Today, we’re talking about cousins. Kissing cousins specifically, and some of the genetic malformations it may or may NOT produce. If you live in America, the thought of kissing cousins probably makes you cringe. But outside of the Western world and throughout a lot of time, that wasn’t always the case. Throughout many wealthy families and cultures, it was and is considered par for the course. How was this taboo born and when did it really get it’s wings? That’s what you're in for today on Impolite Society. https://www.science.org/content/article/how-early-christian-church-gave-birth-today-s-weird-europeans https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/science/cousins-marriage-family-tree.html?auth=login-google1tap&login=google1tap https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/there-s-nothing-wrong-with-cousins-getting-married-scientists-say-1210072.html https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/what-scientists-found-after-analyzing-cases-of-inbreeding-in-the-uk  https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/graphics/cousins_042505.html?noredirect=on  https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/go-ahead-kiss-your-cousin  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2605922/  https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/02/15/cousin-marriage-is-probably-fine-in-most-cases  https://www.nature.com/articles/hdy201325  https://www.the-sun.com/news/7232766/dupont-family-inbreeding-legacy-cousins-marriage/  https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/prehistoric-humans-are-likely-to-have-formed-mating-networks-to-avoid-inbreeding  Email us your impolite questions at [email protected] and visit our website for info about the show and your hosts Laura and Rachel.