modern yoga. By 1970, student protests largely brought an end to school posture exams and photos, but many efforts to fight bad posture continued, despite a lack of scientific evidence. A compelling history that mixes seriousness and humor, Slouch is a unique and provocative account of the unexpected origins of our largely unquestioned ideas about bad posture.

In 1995, a scandal erupted when the New York Times revealed that the Smithsonian possessed a century's worth of nude "posture" photos of college students. In this riveting history, Beth Linker tells why these photos were only a small part of the incredible story of twentieth-century America's largely forgotten posture panic--a decades-long episode in which it was widely accepted as scientific fact that Americans were suffering from an epidemic of bad posture, with potentially catastrophic health consequences. Tracing the rise and fall of this socially manufactured epidemic, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America (Princeton UP, 2024) also tells how this period continues to feed today's widespread anxieties about posture. In the early twentieth century, the eugenics movement and fears of disability gave slouching a new scientific relevance. Bad posture came to be seen as an individual health threat, an affront to conventional race hierarchies, and a sign of American decline. What followed were massive efforts to measure, track, and prevent slouching and, later, back pain--campaigns that reached schools, workplaces, and beyond, from the creation of the American Posture League to posture pageants. The popularity of posture-enhancing products, such as girdles and lumbar supports, exploded, as did new fitness programs focused on postural muscles, such as Pilates and modern yoga. By 1970, student protests largely brought an end to school posture exams and photos, but many efforts to fight bad posture continued, despite a lack of scientific evidence. A compelling history that mixes seriousness and humor, Slouch is a unique and provocative account of the unexpected origins of our largely unquestioned ideas about bad posture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1995, a scandal erupted when the New York Times revealed that the Smithsonian possessed a century's worth of nude "posture" photos of college students. In this riveting history, Beth Linker tells why these photos were only a small part of the incredible story of twentieth-century America's largely forgotten posture panic--a decades-long episode in which it was widely accepted as scientific fact that Americans were suffering from an epidemic of bad posture, with potentially catastrophic health consequences. Tracing the rise and fall of this socially manufactured epidemic, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America (Princeton UP, 2024) also tells how this period continues to feed today's widespread anxieties about posture. In the early twentieth century, the eugenics movement and fears of disability gave slouching a new scientific relevance. Bad posture came to be seen as an individual health threat, an affront to conventional race hierarchies, and a sign of American decline. What followed were massive efforts to measure, track, and prevent slouching and, later, back pain--campaigns that reached schools, workplaces, and beyond, from the creation of the American Posture League to posture pageants. The popularity of posture-enhancing products, such as girdles and lumbar supports, exploded, as did new fitness programs focused on postural muscles, such as Pilates and modern yoga. By 1970, student protests largely brought an end to school posture exams and photos, but many efforts to fight bad posture continued, despite a lack of scientific evidence. A compelling history that mixes seriousness and humor, Slouch is a unique and provocative account of the unexpected origins of our largely unquestioned ideas about bad posture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society

In 1995, a scandal erupted when the New York Times revealed that the Smithsonian possessed a century's worth of nude "posture" photos of college students. In this riveting history, Beth Linker tells why these photos were only a small part of the incredible story of twentieth-century America's largely forgotten posture panic--a decades-long episode in which it was widely accepted as scientific fact that Americans were suffering from an epidemic of bad posture, with potentially catastrophic health consequences. Tracing the rise and fall of this socially manufactured epidemic, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America (Princeton UP, 2024) also tells how this period continues to feed today's widespread anxieties about posture. In the early twentieth century, the eugenics movement and fears of disability gave slouching a new scientific relevance. Bad posture came to be seen as an individual health threat, an affront to conventional race hierarchies, and a sign of American decline. What followed were massive efforts to measure, track, and prevent slouching and, later, back pain--campaigns that reached schools, workplaces, and beyond, from the creation of the American Posture League to posture pageants. The popularity of posture-enhancing products, such as girdles and lumbar supports, exploded, as did new fitness programs focused on postural muscles, such as Pilates and modern yoga. By 1970, student protests largely brought an end to school posture exams and photos, but many efforts to fight bad posture continued, despite a lack of scientific evidence. A compelling history that mixes seriousness and humor, Slouch is a unique and provocative account of the unexpected origins of our largely unquestioned ideas about bad posture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1995, a scandal erupted when the New York Times revealed that the Smithsonian possessed a century's worth of nude "posture" photos of college students. In this riveting history, Beth Linker tells why these photos were only a small part of the incredible story of twentieth-century America's largely forgotten posture panic--a decades-long episode in which it was widely accepted as scientific fact that Americans were suffering from an epidemic of bad posture, with potentially catastrophic health consequences. Tracing the rise and fall of this socially manufactured epidemic, Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America (Princeton UP, 2024) also tells how this period continues to feed today's widespread anxieties about posture. In the early twentieth century, the eugenics movement and fears of disability gave slouching a new scientific relevance. Bad posture came to be seen as an individual health threat, an affront to conventional race hierarchies, and a sign of American decline. What followed were massive efforts to measure, track, and prevent slouching and, later, back pain--campaigns that reached schools, workplaces, and beyond, from the creation of the American Posture League to posture pageants. The popularity of posture-enhancing products, such as girdles and lumbar supports, exploded, as did new fitness programs focused on postural muscles, such as Pilates and modern yoga. By 1970, student protests largely brought an end to school posture exams and photos, but many efforts to fight bad posture continued, despite a lack of scientific evidence. A compelling history that mixes seriousness and humor, Slouch is a unique and provocative account of the unexpected origins of our largely unquestioned ideas about bad posture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

Beth Linker is the author of War’s Waste: Rehabilitation in World War I America (University of Chicago Press, 2011).  As she reveals, the story of individual rehabilitation from war-related injury was intertwined with other political concerns at multiple levels.  These century-old accounts matter greatly, as the First World War was that point where modern rehabilitative medicine and social policy was born, with many of the attitudes and aspects of this early response lingering to the present day.  Beth’s book is an insightful  consideration of the conflicted responses Americans presented to the unanticipated challenges of post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation for the nation’s thousands of veterans, standing in no small way as a cautionary tale as America winds down from its latest conflicts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beth Linker is the author of War's Waste: Rehabilitation in World War I America (University of Chicago Press, 2011).  As she reveals, the story of individual rehabilitation from war-related injury was intertwined with other political concerns at multiple levels.  These century-old accounts matter greatly, as the First World War was that point where modern rehabilitative medicine and social policy was born, with many of the attitudes and aspects of this early response lingering to the present day.  Beth's book is an insightful  consideration of the conflicted responses Americans presented to the unanticipated challenges of post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation for the nation's thousands of veterans, standing in no small way as a cautionary tale as America winds down from its latest conflicts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/medicine

Beth Linker is the author of War’s Waste: Rehabilitation in World War I America (University of Chicago Press, 2011).  As she reveals, the story of individual rehabilitation from war-related injury was intertwined with other political concerns at multiple levels.  These century-old accounts matter greatly, as the First World War was that point where modern rehabilitative medicine and social policy was born, with many of the attitudes and aspects of this early response lingering to the present day.  Beth’s book is an insightful  consideration of the conflicted responses Americans presented to the unanticipated challenges of post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation for the nation’s thousands of veterans, standing in no small way as a cautionary tale as America winds down from its latest conflicts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beth Linker is the author of War’s Waste: Rehabilitation in World War I America (University of Chicago Press, 2011).  As she reveals, the story of individual rehabilitation from war-related injury was intertwined with other political concerns at multiple levels.  These century-old accounts matter greatly, as the First World War was that point where modern rehabilitative medicine and social policy was born, with many of the attitudes and aspects of this early response lingering to the present day.  Beth’s book is an insightful  consideration of the conflicted responses Americans presented to the unanticipated challenges of post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation for the nation’s thousands of veterans, standing in no small way as a cautionary tale as America winds down from its latest conflicts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beth Linker is the author of War’s Waste: Rehabilitation in World War I America (University of Chicago Press, 2011).  As she reveals, the story of individual rehabilitation from war-related injury was intertwined with other political concerns at multiple levels.  These century-old accounts matter greatly, as the First World War was that point where modern rehabilitative medicine and social policy was born, with many of the attitudes and aspects of this early response lingering to the present day.  Beth’s book is an insightful  consideration of the conflicted responses Americans presented to the unanticipated challenges of post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation for the nation’s thousands of veterans, standing in no small way as a cautionary tale as America winds down from its latest conflicts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices