Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman and you're listening to Science Versus from Gimlet.

Today on the show, The Condom Queen.

We're telling the story of the rise and fall of one of the most controversial public health figures about time.

Dr. Joysland Elders.

She grew up poor in rural Arkansas, but in 1993,

she rose to become the surgeon general of the United States, appointed by President Bill Clinton.

She was basically the nation's top doctor for public health.

Dr. Joysland Elders are newly confirmed surgeon general.

In her role, Joysland wanted to put sex education front and center,

so the so many teenage girls didn't get pregnant.

We've got to prevent our teens from becoming parents before they become adults.

She wanted to get condoms out to anyone who needed them, particularly teenagers.

We've got to go out market prevention like Mr. McDonald is marketed hamburgers.

Decades ago, Joysland was saying things that could be ripped out of the headlines today.

And I do feel that we would markedly reduce our crime rate.

If drugs were legalized, you know, I don't know all of the ramifications of this.

That every American should have a right to healthcare.

It's barred cheaper to pay for college than it is to pay for prisons.

But it turned out that America wasn't ready for this.

And these ideas made her a lot of enemies.

Dr. Elders' statements have been profoundly disturbing and profoundly offensive.

And after just over a year, Bill Clinton fired her.

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