Episode 2.8. Women’s Mental Institutions of the 19th Century
Listen now
Description
You’ve heard Victorian women could get committed to mental institutions for reading books and thinking too much, but why did it happen, and what were these places really like? This week, Jess explains how being female was enough to get you labeled insane, looking at some horrific treatments used, as well as the experiences of Elizabeth Packard and Nellie Bly, two badass women who fought back.
More Episodes
Gabrielle Falloppia is credited with inventing the condom. He didn’t, but he did discover the fallopian tubes, all while battling academic rivals, accusations of heresy, a syphilis epidemic, and the pirates who kidnapped his boyfriend. He has been accused of vivisecting the criminals given to him...
Published 08/08/24
Published 08/08/24
Ancient history has traditionally been dominated by the lives of great men, while ancient women are confined to the margins or omitted altogether. In The Missing Thread, award-winning classicist Dr Daisy Dunn pulls these women out of the shadows and puts them center stage, where they belong. This...
Published 07/25/24