2.6: The Untold Story of Dr. Seuss
First Name Basis Podcast
Jasmine Bradshaw
5 • 629 Ratings
🗓️ 20 February 2020
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dr. Seuss books are some of the most popular books across the globe, but should it stay that way?
In this episode we explore the fact that Dr. Seuss wrote more than just children’s books — he was also the author of countless racist comics, ads, and political cartoons. So, as parents who value inclusion, what do we do?
The Untold Story of Dr. Seuss details his writings outside of children’s books, the representation of People of Color in children’s books, and what we can do in our homes and classrooms to ensure that we are living up to our values.
Articles, Studies, & Podcasts Referenced in the Episode
“The Racist Side of Dr. Seuss You Didn’t Know About”
Look at the First Name Basis Dr. Seuss highlight on Instagram for examples from @theconsciouskid of his cartoons, ads, and propaganda
Song Credit: “Away” by Geographer and “Beach Disco” by Dougie Wood
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the First Name Basis podcast, Season 2, Episode 6, the untold story of Dr. Seuss. |
| 0:14.0 | Welcome to First Name Basis, a community of parents committed to making the transformation, |
| 0:19.9 | from good intentions to confident action. |
| 0:22.6 | Join us each week as we cover critical topics and answer the questions you've never felt comfortable |
| 0:27.3 | asking. We'll use the lessons we learned to teach our children about race, religion, and culture. |
| 0:33.1 | I'm your host, Jasmine Bradshaw. |
| 0:48.3 | Music I'm your host, Jasmine Bradshaw. Hello, First Name Basis, fam. I am so glad you are here. |
| 0:53.5 | So a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned on the podcast that we don't |
| 0:57.3 | read Dr. Seuss books in our house, and there's a reason behind that, and I said, you know, |
| 1:02.6 | maybe you guys would be interested in an untold story of Dr. Seuss, and I got so many messages, |
| 1:07.8 | so I'm really excited that this is an episode that you are excited about |
| 1:11.1 | because I have been thinking about this episode for so long. It was maybe a year and a half ago now |
| 1:17.9 | that I found out the truth about Dr. Seuss. And it's been one of those things that I want to |
| 1:22.3 | share with people, but I know that there are so many people who are really sensitive about it. |
| 1:26.9 | So I hope that you will listen and learn and then decide what you feel is best for your family. |
| 1:33.3 | Before we jump in, I just want to give you a quick rundown of the flow of the episode |
| 1:37.7 | just so that you know what to expect. |
| 1:40.4 | So apart from being a children's author, Dr. Seuss actually created a lot of political cartoons and |
| 1:47.5 | propaganda and ads for different companies. |
| 1:50.2 | So I'm going to start with all of those things and the timeline of when those came about and what |
| 1:55.4 | they were, because I think that's kind of the untold story piece of it that we don't know. |
| 2:00.6 | Then after that, we'll talk a |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jasmine Bradshaw, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jasmine Bradshaw and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.