Hey there, Ira here. Did you catch our interview last week about the darker side of

Jay Marion Sims, a pioneer in modern gynecology, and the enslaved women he operated on?

Sci-fi producer Christy Taylor interviewed playwright Charlie Yvonne Simpson, author of Behind the

Sheet, which tells of these women and their lives.

We didn't have time to air the full interview on the radio, so here it is.

It is worth a listen.

This is Science Friday.

I'm Ira Flato.

Until last spring, New York Central Park featured a statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims,

considered the father of modern gynecology. He invented the speculum, devised methods for easier

examinations, and in 1855, he built the country's first women's hospital. His biggest breakthrough

was devising a surgical cure for a

common complication associated with childbirth. But his success came at a huge cost, the pain and

suffering of nearly a dozen enslaved black women who were his experimental subjects. A new play

behind this sheet takes a closer look at what the daily lives of those women might have been like and the ethics of his work.

The play is running at the Ensemble Studio Theater in Manhattan.

SciArts producer, Christy Taylor, sat down with the playwright.

Charlie Yvonne Simpson, and here's that interview.

Charlie Yvonne Simpson, welcome to Science Friday.

Thank you. It's so good to be here.

So I know I first heard about J. Marion Sims when the controversy over his statue got a lot of publicity last year.

I had never really thought about where gynecology came from, but it turns out Sims was this Alabama plantation owner who everyone kind of thought

...