The Making of a 'Madness' That Hides Our Monsters - An Interview with Audrey Clare Farley

Mad in America: Rethinking Mental Health

Mad in America

Anxiety, Mental Health, Benzo, Science, Hearingvoices, Psychology, Antipsychotic, Mentalhealth, Depression, Panicattack, Psychosis, Medicine, Health, Health & Fitness, Psychiatry, Ssri, Antidepressant

4.8 • 201 Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2023

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Audrey Clare Farley is a writer, editor, and scholar of 20th-century American culture with a special interest in science and religion. She earned a PhD in English literature at the University of Maryland, College Park. She now teaches a course on U.S. history at Mount St. Mary’s University.

Her first book, The Unfit Heiress: The Tragic Life and Scandalous Sterilization of Ann Cooper Hewitt, tells the story of a 1930s millionairess whose mother secretly sterilized her to deprive her of the family fortune, sparking a sensational case and forcing a debate of eugenics. Her second book, which we will be discussing today, Girls and Their Monsters: The Genain Quadruplets and the Making of Madness in America, explores the lives of the four women behind the National Institute of Mental Health’s famous case study of schizophrenia. It was named a New York Times Editors’ Pick and will be the focus of our conversation today.

Audrey’s essays have appeared in the Atlantic, New York Times, Washington Post, and many other outlets. She lives in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Mad at America podcast, your source for science, psychiatry, and social justice.
0:11.4	Our podcasts are made possible in part by a grant from the Thomas Job Fund.
0:21.7	Welcome to the Mad in America podcast.
0:24.4	I will be your host today, Madison Naderajan, a science writer for Mad in America.
0:30.0	Today, I am thrilled to be speaking with Dr. Audrey Farley.
0:34.2	Audrey Claire Farley is a writer, editor, and scholar of 20th century American culture with special
0:41.0	interests in science and religion. She earned a PhD in English literature at University of
0:47.1	Maryland College Park. She now teaches a course on U.S. history at Mount St. Mary's University.
0:53.6	Her first book, The Unfit Harris, The Tragic Life and Scandal Mount St. Mary's University. Her first book, The Unfit Harris,
0:56.0	The Tragic Life and Scandalist sterilization of Anne Cooper Hewitt, tells the story of a 1930s
1:03.4	millionaires whose mother secretly sterilized her to deprive her of the family fortune,
1:09.4	sparking a sensational case enforcing a debate of eugenics.
1:13.5	Her second book, which we will be discussing today, Girls and Their Monsters, The Janane Quadruplets,
1:19.3	and the Making of Madness in America, explores the lives of the four women behind the National
1:25.0	Institute of Mental Health's famous case study of schizophrenia.
1:28.8	It was named a New York Times editor's pick and will be the focus of our conversation today.
1:34.3	Audrey's essays have appeared in the Atlantic, New York Times, Washington Post, and many other outlets.
1:40.7	She lives in Hanover, Pennsylvania. So welcome, Dr. Farley. It's great to have you today.
1:46.9	Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. So to start off, I want to talk a little bit about your
1:51.9	background. I find it very interesting that you have a background in English literature and history,
1:57.8	yet you have found your way to the SIE disciplines. Could you tell us a bit about how you
2:02.7	found yourself at the intersection of these disciplines and what drew you to the subject of your
	...

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